Details on Doncaster Rovers' preparations for return of supporters to Keepmoat and when that might be

Clubs have been told to make the required arrangements for matches to be played in front of fans from that date, with more information on social distancing measures being released each day.

It has been almost six months since matches at any level were last played with crowds present, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Baldwin said it is likely that the permitted capacity will be limited initially to 33 per cent, with no away supporters present. It means fewer than 5,000 fans will be able to enter the stadium for matches.

As well as supporter numbers, the club must prepare other areas of the stadium and its surrounds with social distancing measures.

“We have got guidance for playing behind-closed-doors and we’re starting to get guidance on what crowds could look like,” Baldwin told the Free Press.

“I don’t believe there will be a blanket percentage across the country for crowd sizes. I think it will come down to each stadium and the local conditions.

“But they’re managing us at the moment to around a maximum of 33 per cent, which would enable us to work a scheme with our season ticket holders.

“We’d want to quickly reach a situation where people are coming back, away fans are coming in and people are turning up on the day but we don’t think that will be any time soon.

“At best, there will probably be a system where if people want to come to the game they have to let us know by a Thursday for a Saturday and we can work on that basis to increase the capacity as much as possible.”

Though season ticket holders will be front of the queue for access to games, Baldwin said the club will do everything in its power to ensure other supporters can attend where possible.

He said: “We’d be able to work with season ticket holders so if they’re not coming, they could volunteer the ticket back to allow paying people into the ground which would only help the club and improve our situation on a game by game basis.”

The matchday experience is unlikely to resemble anything close to normality in the initial stages of supporters returning to grounds.

Baldwin said Rovers’ priority is getting fans back into stands, with all other aspects of visiting the stadium required to adapt around that.

“It’s all about the details, for instance do we have the concourses open or do we move catering outside the ground?” he said.

“If the concourses are open what are the implications on the capacity? Can we let people queue for food in a socially distanced manner?

“It’s absolutely every detail.

“Our prime goal is to get as many people into the stadium as possible safely.

“So we work backwards from there and ask how can we feed them and get them a drink, etc?

“We want to give as many people as possible the chance to watch football, but always with safety in mind.”

With the season set to commence on September 5, clubs had held out hope that supporters would be permitted to attend games by mid-October. When the government halted plans to hold test events from the start of August, it put that goal in severe jeopardy.

But the use of pilot events resumed at the weekend, starting with the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield and building steadily in the coming weeks.

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