Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to unveil plans to end restrictions on social distancing from Monday 19 July onwards in a press conference on Monday evening
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Premier League stadiums will welcome back crowds at full capacity when the new season kicks off next month.
Prime minister Boris Johnson is set to unveil plans to end restrictions on social distancing from Monday 19 July onwards in a press conference on Monday evening, with final confirmation coming next week.
The relaxation of regulations arrives in time for the start of the 2021/22 season, which begins with Arsenal’s trip to newly-promoted Brentford on Friday 13 August.
Johnson will also confirm those attending matches will not need to provide proof of being double-jabbed via a vaccine passport, which had been speculated.
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As first reported by The Times , the announcement comes as a major boost to Premier League shareholders after clubs were hit hard following the decision to play games behind closed doors in Project Restart last summer.
The vast majority of fixtures in the 2020/21 season were also played with no fans in attendance, although for brief spells some grounds were allowed to host a small number of supporters.
There have been significant increases in attendances since the start of Euro 2020, with Wembley opening its doors to 22,500 and 45,000 fans in the group and last-16 stages respectively.
This upward trajectory is set to continue for England’s semi-final clash with Denmark on Wednesday night, with 60,000 supporters set to flock to the north-west London stadium.
However, Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand is unhappy there will be very limited support for his side at Wembley due to current coronavirus regulations.
The Scandinavian nation is on the United Kingdom’s Covid-19 amber list, meaning any arrivals must quarantine for 10 days, ruling out fans making the trip in time for the last-four encounter.
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“We hope Boris Johnson wakes up and gives access to thousands of Danish fans, otherwise we have to carry them onto the pitch,” Hjulmand told Jyllands-Posten .
“I hope they can come but let’s wait and see.”
Denmark booked their spot in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Czech Republic in Baku on Saturday, with 1,000 fans making the trip to the Azerbaijani capital.
Hjulmand added: “The vast majority of these crazy fans booked the ticket to Baku with the belief and conviction that they would go home and quarantine afterwards.
“We know how much they have done to get all the way out here and support us and they were a huge reason why we could once again turn up, surprise people and play with so much energy out there.
“The support helped very, very much.”
Denmark have an allocation of 5,000 tickets for the semi-final and the Danish Football Union have called on England-based fans to “carry the torch”.
