Reps from ATAC attended a further meeting this week led by the planning team at the MET, with some of the stakeholders including FSE, FA, UEFA, Greater London Authority groups and the Czech fans group.
Key Point!
COVID TESTING MAY NOW BE REQUIRED! Announcement expected in the coming days.
Full summary of meeting below.
Transport
The advice remains that fans without tickets should not travel. For any that do then it is highly recommended that you book somewhere to watch the match as you will not just be able to squeeze into pubs like on previous visits. Current restrictions in London still require table service at seated tables with masks to be worn while not sat down.
There has been very little demand for coach parking. I advised that the lack of tickets, socially distanced buses and the pandemic had resulted in very few fans travelling from Scotland via this method. If you are driving down then the advice is to park around Amersham or Watford Junction in the North and to use public transport from there. As previously advised, trains are pretty much fully booked. LNER trains on the East are currently running “dry”. Avanti trains on the West line are not.
Fanzones
A reminder that the fanzones for the first few matches at Wembley are restricted to key workers and are ticketed events in Trafalgar Square. Gatherings in Trafalgar Square will not be possible. There is a football village which will be set up at Potters Field near Tower Bridge. Note that this is a family friendly venue and will not be showing the matches. Refreshments are available here and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for something to do with their family while down there. Capacity is 1,250 and a good way to spend an hour or so.
Stadium
It is now looking likely that some kind of covid mitigation will be required for entry to Wembley. This will apply to all fans, staff, police, etc. What this will look like will be decided by the Westminster government. Speculation on the call suggested this could be certification of 1 vaccination plus a certain amount of days, 2 vaccinations plus an amount of days or a lateral flow test. What certification will be required is currently unknown and there seemed to be some confusion as to whether or not NHS Scotland certification would be acceptable. I do not know any more than this at the moment so please do not ask. Those on the call are as keen as us to know what this will consist of and I know they are pressing the government every day for a decision. Expect the guidance to be issued imminently together with any test requirements.
There will be ticket checks around the perimeter and once the covid mitigation process is determined this will be in place too. Wembley are increasing the amount of lanes and channels to be the equivalent of 100% capacity to ensure a quick flow of fans. This is despite the stadium only being at 25% capacity for our first match there. There have been plenty matches played with crowds at Wembley over the past month so they have a good idea of what to expect of the day of our first match there.
If there are any ticket issues on the day then there will be an office you can go to resolve these. Note that this will likely require sight of the ID that was used to buy the tickets. We will find out if photocopies of passports are acceptable. Kiosks will be serving a full range of food and drinks. Alcohol sales are still to be confirmed but there is no reason why they won’t be. Worst case scenario is a pint of Heineken Zero mixed with a bit of alcohol based sanitiser.
Again, I asked about bagpipes. The Euro2020 Spectator Co-ordinator will investigate and confirm.
If anything else comes from these communications channels then it will be passed on. The teams around both matches have been excellent to work with and the Wembley group have taken a lot of decisions with Scotland fans specifically in mind.
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