This month’s pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers will still have a capacity of 4,000 spectators, despite news all existing COVID-19 restrictions will be eased on Monday July 19.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today announced that socially-distanced capacity restrictions will no longer apply to any sporting event from July 19 onwards.
However, given the club’s strong working relationships with Bradford Metropolitan District Council and the local Safety Advisory Group, plans to stage the fixture with a capacity of 4,000 on Saturday July 24 (3.00pm) will continue.
The fixture will therefore continue to act as the second of two, successive club trial matches as internal operations are finalised ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Bradford City AFC welcomes news from Downing Street which announced the easing of all existing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions from Monday July 19, and looks forward to welcoming supporters back to the Utilita Energy Stadium - with no capacity restrictions in place - for the club’s opening home game of the Sky Bet League Two season against Oldham Athletic on Saturday August 14.
City’s chief executive officer, Ryan Sparks, said: “While we welcome news of the Prime Minister’s decision to ease all restrictions from July 19, we as a club will take a cautious, planned and sensible approach towards our friendly against Blackburn Rovers.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of work has gone in to prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside our four walls, and we are proud to have recorded no positive cases throughout the whole of last season.
“We have worked closely with the relevant local authorities over the past few months to organise our two home fixtures, for which we are grateful they were sanctioned to begin with, and ensure they can be staged in the safest way possible.
“We have a responsibility as a club to support public health across the Bradford district as much as possible, while respecting and standing by the local authorities’ desires to maintain the restricted capacity.
“Equally, by waiting a further few weeks to officially open the stadium back up to full capacity, we are aiding efforts to allow even more vaccines to be administered, making for a much safer environment for all.
“We are looking forward to staging a safe and efficient pre-season friendly the way in which we had planned on July 24 - with 4,000 supporters inside Valley Parade.
“With more than 11,000 season tickets sold, it goes without saying that we are extremely excited about what will be our official ‘Homecoming’ fixture, against Oldham Athletic on Saturday August 14, following an extremely challenging 18-month period.”
‘Take Me Home’ 2021/22 season tickets will be placed on general sale from 12.00PM TOMORROW, along with tickets for both Doncaster Rovers and Blackburn Rovers home friendlies - exclusively to season-ticket holders.