Soccer

Up to 6,000 fans permitted for Bohemians’ clash with Stjarnan

Europa Conference League qualifying tie will take place at the Aviva Stadium

Up to 6,000 fans will be allowed to attend Bohemians v Stjarnan at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Tommy Dickson/Inpho

Thu Jul 1 2021 - 12:02

Up to 6,000 fans will be allowed to attend Bohemians’ Europa Conference League first qualifying round tie with Stjarnan on July 15th at the Aviva Stadium as part of the Government’s pilot programme for the safe return of spectators to Irish sport.

Bohs will meet their Icelandic opposition away from home in the first leg next week before lining out for the second leg in front of the biggest crowd at a football match in Ireland since the pandemic began.

This weekend the limit for 500 fans at stadiums exceeding capacity of 5,000 will kick in earlier than initially planned to allow for more people to attend All-Ireland Championship matches while 8,000 will attend the Leinster senior hurling championship semi-finals at Croke Park on Saturday as part of the pilot events.

On Thursday the FAI also announced that the next upcoming national league pilot events will include the Bray Wanderers versus Cobh Ramblers game at the Carlisle Grounds this Friday with a crowd of 600 fans while Shamrock Rovers can welcome 1,000 spectators to Tallaght Stadium for Friday night’s game against Dundalk and Longford Town can admit 500 fans for Saturday’s fixture against Sligo Rovers.

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All SSE Airtricity Premier & First Division and Women’s National League fixtures from Saturday, July 3rd will now be able to host 200 supporters, with 500 in attendance at stadiums whose capacity is greater than 5,000. Those stadiums are Bishopsgate, Tallaght Stadium, Turners Cross, Richmond Park and the Regional Sports Centre.

FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said: “This is another step forward in our Return to Watch programme and we welcome the confirmation that 6,000 fans can attend the Bohemians versus Stjarnan game in the new UEFA Europa Conference League, the biggest crowd at an Irish football game since the pandemic began.

“This is a major boost as we look to get supporters back to League of Ireland and Women’s National League football at pre-pandemic levels and the addition of the Aviva Stadium as a test venue is significant as we look to get our fans back into the ground for the big World Cup games in September.”