Spectators are back for football for the first time for four months with 4,000 attending Monday's Wembley FA Cup semi-final between Leicester and Southampton, the biggest gathering in football since the country locked down in March last year.
But despite the relief and the prospect of 8,000 fans at the Carabao Cup final at Wembley next weekend between Manchester City and Tottenham, football fans say they have been ignored and side-lined as the Government’s Events Research Programme plans the return of significant crowds, with 20,000 expected to attend next month’s FA Cup final.
The last time fans watched football in England was on December 29 last year when Plymouth lost 3-2 at home against Oxford in the brief period when restrictions eased in certain areas and crowds of 2,000 were allowed.