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Thread: Meadow Lane Capacity - Social distancing

  1. #1
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    Meadow Lane Capacity - Social distancing

    Who knows when we will start competitive football again? However, when we do and if a degree of social distancing is required, how many fans could Meadow Lane accommodate?
    No away fans allowed, all stands open, dedicated seating spaced to meet social distancing criteria.
    My view, circa 3000.
    Of course, electronic ticketing, no tea bar etc etc but better some fans than not.

    Or would we have to wait until no social distancing?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJPIE View Post
    Who knows when we will start competitive football again? However, when we do and if a degree of social distancing is required, how many fans could Meadow Lane accommodate?
    No away fans allowed, all stands open, dedicated seating spaced to meet social distancing criteria.
    My view, circa 3000.
    Of course, electronic ticketing, no tea bar etc etc but better some fans than not.

    Or would we have to wait until no social distancing?
    The seating wouldn't be an issue, we currently have enough for 4 seats per person on average gates, it would be leaving and under the stands that's the issue

  3. #3
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    One step at a time but I'd imagine the idea of 'safe social distance seating plans' will soon come up once TV viewing figures begin to drop off as the armchair fan begins to realise there's an essential ingredient lacking.

    3,000 at Notts sounds like a good estimate.
    If you alternate rows, that cuts ML from roughly 20k to 10k, then you've got to have seats either side empty but families will be able to sit together, so 3k should be reasonable. It would look crass to push for it now but once we get going again I'd anticipate clubs will support the idea as a life saver.

    People would have to be sensible though regards the problem highlighted by Chicken Balti Pie.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by upthemaggies View Post
    One step at a time but I'd imagine the idea of 'safe social distance seating plans' will soon come up once TV viewing figures begin to drop off as the armchair fan begins to realise there's an essential ingredient lacking.

    3,000 at Notts sounds like a good estimate.
    If you alternate rows, that cuts ML from roughly 20k to 10k, then you've got to have seats either side empty but families will be able to sit together, so 3k should be reasonable. It would look crass to push for it now but once we get going again I'd anticipate clubs will support the idea as a life saver.

    People would have to be sensible though regards the problem highlighted by Chicken Balti Pie.
    I'll be outside flogging black and white face masks! And no, there will be no place for half and half face masks either!!

  5. #5
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    As others have said we are somewhat fortunate in these times that our ground is only usually 25% full to it's capacity. So as others have said the seating shouldn't be an issue. The club could split the Jimmy Sirrell stand in half like has happened previously and use part of that for home supporters. There would need to be new maximum capacities for each stand and for away fans.

    3,000 fans in our stadium is far better than 0, but obviously does leave 2,000 fans short but it would be start.

    I think it could be workable but we would need the stewards to become "social distancing wardens" or employ additional people to do this role to insure it's managed effectively.

    The main areas where it would be difficult to maintain social distancing would be the areas of high foot traffic such as turnstiles, concourse toilets and food/drink outlets. So it would be about managing ques.

    Maybe the food and drinks outlets would need to remain closed at the start and people be allowed to bring their own refreshments in?

    Also fans coming into the ground could be managed easier as usually it's a steady stream up and till near kick off when it gets busier. That's where people would need to be encouraged to arrive at the ground earlier than normal to avoid ques and creating a bottleneck.

    At the end of the game then rather than let everyone out at the same time it would need to be staggered such as block by block or something. Again it would require the stewards or social distancing wardens to manage it.

  6. #6
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    I would think its' pretty much inevitable that this will happen. the alternative is that we go from empty stadiums one week to Premier League stadiums ram packed with 60,000 plus the next. Unless a vaccine comes along that can be rolled out to 60 million people in a matter of days, under what circumstances is the latter scenario ever going to be acceptable?

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ncfcog View Post
    I'll be outside flogging black and white face masks! And no, there will be no place for half and half face masks either!!
    So if they're not half and half they'll be grey!! (only kidding, it was just the way you worded it)

    There was a time in the mid-60's when you'd have to find someone to walk towards to break social distancing.

  8. #8
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    It would be really difficult to do this with current social distancing. You would need at least 3 seats spare between you and the next person to get near 2m distance. Add in that people would have to move to the end of a row then fill up in turn to avoid having to squeeze past. There would be no choice of where to sit. Having 2 or 3 sit together as family sounds ok but actually allocating seats to be used would be very difficult. You would need to leave in an orderly way a row at a time. Stewarding it would be a nightmare.

    I have no idea how it could be done but working out social distancing in a limited area, no matter how big is not as straightforward as it first appears.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by magpie_mania View Post
    It would be really difficult to do this with current social distancing. You would need at least 3 seats spare between you and the next person to get near 2m distance. Add in that people would have to move to the end of a row then fill up in turn to avoid having to squeeze past. There would be no choice of where to sit. Having 2 or 3 sit together as family sounds ok but actually allocating seats to be used would be very difficult. You would need to leave in an orderly way a row at a time. Stewarding it would be a nightmare.

    I have no idea how it could be done but working out social distancing in a limited area, no matter how big is not as straightforward as it first appears.
    I can't see how it could happen either. Keeping 3,000 people 2 metres apart at all times in Meadow Lane is pretty much impossible.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elite_Pie View Post
    I can't see how it could happen either. Keeping 3,000 people 2 metres apart at all times in Meadow Lane is pretty much impossible.
    Sadly I completely agree with the part "at all times".

    Yes, we could easily restrict the attendance to 3000 (i.e say 2500 (season ticket holders only) + 500 away fans) and we could easily socially distance as well, by alternate rows, and grouping households together. By opening up all stands we could easily get far more than 3000.

    The issues come at half time, when we all need a comfort break, and how do we get 3000 people in and out the way we do now. There would need to be a phased entry an exit policy, i.e. we could not all turn up at 2.50, and all leave at 4.40. It could mean we have allocated entry and exit slots. While it works for getting in, can you imagine when we are losing 0-4 at home with a poor ref, then, this is going to be a try of patience.

    (I need to add I never leave a game before the final whistle, but would I wait for a further 20 mins until my allocated exit time in these circumstances .....hmmmmm)

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