Lesmahagow manager Robert Irving: Socially distanced fans should be allowed back into football grounds

Lesmahagow Juniors manager Robert Irving is worried about the potentially disastrous consequences of minor Scottish football returning next month without fans in grounds.
Lesmahagow Juniors manager Robert IrvingLesmahagow Juniors manager Robert Irving
Lesmahagow Juniors manager Robert Irving

Original plans to have supporters returning to Scottish stadiums on a phased basis from October 5 have now been shelved as coronavirus infection rates continue to surge across the country.

“It’s certainly a concern at Lesmahagow because we’ve got the same outgoings as everybody else,” Irving – whose side are due to begin their 2020-21 West of Scotland League campaign on an unspecified date in October – told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.

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“If there are no supporters in the grounds then the football will not last much longer, that’s for sure.

“Gate money is a big part of our income. When we’ve not got that I just don’t know how long clubs will survive on other sources of income.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t get our supporters in.

“It’s not as if we would have hundreds and hundreds of folk standing in one wee bit.

“We probably average about 50 to 100 supporters at every home game.

“Why couldn’t they be scattered around the ground?

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“You could get fans on all four sides of Craighead Park no bother.

“We could mark out where folk have got to stand at a certain distance from other people and get on with it.

“The bottom line is we need income through the gate.

“But at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what I think, it’s up to the Scottish Government.

“They issued the guidelines and unfortunately they had to change them.

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“If they’re telling us there’s no suppprters in the grounds at our level then unfortunately that’s what we’ll need to do.

“We need to adhere to the guidelines but it certainly doesn’t help us either short term or long term.

“Our club has been going for over 100 years. The committee work their backsides off to keep the club going and I would think they’re really under pressure now to keep the club functioning in the way that we’re used to being.”

’Gow are yet to play any pre-season friendlies in preparation for the new season.