Fleetwood Town boss hopes to see supporters back at games shortly

The ruling that the whole of Lancashire is in tier three of the government’s post-lockdown locations means supporters will have to wait longer before watching their sides again.

Barton and Fleetwood had hoped fans could have returned for next weekend’s game against Blackpool but that won’t be the case.

He said: “We’re disappointed because we all want our fans to be able to get back into the stadium, and with a Fylde coast derby on the horizon, it would have been a nice little bonus in what’s been a tough time for both clubs.

“That means that fans in our area and other tier three areas are going to have to wait for their football fix a little bit longer.

“The good thing is there does seem to be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

“It will be weird getting back to playing in front of crowds because we’ve been used to it now for a number of games without it but it’s something that everyone’s looking forward to.

“When they come back we may see a change in the way that football clubs across the board respect fans because it just isn’t the same product without fan participation. Football without fans is nothing.”

Thursday’s ruling does allow those teams in tiers two and lower to welcome back a portion of their support.

Barton said: “Some teams might have two, three, four weeks of fans back in stadiums and they may have a run of home games.

“That then gives them more revenue, just by having fans in the stadium, and not having them in opposing stadiums. Is there an advantage in that?

“We’re in unprecedented times where we’ve got to, if we can, get people back to doing what they’re doing and getting money back in their pockets for Christmas.

“No one wants to be on furlough and nobody wants to be prohibited from football stadiums.

“They haven’t had a fix of live football since March, and for some people, their lives revolve around football.

“They work all week so they can go to the football and let their hair down on a Saturday, and get their fix that way.”

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