Fisher: FA Cup tie against Horsham YMCA limited to 150 fans' but could be played behind closed doors

Fisher have issued the following statement concerning their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round home tie against Horsham YMCA on Tuesday 1 September 2020.

“Whilst Fisher Football Club are pleased to have heard the Government and FA announcements that spectators are to be allowed to return to watch non-elite football, we would like to update our members and supporters of the club’s situation which is far from straightforward.

For clubs such as Fisher, who play in local authority owned grounds, the announcement is not as simple as meaning we can just throw open the gates and resume as things were earlier in the year.

As a club we will require the approval of the council of our plans to allow spectators into the ground and the restrictions that will need to be maintained inside the ground.

We have already submitted a detailed risk assessment, which we published on our website on 31 July.

We are meeting this week with Millwall Community Trust (MCT) to finalise these plans and submit a further amended risk assessment to the council and then await approval.

Once approved, this will be published on our website too, and we would ask all supporters to read it before attending a match at St Paul’s in order to understand the sorts of restrictions which will be in place.

Again, we must stress that attending a game at St Paul’s in the near future is not going to be like it was before lockdown.

MCT, working in partnership with the council, are being very supportive, as they have been throughout pre-season and we are hopeful we can put a plan in place that allows a limited number of spectators to attend our FA Cup match on Tuesday 1 September.

However, please note that this is far from certain and a possibility remains that this game will need to be played behind closed doors.

We will keep you updated via our website and our Facebook and Twitter pages as usual.

In the event of the spectators being allowed in with a cap of 150 according to FA guidance, this will almost certainly be limited to members of the club and season tickets holders (although as a Cup fixture this will not be a season ticket allocated game and entry payment on the day will be required).

A small ticket allocation will be required to be issued to our visitors. For the purpose of administration memberships will need to be obtained prior to Wednesday 26th August to be valid for entry at the FA Cup fixture.

Memberships can be renewed or purchased via this link: http://www.fisherfc.org/membership/

These procedures are likely also to be in place for our first home league game against Balham which is set to take place on Tuesday 8 September. We will then be in a position to review procedures.

Due to the social distancing/Covid-19 restrictions that will need to be in place when spectators are allowed in, there will be other limitations on the usual matchday experience. In particular, please note that it is highly unlikely that any refreshment or bar facilities will be available at initial fixtures.

Any home pre-season training fixtures will remain behind closed doors.

We will provide further updates via our website and our Facebook and Twitter pages as and when we have more information.”

Visit Fisher’s website:  www.fisherfc.org