‘It’s completely unfair!’: Football fans bemoan the North-South divide in new Covid tiers which will see crowds back in London and Liverpool… but locked out in Manchester and Newcastle
- The government has announced it’s new tier system for coronavirus restrictions
- A swathe of cities in the north of the country have been placed in the top tier
- Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds cannot re-open sports venues to supporters
- However, clubs in London and the South East can now welcome back 2,000 fans
Football fans from the north of the country have cried foul over the government’s new Covid tiers as they point to a clear North-South divide after the announcement of those areas stuck with the highest restrictions.
Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds are among the cities that have been placed in the very high threat category – Tier 3 – by UK leaders, meaning that there is no prospect of fans returning to stadiums in those areas.
On the other hand, all Premier League teams in London and the south east will be able to to welcome back 2,000 supporters from December 2 after they were placed in Tier 2.
The majority of Premier League teams unable to welcome back fans are in the north of the UK
Teams in the Midlands have also been hit by their districts being hit with the highest warning levels, with Aston Villa, West Brom and Wolves all unable to open their gates, along with Leicester.
However, Liverpool – where mass testing saw a huge decrease in cases – is the exception to the rule, with the northern city placed under Tier 2 restrictions only.
On the whole, though, supporters have detected a familiar pattern and have levelled accusations of a clear bias against cities in the north of the country.
And many took to social media to voice their unhappiness at the apparent disparities in the treatment of cities in the north and south of the UK – with some of those areas in the north actually showing a lower R rate than those in the south.
Many teams in London and the South East can welcome back 2,000 fans from next week
The R rate is the rate of infection, and measures how quickly the virus is spreading from person-to-person in that region.
Matt Beeves, responding to a thread on restrictions in Newcastle, said: ‘The divide between North and South East has never been wider… disgrace.’
Stuart Heald pointed out on Twitter that the returning of fans to some stadiums gives those home clubs an ‘unfair advantage’.
‘Premier League can’t allow the unfair advantage of some clubs having fans some still playing to empty stadiums,’ he stated on Twitter.
