Football fans have been reacting to new Covid-19 measures which will see sports crowds in Scotland limited to 500 people for three weeks from Boxing Day.
Nicola Sturgeon has announced outdoor events in Scotland will effectively have to be held behind closed doors as part of rules aimed at slowing down the Omicron variant.
Football will be hardest hit by the news, with clubs in the middle of the hectic festive fixture schedule. Aberdeen have already said – with two home games, against Dundee and Rangers, scheduled for the period – it will cost the club £500,000 in revenue.
Gutted supporters, faced with the prospect of being locked out of games once again, have also been making their feelings about the new rules known, with several saying they feel football fans have followed every demand made of them by Government during the pandemic.
They also seemed to question what they view as inconsistencies between the rules for different sectors:
Nooooooooooo 😔 pic.twitter.com/YPSRbTxthp
— GeeTeaOh (@Geeteaoh) December 21, 2021
Wash your hands, get your vaccine, wear a mask, get another vaccine, get a vaccine passport, get another vaccine, take a test every time you go out.
Sorry, you've not done enough, get back in the house.
— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) December 21, 2021
Ludicrous to think we fans are sitting outside (in the cold fresh air) we go through all rituals of masks, testing, blah, blah. Yet, it gets halted but I can still go to the gym…
Beyond stupid!
— MSP (@MSPAberdeen) December 21, 2021
I could honestly greet, absolutely gutted.
— Coullie ⭐⭐ (@mattcoull1903) December 21, 2021
We waited 18 months, put up with reduced crowds, accepted no away fans, produced negative LFTs, got vaccinated, got vaccinated again, got vaccine passports, got boosted
Football fans have done everything we have been asked to – yet we are scapegoats of this government once more
— Amy Lee Fraioli 🧜🏻♀️ 🕷 (@ALFraioli) December 21, 2021
In response to the measures, many supporters are hoping Premiership clubs can now reach an agreement to extend the winter break so it begins on December 26:
Are we all in agreement that if the league HAS to shut down that we bring the winter break forward and postpone matches rather than playing games behind closed doors again?
Closed doors fitba was a bag of nails.
— The ABZ Football Podcast (@AbzPodcast) December 21, 2021
Bring winter break forward
— Kirk Forbes (@Kirky_8) December 21, 2021
Discussions between the top-flight clubs and other stakeholders like Sky Sports are understood to be under way.
If this change happens, the three-week winter shutdown, which was scheduled to start on January 3 and end on the weekend of January 22, would be extended to four weeks – with three rounds festive top-flight fixtures moved to the new year.
The Press and Journal has launched a Twitter poll to canvass fan opinion on starting the winter break a week early.
After a couple of hours, results are conclusively in favour of stopping games after Wednesday night’s matches, which are unaffected by today’s Scottish Government announcement.
At around 400 votes on the P&J Sport Twitter poll, 86% were in favour of an early shutdown.
What do you think? Vote below –
With Premiership clubs understood to be exploring bringing the winter break forward, would you like to see the shutdown kick in after tomorrow night’s games?
— P&J Sport (@PandJSport) December 21, 2021