Thousands Attend Wembley Semi-Final As Part Of Government Events Trial

Around 4,000 fans were admitted to the 90,000-capacity stadium on Sunday for the FA Cup semi-final tie between Leicester and Southampton, which saw the first Wembley crowd in over a year.  

 

These select few were chosen from the local area, many of which were key-workers, as part of the Government’s Events Research Programme. Fans had to complete a rapid COVID-19 test before entering the stadium, with masks and social distancing also a mandatory condition on arrival.  

 

This comes as the first of many trials for the safe return of football fans and marked the largest Wembley crowd since the 2020 Caraboa Cup Final. Fans witnessed Leicester reach their first FA Cup final in over 50 years with their 1-0 victory over Southampton. 

 

Those in attendance are also expected to complete a further COVID test five days after the event to conclude the study. 

 

The FA announced that further trials will be carried out throughout the months of April and May, with the next stage being a crowd of 8,000 on 25th April for the League Cup Final.  

 

“The plan is then to build up to hosting a 21,000 crowd for the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday 15 May” the FA pledged.  

 

Boris Johnson and his government have formulated their Events Research Programme as part of the roadmap out of lockdown, and the trials vary across other live sporting events such as the World Snooker Championship. The government website explains, “The Events Research Programme aims to examine the risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events and explore ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely.” 

 

Plans are in place to ease the amount of COVID-related restrictions during the trial, such as removing mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing whilst seated. This will be a part of the gradual expanding of the programme, in hopes that any increase in cases can be quickly tracked and attributed to specific events. 

 

With stage three of the lockdown roadmap due to commence on May 17th, outdoor venues such as sports stadia can hope to host up to 4,000 people, or half of their capacity, meaning that fans may be able to attend for the final fixtures of the domestic season.  

 

There is yet to be any confirmation from the Events Research Programme as to whether domestic games will play a part in the trials. 

 

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