With the Government’s latest guidance, Barnsley FC are aware of the current Coronavirus ‘Tier Three’ status bestowed on South Yorkshire.
Whilst the news means that supporters are not permitted to watch live spectator events in person, it gives us hope that fans may be able to return to Oakwell in the coming weeks.
Therefore, we feel it sensible to proceed with our ‘return to stadia’ plans to ensure that once restrictions are lifted across our community, Barnsley FC are in the best possible position to safely welcome fans back to Oakwell.
Background
Alongside internal club meetings throughout the last two months, conversations held with governing bodies, stakeholders and supporter representative groups all concluded in agreement that the fairest method to determine seasonal member access is by way of a balloting system.
Members who are successful for a single fixture will be sent a digital ticket and information of how the ‘matchday experience’ will differ from previous. Members who are unsuccessful in the same ballot will obtain an iFollow streaming code whilst also receiving a level of priority to attend the following fixture.
Once South Yorkshire enters ‘Tier Two’, legally, we will be permitted to welcome 2,000 supporters into the stadium. If at any point we fall in to ‘Tier One’, we will be able to allow 4,000 supporters into live fixtures.
However, before we are permitted to host supporters, we must follow regulation and hold a ‘pilot event’. This number will be limited to 1,000 fans and the aforementioned balloting system will be implemented.
What do we need from you?
Whilst we continue to work on adapting the stadia infrastructure, we need to establish which supporters wish to attend reduced capacity fixtures at Oakwell and who they want to be ‘bubbled’ with.
In short, once you provide consent to be included in ballots, you are also notifying us that you and your bubble, wish to be considered for all future ballots for the 20/21 season.
When the ballot is run, everyone within your ‘bubble’ will either be successful or unsuccessful, meaning the group will not be split.
There is no detriment to either attending alone with a bubble of one or attending with family with a bubble of up to six. The ballot system will look at lead client. If the lead client is successful everyone within their selected bubble will be selected. The system will then move on to select the next lead client, who could be a bubble of one or more, and so forth.
This functionality, in addition to creating a ‘bubble’, will be live on eticketing.co.uk/barnsleyfc from Thursday 3 December. Further information and guidance will also be provided (we will offer support for fans without internet access).
If you do not wish to attend games during the initial period, you don’t need to do anything.
We appreciate this remains a fluid situation, with tiers being reviewed on a regular basis. As a club, we will remain transparent throughout this complicated process and will continue to have the safety of our staff, players and supporters at the forefront of our planning.
