MILLWALL chief executive Steve Kavanagh has urged fans to “work with us” if there are “teething problems” when The Den reopens at normal capacity next month.
England moved to Step 4 of easing Covid measures last Monday and currently that means supporters can return to grounds without any restrictions.*
Kavanagh said the club will deal with any “variables and curveballs” that come their way but the Lions are planning for “normal operations”.
Kavanagh said fans can decide if they want to wear masks but that won’t be an enforced measure.
The last time The Den was fully open was for the Championship game against Bristol City on February 29 2020, a week before their last game before the suspension of football.
Kavanagh and a group of his friends completed a charity ride for Prostate Cancer UK from The Den to AFC Bournemouth last Friday, and he used a cycling analogy as plans for a full reopening continue.
“I ask for the fans to be a little bit patient with us,” Kavanagh told NewsAtDen. “It is like riding a bike, running a football club, sometimes: when you first get on you’re a little bit wobbly. We will have teething problems and issues and I need the fans to work with us and certainly not behave the way many of us witnessed at Wembley [before the European Championship final this month].
“We’ve said we’re going to have a reset for the fans. We always knew the importance of fans but at times we’ve built ourselves up because of issues over the years and what we’re going to try and do is reset that and put a level of trust back to the people in a way Boris [Johnson] is with the virus.
“I hope that we can make that irreversible, but I’m not going to make the same commitment Boris has made. Hopefully it is irreversible, but it only takes one idiot to set us back.
“We want the fans to come here, enjoy their time understanding that sometimes we can have complex issues thrown at us.
“There’s talk of Covid passports, like at Wembley. If we have to do that – and we’re not planning on doing that at this stage – but if that has to come in then we’ll all work together and we’ll need the fans to work with us. And we’ll deal with it.
“What we want ultimately is fans in the ground enjoying the football and getting behind the team. If that means we have to go an extra few miles to do that then we will do so, but that is going to need the fans to come with us and work with us on that journey as well.
“The EFL have put a statement out and I’m taking it that we’re back to – for the moment – normal operations.
“We will try to make some accommodations, we’re working on those now and we’ll announce those. At the moment there aren’t Covid certificates to come in, that’s not on the agenda, but it may come in.
“We’ll look at other things we can do to try to make sure there’s as much airflow and all the other standard things. At the moment we’re not being asked to enforce masks so we won’t do that. Obviously if people want to wear masks to feel more comfortable we will find ways to accommodate that.
“But we will work with the boundaries that we’ve all had to work with in the last 18 months because all I want is to get as many people in the ground. Responsibility is with the individual and we’ll try to accommodate people as best we can with what they want to do.”
Kavanagh and the administrative staff at the club have had an intense months since football was put on hold after Covid-19 infections soared in the country.
There was initially doubt over whether the 2020-21 season could resume, before the brief return of fans at a capacity of 2,000 for two games in December and the fall-out following the booing of the Taking the Knee gesture.
The summer reopening scheduled for June 21 was then postponed, before this week’s lifting of most restrictions raised hopes that football can return as normal the second weekend of August.
“I’ve got a great team of people here, the staff here have been phenomenal,” Kavanagh said. “Their ability to adapt to what’s in front of them and change and move at rapid pace and be nimble and agile has been critical. Everyone here has done that, we’ve all pulled together as a group of people and that proverbial team.
“It’s enabled us to adapt to what’s going on. Their support has allowed us to manage and handle what’s been thrown at us.
“I think those variables and curveballs are going to keep on coming. I’m sure we’ll adapt to them.”
*The situation continues to evolve, with the vaccines minister suggesting this week that Covid passports could be a requirement to enter any crowded venue.
Image: Millwall FC