Premier League clubs ‘hoping to use BICYCLES to get fans back into stadiums’ as top-flight looks to ease Government’s fears over thousands of fans cramming onto public transport around venues
- Premier League are desperately thinking of ways to bring fans back to grounds
- Clubs have reportedly come up with an inventive idea amid coronavirus crisis
- One of the ideas is hiring out bikes for fans to get to Premier League grounds
Premier League clubs have reportedly come up with an inventive way to get fans back inside stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A limited number of supporters had been set to return to Premier League grounds this weekend but the Government scrapped those plans following a rise in coronavirus cases.
And according to The Sun, Premier League clubs have now come up with an ambitious idea of hiring out bikes, as well as making sure there are enough cycle stores, for supporters to get to games amid concerns about fans cramming onto public transport.
Premier League clubs are desperately thinking of ways to bring fans back to stadiums
Top-flight clubs are fully aware they have to come up with the best proposals possible to convince the Government that fans should be allowed back inside stadiums to support their beloved teams.
Other ideas reportedly include providing extra car parking space and liaising with train companies to run enough services to allow for social distancing to remain in place.
The latest ideas put forward came after Brighton chief executive Paul Barber hit out at the decision to delay the return of supporters again.
Barber claimed football’s efforts to fight back against coronavirus took ‘a gigantic step backwards’ when plans to allow fans to return were put on ice.
Premier League clubs could turn to hiring out bikes to safely allow for the return of supporters
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Barber said: ‘Football is so important to the country.
‘It’s our national sport, it’s a pastime for millions of people right the way from the top of the country to the bottom, and we’re very very disappointed that we’ve gone backwards.’
Barber continued: ‘On August 30, we staged a pilot event. We had 2,500 people in our stadium for a friendly match against Chelsea, we put in place at great cost a huge amount of mitigation measures, as directed by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the Government. We complied with every single request.
‘We got overwhelming support from the fans that were in the stadium saying how safe they felt, how enjoyable it was for them to be back in the stadium, and now we’ve taken a gigantic step back.’
The return of fans to stadiums has been delayed following a rise in coronavirus cases