Ben is ‘shocked’ by move to keep supporters out
CHAIRMAN HAD HOPED PLANS TO PHASE IN RETURN OF FANS WOULD NOT CHANGE
BEN Robinson says he was “shocked” by the government’s decision to put plans to return football supporters to stadiums on hold.
The Burton Albion chairman says the club were well advanced with their plans to get up to 1,000 fans into the Pirelli Stadium safely in October – they were targeting the home game against Portsmouth on October 3.
That is now out of the window with yesterday’s government announcement that new measures could be in place for six months at least.
But Robinson, who celebrated his 75th birthday yesterday, is determined to remain calm about the situation.
“One of the things with getting older is that you try to take things in your stride and always be philosophical,” he said.
“I always felt this would be a longer-term problem, not something that would be solved in a matter of weeks.
“That’s why we adapted our business straightaway and cut our costs right back.
“If we’d had a club cat, I’d have furloughed it! It’s helped us through the summer.
“We had the bonus of a live TV game (the Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa last week) which, at its peak, was watched by an audience of about half-a-million, and we had the transfer of the young goalkeeper (Teddy Sharman-Lowe, to Chelsea). The timing of that could not have been better.”
Robinson was expecting a change in government policy but had hoped football clubs had done enough to show that they could go ahead with plans to get fans back into grounds.
“Because of the rises in the infection rate we did think there would be changes in policy but we didn’t think they would remove the plan for 1,000 fans attending, which we have been working towards,” he said.
“I imagine the reason they’ve done it is that they feel some fans wouldn’t have observed the social distancing and would have created a greater risk.
“But the non-League clubs can have 300 fans so we feel we could cope with 1,000 fans in a 7,000 capacity stadium, spreading them over the three terraces. It gives ample space for social distancing and then we have the seats as well.”
An ongoing concern for clubs is how long they may be without not only gate money but the ability to provide hospitality on match days and put on functions on other days.
The Pirelli is both restaurant and a diverse conference centre at various times.
The club have also undertaken to refund season ticket holders for games they will not be able to attend.
“I think clubs must use this time to reflect, to go over their business plans and look at how to deal with it and move forward,” added Robinson.
“The government have indicated they are going to get some support for sports businesses, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.
“We know that Rick Parry at the EFL has been having a dialogue for months to see about a rescue package and a loan scheme but neither of those have reached any final agreement, they are still being debated.”