Thomas hits out at government's 'inconsistency' on return of supporters

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas has criticised the government's 'tremendously inconsistent' approach to the return of football supporters.

Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, repeated on Wednesday that supporters will not be allowed to return to grounds in the foreseeable future due to rising infection rates.

However, that will irk many within the industry especially given theatres have been permitted to host indoor events with reduced capacities. Non-league football clubs have also welcomed back supporters.

"There's a tremendous amount of disappointment at the inconsistency with regards to fans of football and sport in general," said Thomas.

"For our part, we're doing as much as we can. We'll be taking part in a call with Northampton Saints and the cricket club and our local MP where we'll discuss it and have a collective Northampton view.

"We're putting as much pressure as we can on the government. When you see the pictures of theatres and the Palladium with crowds, it highlights the inconsistency, and it's the same for non-league football.

"I'm pleased that non-league are allowed fans in but that's a tremendous inconsistency because the professional game would be able to bring people in safely and all the pilot events that were held proved that it can be safe.

"We have the regulations, we have the infrastructure, we have the social distancing measures and we have safety advisory groups that approve everything. That's where the real inconsistency is.

"I haven't seen the government actually explain why this is the case. We understand the safety element and making sure we protect people but we feel there should be a phased approach and we've done a lot of work on it."

Thomas also says the club has a 'plan in place' to reimburse season ticket holders once they are given more details about when - if at all - supporters will be allowed to return.

He added: "We're very aware of season ticket holders and the product that people have paid for and we have plans in place to deal with that. A lot of people are understanding and obviously they've got access to iFollow but we want to make sure when we do something, it's comprehensive and not kneejerk.

"We want everything to be in place but we've a plan ready to go and ready to publish but we need to know exactly what's happening with the government and when fans are going to be allowed back in before we dot the Is and cross the Ts.

"James (Whiting) and people at the ground are working very, very hard on that and we'll also talk to fan groups about that over the next couple of weeks, but we also need more information from the government."