For Barrow in the League Two of course. Their season starts on September 12th, 3 weeks ahead of Pools in the NL. It gives a taste of what to expect when arrangements for Pools' home games are finally announced.

From https://www.nwemail.co.uk/sport/18676124.barrow-fans-will-back-terraces-october---reduced-numbers/

"At present, it looks like we [Barrow] will begin behind closed doors, with a limited amount of fans allowed back in during October.

"The idea is to start from a low base and then, as conditions improve and we are confident that guidelines are being followed, we will be able to steadily increase capacity.

"The better we all work together, the quicker we will all get back into the ground.

"If we keep to these simple guidelines, we will hopefully soon be all back together following our team and backing the side as we start in the Football League.

The capacity is likely to be set around the amount of season tickets the club has sold, and no away supporters will be allowed into games until home supporters have been safely accommodated.

Fans will have to wear face coverings, unless exempt, and will have to stay one metre apart unless they are in a social bubble.

Track and trace measures will be in place, along with hand sanitizer and queuing systems, and fans will be required to agree to a code of conduct.

Tickets can be booked by contacting the club, and requests to sit in social bubbles must be made by 12pm on September 12"

Would imagine the face covering rule would apply to the national League as well.
Every fan is different but no way could I wear one of them for 2 hours.10 mins in a supermarket is my limit.
Probably loads of other fans in the same boat.

Not sure how the exemptions work.
Can't imagine just saying u got asthma without detailed proof would work or would/will it.

Millwall's F-Troop wore surgical masks back in the 70's.i don't see a problem.

my lad offered to send me one of those little inhaler things to put in my pocket to say i,d got asthma. refused it as i open air do not like to pretend i,d got something. you never know it could come back and bite you if you did get something. i actually tried one and for less than 10 minutes and never again. if face nappies are not needed in a theatre that is outside then why should football be different.

Face masks are a bugger to wear with glasses - you're supposed to wash your specs with washing up liquid and let them dry off without wiping to stop them from steaming up.

Looks like it's odds on that we'll be required to wear a mask at the football, but it's all for show really - to use a mask properly you're supposed wash your hands or use hand rub every single time you put it on or take it off, and dispose of the mask if its wet or dirty - or machine wash it at a high temperature if its a reusable fabric mask. If the mask isn't wet or dirty you can store it in a resealable plastic bag - then wash your hands again! I doubt if 1% of all the people in this country who are putting a mask on and off when they go round the shops are following that rigmarole.

Get a surgical mask with the ties rather than the ear elasticated hoops. Cut off the bottom ties adjacent to the mask bit. Tie the top ties over the back of your head so the ties go over the top of your ears and then backward. But don't tie them very tight. Shape the metal nose bit too your nose. Then pull the middle of the bottom of the mask out a bit and down and the bottom two corners around to the sides a bit, so there is plenty of air and space around your mouth and chin. If it droops down at the front just tug the top strings backwards at the back of your head.

This would probable work with material masks as well if you can keep the shape over the nose (especially if they have the bendable metal shapeable bit over the nose).

I've worn surgical masks for hours for years and more recently with glasses and this technique works very well.

Who is actually confident we will have supporters in the stadium come start of season (if it starts!)?

100% certain our season will start off with 33% capacitys.
What was last seasons average crowds of capacitys?
Probably well under 40% for the full national League.

Covid death rate down to about 20 a day for the last week if the government aren't fiddling the figures.

Probably 10 other reasons for more different kinds of deaths
Road accidents
Suicide
Cancer
Old age
Heart attacks etc.
With facemasks and no singing chanting can't imagine the demand will be there anyway.
UTP.

exactly. even those who wore em before they became compulsory inside places will not do it. doubt they will wear the correct type available either. its just someone ticking another box allowing them inside shops without getting hassle from others. if muzzles need to be worn then the correct type and useage should be compulsory also like all health and safety products have to be in the workplace.

Just appears the start date remains provisional, and still no word on supporter arrangements in the National League.

I'm still not convinced!

I'm reasonably hopeful the season will get started with reduced capacities but agree that nothing is certain - not with a clueless government that constantly gives way to media pressure and follows anything that the wee besom north of the border decides on.

If and when the season gets going there are bound to be interruptions and postponements because of Covid. Are there any food processing factories in Hartlepool? Nailed on for a local lockdown at some point if there is.

The EFL announced their streaming service the other day. Tenner a match, home games free for season ticket holders. National League need to follow suit, surely? The govt are categorising NL as 'Elite Sport' & in which case, surely the league can provide a service for supporters during this season. Gives us a much stronger chance of starting and actually finishing this season and surely match income, especially for teams playing away, would be very decent?

Hope to be proven wrong, just don't quite yet see Pools fans streaming into the Vic in October.

German supporters not allowed in stadiums until earliest of 2021...

Tenner sounds expensive to me...............

they won,t be because they will not be allowed to be. we do not know what the capacity of the vic will be for a start. my lad texted me this morning that stockport county have had theirs reduced to 2,700 on a just over 10,000 capacity. by that the vic will have about 2,200. thats hardly a puddle never mind a stream. heaven help us if covid deaths reach a height of 2 per cent of all weekly deaths we will end up back at the beginning again.

Sure I read somewhere that the local councils have a say in the new covid capacitys.
Would imagine Stockport's capacity is quite low because that neck of the woods is riddled with covid cases compared to our region.
On the BBC website today that the daily deaths for covid are down to 10 compared to 30 men dying from prostate cancer and 30 women dying from breast cancer.
It's time to slowly but surely get back to normal whilst showing our respect to the bereaved whatever the cause.
KPG predicting a 2500 covid capacity for Stadium Victoria Park.
UTP.

Get three mates round to watch a match at yours...........£2.50 doesn't sound bad

Might put the TV in patio windows and sell seats at £2 each with a socially distanced 6 chairs in garden giving me a free viewing.

if the BBC said it was 10 then the number could be possibly less. last numbers i saw mentioned from statistics office were 1.6 per cent of deaths were from the virus. were actual cancer deaths caused by late or substandard treatment due to the country as a whole being totally obsessed by one disease in detriment to all others. no one is forced to go to the vic or anywhere else. its your choice .

The average uk daily deaths over the last 7 days is at 11. I read the other day that in the uk you are now 6 times more likely to die of flu or pneumonia as you are from coronavirus. I think the crowds will start of low (there must be a reason why they are selling only 1500 tickets to start off with), but will gradually increase as the season progresses.

could be a situation of seeing how people behave at games before there is an increase. if fans ignore any of the clubs regulations for fans, even though they do not agree with them, then the figure will remain low.

Wonder if Monday's updated restrictions puts paid to any hope of fans in grounds in October. Worrying times for Pools...

It's a good question. I think we're at the crunch time of whether the economy comes first this winter or fear of Covid trumps everything again, even though the country is going to be much better prepared medically than last winter. Personally I don't think the public will wear another national lock down so it's up to the government to tough it out and get on with reviving some semblance of normal life. Will they though?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/54094363

Plans to allow fans into stadiums under review/scaled back/might never happen. Tale your pick.

with the cancelling of crowds at the st.leger meeting from today it does not give you much hope of getting any crowds back in football by october. first thing that goes wrong anywhere i,m afraid that will be it. lot depends on theit mindset. do they want sporting events with crowds or not and i have a feeling with no proof that they do not.

Once more, the mindset of 'be terrified' is coming to the fore again. Hospital admittances will rise again (as is being seen in France) as the 'not affected by this' younger generations build their herd immunity, which is fine in my opinion. Unfortunately they are then spreading to more vulnerable groups, which is not fine. A difficult balancing act.

I've been attending the local Bostik league fixtures (I really don't care what level/ step this is). Plenty of room, cheap, gets me out of the house/ home office. Bonus is that I can watch the match with pint in hand. The football is awful. I suspect it is about the level I'll be seeing for some time yet.

I wonder if we are going to see a new group formed called Vulnerable Lives Matter because to the people who are flouting the rules those lives obviously don't matter.

but when those who flaunt the rules actually see hospital admissions and deaths from the virus actually falling week on week then who can really blame em. right from day one its been a pick and mix of all expert opinion where you pick the one that suits you or your take on the subject. no one mentions the suicide figures going up whilst the virus ones are falling.

Even if I could get a ticket on the day, I wouldn't go if I had to wear a mask. Takes all the fun out of it for me and it would be a weird experience. Rather sit in the pub to be honest if that was the case (if they don't shut them again) or watch a match at greys or on the rec.

Exactly. 'Experts' can say what they like - the more extreme their predictions the bigger the headlines. Politicians can't afford to ignore them.

I think there's very little chance now that spectators will be allowed into games in October. Johnson is already talking about Christmas if he's got track and trace working properly by then. Even the Premier League is whingeing about the loss of revenue from fans - God only knows what will happen to most National League clubs.

I could take a good guess

I think you'll find that the majority of "experts" agree that ignoring social distancing rules is the best way to spread the virus and whereas the effect on certain age groups is negligible, the effect on recognised vulnerable groups is devastating. Don't forget the black and Ethnic minority are recognised as among the vulnerable. So do black lives matter or not??
Picking and choosing which rules, regulations or laws you wish to observe is in danger of taking the road to disaster or even anarchy. I remember a guy mouthing off about 20 mph restrictions around schools as being ridiculous until his nephew got run over outside his school. His argument was how many kids actually get killed outside a school. Or the guy in the news recently who said covid 19 was a hoax, until he buried his wife who died of it.
The bottom line is we are all responsible to do our best to protect ourselves, our families and our fellow citizens and deliberately flouting the rules is irresponsible and for what?? A night out on the ale. Really ?????????????????

I can't see spectators returning before Christmas either, unless there is a shift away from this sudden surge of new infections.
The people of Doncaster petitioned against the St Leger meeting being piloted for the return of live audiences to racing and they were listened to.
Will Doncaster Rovers face a similar backlash...who knows??
I suppose the difference is that Rovers only have the away support of the team they are playing to contend with, whereas the St Leger meeting attracts visitors from all over the World.
I can see away support being under stricter control or even disallowed.
The only answers I can see are a vaccine or people responding to controls or both.

Got a text from a mate of mine who works in a Further Education college in the north east which said;
1. 150 students and 30 staff in his dept.
2. Zero social distancing.
3. No masks
4. 25+ in class sitting side by side less than one meter away from each other must face forward and not turn to talk. ha ha!!!!!
5. After week one 6 students tested positive.
6. Government measures have a caviet that excludes schools and colleges.
7. Govt "expects" them to following measures guidance and some do and others dont.
8. FE is funded by bums on seats and are always financially flying close to meltdown even before covid19. So what do they do?

Its a joke.

And the funny side of that joke is lives are at risk.
I must say though.....if there are 30 staff in the dept to cover 150 students no wonder they are always near to financial meltdown.
There are 66 million people in this country and, no matter who is in charge or what system is used,or how many experts we have, the success in controlling this disease is governed by the success of each one of us controlling our behaviour, simply because we have not got the resources to police everyone's every movement. It really is as simple as that.
We could of course just let the disease run riot and accept the consequences. It is starting to appear that some parts of the population are heading towards that solution.
We'll just have to hope that the "experts" working on the vaccine go quicker than the "experts" ignoring social distancing.

I was at the Craig Charles gig last night in Gosforth racecourse grounds Newcastle. Everyone wore masks, your pod(max 5) basically was a cattle enclosure, which were all numbered(2 yards apart) and your pod was given one. You could only take your mask off(if you wished) inside it.
No drink or food allowed in. Bars and food outlets inside all policed by numerous stewards social distancing in queues, you were called to the bar when someone was free to serve, the nearest I came to someone from another pod all night was 2 metres. Nobody mixed that I saw, nobody tried to break the rules, and everyone seemed to act responsibly. Good night.
The support group Smoove and Turrell(who I'd not heard of) were very good btw.

[quote="derwent"][

I think you'll find that the majority of "experts" agree that ignoring social distancing rules is the best way to spread the virus and whereas the effect on certain age groups is negligible, the effect on recognised vulnerable groups is devastating. Don't forget the black and Ethnic minority are recognised as among the vulnerable. So do black lives matter or not??
Picking and choosing which rules, regulations or laws you wish to observe is in danger of taking the road to disaster or even anarchy.
cannot imagine many experts who do not follow the government line or the mess media one get as much air time as the others. unless you have lived in a social distancing cave for the last few months i doubt many of the BAME and older folk have not heard of the virus. there are risks like everything in life. over the last number of weeks the facts are that less are dying from the virus. those who have been tested positive, well how many have become really ill out of all the say 50 cases out of 100,000 they are using now. 0.05 per cent of a town with that population. just glad i,m not one with mental health problems then i would really worry for myself and my mental state through the last few weeks.

It's crunch time now for the National League:
https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/football/national-league-write-government-and-issue-statement-return-fans-start-2020-21-season-and-how-it-could-impact-clubs-hartlepool-united-notts-county-chesterfield-and-more-2972399

If the Government says no to 1,000 fans in grounds from the start of the season where do Pools go? Fiver a pop to watch games on a computer screen?

Interesting that the 1,500 season tickets sold is right at the bottom end of the expected capacity before the latest Covid scare:

"Pools’ ‘socially-distanced capacity will range between around 1,573 (20% of capacity) and 2,359 (30% of capacity) of the 7,865 seated Victoria Park. So if 20% is the eventual figure settled on Pools will have 73 tickets to sell on a match day!"

The longer it goes on, I can see a lot of older supporters not returning, for some once the cycle is broken its difficult to return. I keep promising to take in a non league game, but I still havent got around to it, cant be arsed, gonna try again this Saturday

Yes me too and I know a good few thinking the same.

Pools havent even organised a behind closed doors friendly at the Vic, other clubs seem to have managed it.

Whether a 1000 allowed in or not, club need to be looking at streaming games in order to raise revenue. They could give supporters option of paying 5, 8 or 10 quid, even produce a digital programme with the option for programme collectors to to pick up a hard copy later on for the usual 3 quid. 1000 people paying 5 quid to watch the game on a live stream is 5000 quid in the club coffers, 2000 = 10000 and so on.



Still no news on the new strip , other clubs are selling theirs, as well as opening bars at their grounds at weekends to watch Premiership games etc , we are so far behind it can only hinder us going into the new season.

Have we not organised a re match with blyth at the vic on Saturday?

Yes they have and another one against Middlesbrough on the 25th just announced.

See ! yet another Horden post , and things get done

I stand corrected, I did hear somewhere that they were playing Blyth again, nothing on the OS though about it ( that website seems worse everytime I look at it ) to be honest for some reason I thought it would be at Blyth again, such is my total lack of confidence in Pools being able to arrange anything these days. Communication needs to be improved, snippets here and there on Facebook and Twitter are not good enough. The Official Website should be the go to place for news , with the other platforms as back up. We must have the worst website in football, its dreadful.

It's the same website that functioned perfectly well last year under Simmo's oversight. I don't have an issue with the hard decisions that had to be made at the beginning of the lockdown in March, but it beggars belief that Pools are a fortnight away from the start of the season and still nothing has been done to get PR/media management back up to speed. As I've said before, communication with the fans (not to mention the papers, radio and TV) is far too important an area of the club's activities to be parcelled out among volunteers - it has to be managed by a full-time member of staff, even if it's an enthusiastic young person on a low initial wage.

Just to take the website as an example, the latest 'News' item is a report on the friendly at Morpeth, but 'Pools TV' has been updated with a video of the Blyth game and post-match interview with the manager. Obviously they're being done by two different people! If you look at the 'Teams' section it hasn't been touched since Simmo got his P45 - not a word about any of the players who have been brought in for the new season but you can read team profiles on the likes of Niko Muir and Adam Bale!

This is rank amateurism and reflects very badly on the club. Dave Challinor for one should not have to put up with this - no wonder fans worry about how much longer he will stick it out.

I appreciate Pools have their hands tied somewhat with waiting on Boris to get his thumb out his arse and make a decision on crowds but a little more communication would be nice. Even something glib along the lines of 'at the moment we are led to believe this is the situation' etc would be better than nowt. Surely Pools must have some sort of a clue of the projected maximum crowds, I thought these were governed by the local council?

so did i. my lad was telling me on sunday that his club stockport county seem to think their maximum temporary capacity will be 2700 and have sold season tickets up to that number. doubt they would have done this as i,m sure there would be a backlash from fans who bought one and then be told they cannot attend games.

I'm not one of 'the 1500' at Pools so probably won't be able to see the team at home this season. Given the current rise in cases, it looks unlikely that anyone will be allowed into the grounds anyway. Given that a trip up from here to see Pools generally costs me over £100, I could well be swayed into gifting that to help keep the club alive.

The Mail did a piece on Tuesday reporting the Chairman of the National League's appeal to the government to provide a 'pathway' back to letting fans into grounds.

"Whilst crowds could be accommodated up to a level of 20-30% of each stadium's normal capacity in accordance with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority guidance, the National League has asked the Government to allow up to 1,000 spectators in all grounds from October as a temporary solution that is validated by the Government’s approved pilot events conducted in September.”

A few points:
1. Local Authority's do have the final say on capacities but they are not going to go against this national guidance - it will be their call on whether 20%, 30% or somewhere in between are eventually let in.

2. Stockport's 2,700 season tickets equates to about 25% of their normal capacity. pools have been a bit more cautious and the 1,500 season tickets is just under the 20% of capacity figure.

3. IF (big if) the government agrees to Brian Barthwick's request to let 1,000 fans into every ground from the start of the season then Stockport are going to be a lot more inconvenienced than Pools, who will still have the problem of working out which 500 season ticket holders don't get in. Boreham Wood will be laughing though because their average home gate last season was 724!

4. I agree with Mr. trevwoody, especially after today's news - no fans will be getting in anywhere till further notice.