Two more Premiership games to host supports this month
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Premiership Rugby has announced that supporters will be allowed to attend two more Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches, after the success of this week’s "pilot" at Kingsholm when 1,000 supporters saw Gloucester Rugby host Harlequins.
The fixtures are part of the series of test events the government has approved to pilot the safe return of spectators, adhering to social distancing measures. The matches are: 22 Sept - Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby: The Recreation Ground 30 Sept - Bristol Bears v Leicester Tigers: Ashton Gate
1,000 spectators will be allowed to be admitted to each match, subject to local safety advisory group approval, which are all also live on BT Sport. The news follows Harlequins hosting Gallagher Premiership Rugby’s first match with spectators on 5 September, against Bath Rugby, following the country’s Lockdown earlier this year and the Gloucester Rugby match on Monday night.
Darren Childs, Chief Executive of Premiership Rugby said: "We are delighted that following the success of the first two ‘pilot’ matches at the Twickenham Stoop and Kingsholm, another two Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches have been given the green light from the government. This is testament to the magnificent job done by the teams at both Harlequins and Gloucester Rugby.
"We saw in those matches how important it is for spectators to be present at live sport and we value the trust that the government have placed in us for additional pilot games. The health and safety of everyone involved in Premiership Rugby is our only priority as we bring the sport back from Lockdown and that was evident at Kingsholm and the Twickenham Stoop. We are pleased to be able to look to build on that success."
These include:
Upholding social distancing in queues;
Minimising the risk of any pinch points or crowding;
Carefully controlling bookings so that social distancing is observed in seating arrangements;
Minimising the numbers of tickets sold to a pre-defined safe capacity, in accordance with regulator guidance;
Recording people’s data to assist NHS Test and Trace.
The pilots will be carefully monitored by the DCMS and the Sports Ground Safety Authority to help inform future decisions on further relaxations of the rules and if spectators will be able to return to live sport from October 1.
- Premiership Rugby
