Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has revealed that his club applied for 1,000 fans to attend the upcoming Scottish Premiership clash against Celtic, writing on Twitter this week.
However, they’ve been knocked back despite being told their first test event with supporters went well.
https://twitter.com/CormackDavie/status/1317947628324327425
Cormack said, on the social media website: “Supported by Aberdeen City Council we applied for a second test event versus Celtic to include 1,000 fans, just 5% capacity, out in the open fresh air. Got a polite “no” from Scottish Government & Jason Leitch stating our first test was a success & latest plan was robust & in excellent shape.
“Jason Leitch told SPFL execs that outdoor events like football were much more palatable than indoor events. Meanwhile, flights are at 100% capacity with recycled air & no social distancing. Hundreds of thousands of fans eagerly await Clubs & Scottish Government coming up with a real plan.
“We plan to share these robust test regulations with our fans later this week. Not one single positive case has emerged from the 300 who attended our first test. We are NOT asking for carte blanche… these are “Test Events”… NOT a commitment for multiple games!”
As we’ve discussed previously, Aberdeen have been one of the clubs leading the charge to get supporters back into grounds, previously putting pressure on the Scottish Government to sanction more test events.
Sadly, the reality is that with cases rising on a daily basis in Scotland (BBC), the idea of supporters attending games will likely be on the back burner for a while.
Aberdeen do have a point about outdoor events though and, hopefully, football will be amongst the first forms of entertainment to get the green light when public health officials deem it safe enough.
The Dons would have had an advantage with 1,000 home fans at Pittodrie this Sunday but it still would have pleased me to hear some sort of atmosphere for the fixture.
The long wait for Scottish football to return to the level we know and love goes on.
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