Arsenal to Be First Premier League Club to Welcome Back Fans

Arsenal will be the first Premier League club to host a competitive football match with spectators in attendance since March.

The match in question sees Arsenal welcome Rapid Vienna to the Emirates Stadium in the Europa League group stages. 2,000 supporters will be able to attend the fixture on Thursday 3 December, with the club revealing the news on their website.

Exciting times for Gunners fans | Julian Finney/Getty Images

"We're delighted to confirm that we will be safely welcoming 2,000 supporters to our Europa League home match against Rapid Vienna on Thursday, December 3," the statement reads.

"It’s been almost nine long months since we had fans in attendance at Emirates Stadium and our matches have simply not been the same without you."

The club went on to explain that safety measures would be put in place to ensure fans adhere to social distancing.

"Uefa regulations stipulate that all seats must be socially distanced, even for fans who attend with other members of their household or support bubble. Due to the size of the seats, this means there will be up to two seats between occupied seats in the lower tier, and one seat between occupied seats on Club Level," they explained.

Tickets for the fixture will be in high demand and Arsenal have said they will be subject to a priority sale with only Gold and Premium Members eligible to purchase up to four seats.

The club added: "This has been a challenging time for everyone and we want to thank you for your support, patience and understanding. We can’t wait to welcome you back, even though it will be a small number of fans initially. 

"This is an important step forward, but we are continuing to work with the Premier League and the UK Government to increase our attendances, which would also enable us to accommodate more fans in Emirates Stadium and open ticket access to more membership groups. Until this can be done, we appreciate the disappointment that many of you will feel if you miss out on attending games. "


Source : 90min