Only locals from Wembley will be allowed to attend the Leicester City Southampton FA Cup semi-final tie on April 18.
The semi-final will be a test event for getting fans back into grounds.
But no Leicester or Southampton fans will be attending the match. They are set to miss out on their teams day out at Wembley, just as fans will not be able to attend both Non-League Finals days this year.
Leicester City Southampton FA Cup to Be Watched by Wembley Locals Only
Test Events
Sky Sports report that this test event forbids both Leicester and Southampton from having “their own supporters at the game”.
Instead, 4,000 local residents will be able to enjoy a day out at Wembley.
DCMS Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “We want to get as many people back as safely as possible.
“We will be testing them before and after to look at spread and look how they behave in the stadium.
“We’re not just chucking everyone into the stadiums, it is being done in a very controlled way and the purpose is to get the rules set can so it can be as safe as possible from the 21 June.”
Dowden told the BBC on Monday that only one of the semi-finals would be a test event. This now appears to be the Leicester Southampton FA Cup tie.
This semi-final is one of many test events that are being considered.
The FA wish for some fans to return for the FA Cup final on May 15, and have also offered to host a test event at the Carabao Cup final on April 25.
Non-League Finals to Miss Out?
Last years Non-League Finals, consisting of the FA Trophy and Vase did not take place due to the coronavirus restrictions. The finals were postponed and will take place on May 3.
Later on in the month, on May 25th, the 2020/1 Non-League Finals will be played.
But so far, these matches are to be played behind closed doors, with no fans able to watch.
This has caused some upset and Lastwordonsports understands that clubs are appealing against this decision, desperate to try and get at least some of their fans a day out at Wembley.
The argument is quite simple to follow: if the FA Cup and League Cup are to have some fans watching on, then surely the non-league clubs can have some?
At present, the UK government roadmap out of lockdown restricts fans attending matches until May 17. This means that this years Non-League Finalists may have at least a limited crowd.
But the proposed test events will only allow Wembley locals to attend. This means that the fans of Hebburn Town, Consett, Harrogate Town and Concord Rangers would still be unable to watch their teams play in the finals.
Around two weeks separates the Leicester Southampton tie from the FA Trophy and Vase finals in May. Thus, with continued pressure from those clubs involved, perhaps fans would be allowed to travel down to witness a historic day for their clubs.
The issue here would appear to be the distance that these fans may have to travel. North East based Hebburn Town would have to travel 277 miles to reach Wembley, whilst nearby Consett would have to travel 278 miles.
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