Starting the new season.

The late start is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. We do at least have the capacity though I'm unsure how the limited spaces will be allocated and who will get preference before the limit on numbers is reached.
Some careful planning is needed to make it work for all parties though I would imagine those who purchase season tickets will automatically get there seat or standing place unless sales go over the new ground capacity. Could be a bumper year for season ticket sales if that's the case.
GJ may well have to delay the start of training proper with another month or so to wait.
I see no problem with segregating reduced numbers on the terraces. A simple system needs be designed and used as a guide line for all clubs to use and to be approved before a ball is kicked.
We don't need any ambiguous grey areas and fans will have to abide and understand the rules - something traditionally football fans are particularly bad at.
Clubs with small capacity will suffer the most I fear as far as generating income from match days.
Not sure how some will survive this and you can be sure the furlough scheme will be ended soon.
Thankfully for us, and for all of the stick the owners have had to endure, the manager is being backed to the hilt despite all of the uncertainty.
Now who would have thought that?

link - Johnson on the new season start date and looking forward to gearing everything up for pre season from mid August onwards.

link - precisely because there is going to be hardly anyone there! Although I wonder if fans from other clubs will get their football fix at these smaller clubs initially and boost attendances?

Hello Swatcat and welcome to this forum.

You make some good points particularly about having no away supporters. If clubs are struggling to get all their home support in then it would be tempting to open the away end for home support, your loyal customers, as less segregation, lower security costs as well as potentially having a more Covid secure stadium and less spreading of this virus around the country. It all depends how these measures in practice reduce the ground capacity? - half, (3250), third (2167) or a quarter (1625). Our attendances last year ranged from 2005 to 4165 and averaged mid 2000s but likely to be lower this season, maybe 20 to 25% if the non league survey turns out to be accurate. Heck, possible that even all the home support won’t be able to get in and ticket allocations in excess of season tickets will be snapped up very quickly.

link / on the face of it Dover’s provisional figure of 861 or just 15% of capacity looks bad. This means no under 18 reduced tickets or the free under 11 and definitely no away fans. However, their seating capacity is just 1010 compared to 2950 at Plainmoor hence the speculation of us having around double their capacity. Thank goodness for Bristow’s Bench!

rjdgull 

With no away fans in the ground the Bristow's Bench experience might improve greatly, the most obvious aspect being that you could just walk out of the stadium (via 'Away' exit) once the game finishes. The interminable queuing and then a complete halt imposed while players eventually trundle off the field in dribs and drabs won't be a factor when we can turn Right rather than Left (good advice in other spheres of life also ) when leaving our Bristow's seats.

As this isn't relevant until October, plenty of time to rig up some scaffolding and add another temporary tier to Bristows Bench, turning it into a double decker for the new season. No germs would survive at that height anyway, so distancing wouldn't be necessary and the capacity boosted considerably. Where there's a will there's a way, and a quick local example of the Brexit style entrepreneurial thinking that we need to start implementing as we free ourselves from EU red tape and endless delay.