Blackpool FC chief executive outlines how Bloomfield Road pilot event will work and how 1,000 fans have been selected

Here, the club CEO gives his verdict on the news and explains how it will work with 1,000 supporters inside the stadium for this weekend’s League One fixture against Swindon Town.

How delighted are you that Blackpool have been chosen as one of the 10 test events?

“We’re absolutely delighted. It’s so important for football, especially for a club like Blackpool at the heart of the community, to have our supporters inside Bloomfield Road.

“It’s right that, even though the EFL has campaigned hard for fans to return, it’s done in a safe manner. It’s important we reiterate that.

“Since the start of lockdown, we’ve tried to be as ready as we can be, as soon as we can be, to have football, let alone supporters back at Bloomfield Road and to hear we’ve been selected to be one of the pilot events is great news.

“It’s not just a sign of recovery and a sign of football getting back to some degree of normality, it’s also a signal of how far Blackpool have come under the last 15 months since Simon Sadler bought the club.

“The fantastic staff here have got themselves ready, on very short notice, to be able to be selected and deemed right to be a pilot event.

“All round, it’s a very pleasing situation.”

When you heard about the opportunity, did you always feel Blackpool would be ready?

“I did, yes. We’re incredibly lucky to have a very supportive owner in Simon Sadler.

“We did have to utilise the government’s furlough scheme but we also retained a number of staff to ensure the club was ready to come back as strong as possible given the quite remarkable effects Covid has had on the country since February and March.

“Huge credit to our safety officer Steve Needham and ticket office manager Sarah Nibloe for ensuring, on very late notice, we’ve been capable of hosting a game in front of fans and now, more importantly, we’ll actually have 1,000 fans inside Bloomfield Road come 3pm on Saturday.”

What needs to be done between now and Saturday to make sure everything is ready?

“We are a football club, that’s what we’re here to do. We’re an integral part of the local community. It’s our job to put on football matches and to play football matches.

“Not knowing when the pilot events might occur and how many there might be, it will involve some final tweaks.

“We didn’t know if it was going to be 1,000 or 2,000, so there will be some final tweaks as I say.

“Over the next 24 hours our supporters will receive an email with a print-at-home ticket which will get them into the stadium on Saturday.

“We will ask that everyone is in their seats by 2.30pm and face masks have to be worn when entering and moving around the stadium and should only be removed once they’re in their seat.

“We should also stress that we are a pilot event, we want to be part of any continued pilot process and I hope our fans that are in the stadium will do what they need to do and abide by the code of conduct, do what the socially distanced guidelines and regulations say.

“If that’s the case, hopefully when the next test event comes it will be with 2,000 people and it’s with more football clubs.

“I know we’ve got a fantastic set of fans and they should help make Saturday a tremendous success both for Blackpool and for supporters across England.”

How does the selection process work? How did you choose the 1,000?

“For us there were two real options.

“The first one was to do a random ballot of our 4,000 season ticket holders, to allow the computer to randomly select 1,000.

“The other option was to suggest the first 1,000 that renewed their season tickets were given access to this. Then, maybe if the next game goes to 2,000, the next 2,000 will come and so on.

“We’ve decided to go with the second option.

“We did consult with our supporter liaison officer because we felt they were the two main options.

“Nothing is perfect, we know that. The 1,000 that get to come to the game will be pleased and the 3,000 that don’t will be given a code for iFollow and given priority to any future pilot events.

“It’s not perfect, we’re going to take a little bit of disappointment from the supporters that don’t get into the stadium.

“But we felt out of the two options, of those first 1,000 who renewed, they would be the ones to be invited to the game on Saturday.”

How will the fans have to behave?

“It’s my understanding that supporters will be able to remove their masks once seated in their allocated seat.

“The guidance is that when they move around the stadium and enter the stadium they will have to keep their mask on.

“The guidelines are designed so that there is at least a metre of space around each seat and around each social bubble.

“Therefore we hope that it ensures we are in a socially distanced, secure environment possible.

“Our supporters will also be receiving a code of conduct that comes with their ticket which provides even further guidance.”

Can fans buy food and drink and place a bet?

“As someone that works in football I’m not allowed under any circumstances to get involved in betting.

“But our supporters can run their usual match-day experience if that involves a little flutter on the result or the first goalscorer.

“In terms of refreshments in the stadium, they won’t be available. A lot of guidance that was put in place was around the size of these refreshment areas.

“Clearly, when we’re trying to maintain a socially-distanced stadium areas such as that can promote a greater coming together of people and it would be harder to ensure people are socially distanced.

“Our toilet facilities will be available in line with the guidance.

“It will feel a little unusual, but if it’s a first step in allowing fans to return to stadiums and returning some sort of normality to our fantastic game then it’s a price we’ve all got to pay.”

Do you have to stagger people coming in and out?

“We’re going to open the stadium from 1.30pm and we’re going to ask everyone to be in their seat by 2.30pm.

“With 1,000 coming into a stadium that can hold over 16,000, we would hope for this pilot event the sheer reduction in numbers will assist.

“But as we start to grow, having certain blocks and having supporters staggered is a sensible way to ensure we do maintain a Covid-secure and socially-distanced stadium. We think it’s good guidance.

“We wouldn’t necessarily be able to guarantee entry as things get closer to kick-off because we want them to get into the habit and routine of being in early and being distanced, not congregating in public areas.

“We’re doing that because we want supporters in stadiums, we want Bloomfield Road to be full of Blackpool supporters again.

“If there are some amendments and alterations that have to be made and supporters have to turn up a little earlier to ensure they get to watch the game live, I hope that’s a compromise and an adjustment our supporters will accept.”

This could be quite an emotional experience for some, couldn’t it? Especially for those who have had the worst few months of their lives.

“Simon Sadler sees himself as the custodian of the football club and everything we’ve tried to do since he bought the club is to respect that.

“We did see during those early days of lockdown what a phone call from Chris Maxwell, or a call from Simon or Brett Gerrity meant to supporters.

“We’ve also seen how fantastic their support has been, with us having to cap season tickets at 4,000 at this moment in time, which shows this is a really important part of the Blackpool community.

“We’re a little bit humbled at times by the support we get, I definitely have been.

“Seeing some fans back inside Bloomfield Road and a football stadium will feel a tad emotional come 3pm on Saturday for a whole host of people and a whole host of reasons.”

If all goes well, do you hope Blackpool will be considered to be at the forefront of this exercise?

“That would be the hope. We have that hope, but equally caveated by the hope we all do our bit to ensure that we see the back of this horrible virus that has affected so many.

“Yes, we hope we are part of the continued pilot programme so that more supporters can return in October.

“Equally, we need to be very responsible and ensure this virus doesn’t come back in the way it was back in March.

“I hope we all behave responsibly given the seriousness in which Covid-19 came into this country earlier this year.”

What sort of difference do you think this could make to Neil Critchley and his players?

“When I mentioned it to Critch that we could have a chance of getting 1,000 fans into the game he was like ‘great, I’m delighted, buzzing’.

“He’s a head coach, he’s a football man and he wants to win games. He came to be part of what we’re trying to achieve so for him to have some supporters in, I could see was absolutely fantastic for him.

“I’m sure the players will be equally delighted. I haven’t broken any news to them yet though as it’s been quite a difficult 24 to 48-hour period because we didn’t want to dampen it down and then raise things up and have some exciting news and equally, we didn’t want to get fans excited and then say ‘ah, it’s not happening’.

“We’ve tried to wait for more confirmation until we were able to announce it officially.”

For those that haven’t been chosen, when can they expect to receive their access codes for iFollow?

"Season ticket holders who are not attending the game will receive an iFollow code to watch the match. The codes will be emailed by 5pm on Thursday.

“All 4,000 supporters, had the game been played behind closed doors, would have been given access to iFollow to stream it live.

“A thousand of those now will be in the stadium, the other 3,000 will still get a code.

“If the next event is with 2,000 fans, I would suggest we would allow the next 2,000 fans in.

“That’s the system we’ve gone for. It’s not easy, there will be some disappointment from those that can’t come in, but no situation would have been perfect.

“We thought this process was as fair a solution as possible.”