Cambridge United to become first club in the EFL to welcome back fans
Cambridge United will be hosting test events with supporters for their first two matches of the season at the Abbey Stadium.
The U's have been chosen to open their doors to supporters for the EFL Trophy match against Fulham under-21s on Tuesday, September 8 (kick off 7.30pm) and against Carlisle United in the Sky Bet League Two on Saturday, September 12 (kick off 3pm).
The two matches are part of the government's pilot scheme to re-introduce supporters to stadiums, and the U's have been chosen to host the games having previously been part of a joint project by the EFL and the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) that looked at the safe application of social distancing at football grounds.
The work was overseen by crowd dynamics experts Movement Strategies, who will also assess the pilot matches at the Abbey Stadium on behalf of the SGSA and Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Appropriate measures have been applied at the Abbey Stadium, with both terraces and seating arrangements available.
As a result of two fixtures taking place at the same venue in a short period of time, it will allow for any learnings to be implemented quickly under the same conditions.
There will be 1,000 home supporters allowed to attend the match against Fulham under-21s in a socially-distanced manner in the Newmarket Road End, North Habbin Stand, South Habbin Stand and Mead Plant & Grab Stand.
The Abbey Stadium will be staging a full pilot event against Carlisle on September 12, with 2,500 home supporters to be permitted access across all areas of the ground.
Tickets for the EFL Trophy match against Fulham will be on sale from 9am tomorrow (Friday, September 4), with a priority window for season ticket holders to purchase their tickets. Any remaining tickets will go on sale from Monday morning (September 7) at 9am.
Tickets details for the Carlisle United match will be communicated in due course. This will include full information about the priority window for 2020/21 season ticket holders to secure their places in advance of general sale, as per the two stage process announced last month.
