The 2021/2022 Championship

[I'm Brian]

9 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

To be fair, they've got about 18,000 years to get it done in time.

Will that be the year Falkirk finally get back to the Championship?

[AsimButtHitsASix]

20 minutes ago, I'm Brian said:

Will that be the year Falkirk finally get back to the Championship?

East Stirlingshire will be in the Championship before Falkirk

[Ranaldo Bairn]

23 minutes ago, I'm Brian said:

Will that be the year Falkirk finally get back to the Championship?

3 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

East Stirlingshire will be in the Championship before Falkirk

[19QOS19]

To be fair, they've got about 18,000 years to get it done in time.

[Fae_the_'briggs]

2 hours ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

To be fair, they've got about 18,000 years to get it done in time.

I knew I'd f**k it up. Sorted now. 

[Sortmeout]

Sorry if this has been mentioned already but when do the fixtures come out + what is the deal with TV games on bbc etc? Is there still a deal in place for Friday night games?

Somerset for a Friday night derby, even though we will lose, sounds great.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

3 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

when do the fixtures come out

15th June.

Key Dates | SPFL

[craigkillie]

20 hours ago, Sortmeout said:

Sorry if this has been mentioned already but when do the fixtures come out + what is the deal with TV games on bbc etc? Is there still a deal in place for Friday night games?

Somerset for a Friday night derby, even though we will lose, sounds great.

I think so. 20 games a season, 2 from each stadium.

[RiG]

What do we think the chances are of getting into away grounds this season? It would be rubbish to only get to a game every second weekend but it might allow teams to spread fans out further round the stadium to get as many in as possible.

[19QOS19]

Not confident of getting in to home games this season given the shitebag approach by our government.

[Cardle is Magic]

1 hour ago, RiG said:

What do we think the chances are of getting into away grounds this season? It would be rubbish to only get to a game every second weekend but it might allow teams to spread fans out further round the stadium to get as many in as possible.

Can’t see it tbh, unless they end up doing some vaccine passport thing which would be divisive to say the least.

Think it might be normal for a month or two and then we’ll get a new vaccine resistant variant and be back to square one by Christmas.

[stan3600]

Gareth Southgate : “It is a different atmosphere, the greasy pitch made the surface skiddy and it is a performance we know that has to be better. It might be an important point.” This man could be average in the Scottish Championship.

[craigkillie]

What do we think the chances are of getting into away grounds this season? It would be rubbish to only get to a game every second weekend but it might allow teams to spread fans out further round the stadium to get as many in as possible.

I don't think there will be a specific ban on away fans, but at the start of the season there is likely to still be an attendance limit which will mean that some teams won't have anything left over after accommodating their own fans. I'd imagine us, Dunfermline and Thistle being in that boat especially.

[parsforlife]

50 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

I don't think there will be a specific ban on away fans, but at the start of the season there is likely to still be an attendance limit which will mean that some teams won't have anything left over after accommodating their own fans. I'd imagine us, Dunfermline and Thistle being in that boat especially.

With standing limits being lower morton, ayr, Arbroath and queens are going to be pushed as well.

It’s going to be slim pickings at first for games with away crowds,  I could see it being a condition on any expanded crowd limits it’s only registered fans can apply for tickets.  Good chance also clubs might just see it as not worth the hassle if they are only going to be able to get a handful of away fans in.

 

[Nightmare]

1 hour ago, craigkillie said:

I don't think there will be a specific ban on away fans, but at the start of the season there is likely to still be an attendance limit which will mean that some teams won't have anything left over after accommodating their own fans. I'd imagine us, Dunfermline and Thistle being in that boat especially.

You think it’ll be a specific number of fans allowed in general or a percentage of available capacity at an individual ground? I’ve seen people mention 1000 fans allowed at first, but have also seen percentages quoted (eg. 25% of capacity like Hampden has for the Euros).

In 19/20, the average attendances for the teams in this division were as follows (% of capacity in brackets, as per Soccerway):
Kilmarnock - 5856 (32%)
Dunfermline - 4152 (35%)
Thistle - 2699 (21%)
Accies - 2565 (42%)
ICT - 2117 (27%)
Raith - 1839 (18%)
Ayr - 1778 (18%)
Morton - 1607 (14%)
Arbroath - 1462 (24%)
QotS - 1396 (16%)

As Killie and Accies are now playing at a lower tier without the numerous large away supports, you would expect their attendances to fall by a decent amount, and Raith’s promotion would likely see theirs rise by a few hundred from their League One figures. But I’d guess it to be a fairly realistic expectation that in a normal season every club’s attendance would be roughly 15-35% of their ground’s capacity.

With 25% of capacity allowed, that would indicate we might br struggling to accommodate much in the way of away fans at most grounds. At least initially, anyway.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Nightmare

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Nightmare said:

You think it’ll be a specific number of fans allowed in general or a percentage of available capacity at an individual ground? I’ve seen people mention 1000 fans allowed at first, but have also seen percentages quoted (eg. 25% of capacity like Hampden has for the Euros).

In 19/20, the average attendances for the teams in this division were as follows (% of capacity in brackets, as per Soccerway):
Kilmarnock - 5856 (32%)
Dunfermline - 4152 (35%)
Thistle - 2699 (21%)
Accies - 2565 (42%)
ICT - 2117 (27%)
Raith - 1839 (18%)
Ayr - 1778 (18%)
Morton - 1607 (14%)
Arbroath - 1462 (24%)
QotS - 1396 (16%).

Per current regulations:

Level 2 allows for maximum capacities for stadia and events of 100 indoors, 500 for outdoor seated, and 250 for outdoors standing. For Level 1 this increases to 200, 1,000 and 500, respectively; before reaching Level 0’s figures of 400, 2,000 and 1,000.

So, at Raith the maximum capacity under restrictions, even allowing Level 0, would be 2,000, as there is no designated stand area at Stark’s Park. Is there a way to fiddle the definitions, possibly, but that’ll take a solicitor and some digging. Firhill would face the same, 2,000 maximum at Level 0 since there is no designated standing area. That’s where it gets interesting, as Palmerston can theoretically hold 3,000 at Level 0 because of the designated standing area, but I’m not sure if there is a linked spacing requirement that might lower that a bit.

Edit: Reread the guidance, and there are linked physical spacing requirements, so the actual figures will likely be based upon the stadia management being good Tetris players!

Edited June 20, 2021 by TxRover

[Homer Thompson]

Per current regulations:
Level 2 allows for maximum capacities for stadia and events of 100 indoors, 500 for outdoor seated, and 250 for outdoors standing. For Level 1 this increases to 200, 1,000 and 500, respectively; before reaching Level 0’s figures of 400, 2,000 and 1,000.
So, at Raith the maximum capacity under restrictions, even allowing Level 0, would be 2,000, as there is no designated stand area at Stark’s Park. Is there a way to fiddle the definitions, possibly, but that’ll take a solicitor and some digging. Firhill would face the same, 2,000 maximum at Level 0 since there is no designated standing area. That’s where it gets interesting, as Palmerston can theoretically hold 3,000 at Level 0 because of the designated standing area, but I’m not sure if there is a linked spacing requirement that might lower that a bit.
Edit: Reread the guidance, and there are linked physical spacing requirements, so the actual figures will likely be based upon the stadia management being good Tetris players!

I don't know if it relaxes at lower levels but currently those figures are either/or not "and".

If you have terracing at the stadium you can use it OR the seating not both.

[Tattie36]

30 minutes ago, Mr X said:

 

 

I don't know if it relaxes at lower levels but currently those figures are either/or not "and".

If you have terracing at the stadium you can use it OR the seating not both.

 

Creates a difficult scenario for Arbroath as we have a capacity of 6600 but fewer than 900 seats. So going on what you’re saying, we could only use the seats or the terracing but not a combination? This would lead to a tiny capacity (150-200) if using the seats only due to social distancing or up to 1000 for terracing only but with no where to sit for the elderly etc.

[craigkillie]

All of those figures are subject to being increased with the permission of local authorities.

[TxRover]

3 hours ago, Mr X said:

I don't know if it relaxes at lower levels but currently those figures are either/or not "and".

If you have terracing at the stadium you can use it OR the seating not both.

 

 

2 hours ago, Tattie36 said:

Creates a difficult scenario for Arbroath as we have a capacity of 6600 but fewer than 900 seats. So going on what you’re saying, we could only use the seats or the terracing but not a combination? This would lead to a tiny capacity (150-200) if using the seats only due to social distancing or up to 1000 for terracing only but with no where to sit for the elderly etc.

If that’s the case, not really sure how that could be enforced on the concept of, for instance, allowing the 1,000 standing at Arbroath and denying any disabled fans access because you couldn’t use any seats…

No matter how this goes, it’s gonna be a mess.