Brighton ready to welcome fans back to the Amex
8,000 will be there for the Seagulls' Premier League match with Manchester City
Brighton and Hove Albion is getting ready to welcome its biggest crowd to the Amex Stadium since February 2020 on Tuesday (May 18th).
The easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions means that 8,000 Seagulls fans will be able to attend the club's final home game of the Premier League season against champions Manchester City.
Up to 10,000 supporters, or 25% of a ground's capacity, are allowed at games in all of England's divisions.
Fans going to the game will need to complete a health declaration form indicating that they have tested negative for Covid-19 in the 24 hours prior to the game.
Face coverings also need to be worn and social distancing rules followed, while extra sanitising stations will be in place around the ground.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Monday, Brighton head coach Graham Potter described the intervening 15 months without fans as 'a terrible time'.
“We're in football for that buzz of a matchday, you can’t describe it really. Even when we've been away and stayed overnight there's nobody else in the hotel, there's nobody in the city centre on a Saturday afternoon – it's been an awful, terrible time.
“So to have supporters back feels a little bit closer to getting back to normal - it’s going to be really emotional, exciting and poignant.
“I’m looking forward to it. We've had this amazingly strange experience for the last year or so which we've got used to but it shouldn’t be normal. Football is about supporters and feeling that intense sense of joy and disappointment. We've been carrying on trying to win games and haven’t had that feedback from fans that you usually get.
“Supporters are normally quite clear when they’re unhappy or when they’re happy –we’ve missed that a lot. I don’t think we could have asked for a better game to play than Man City, the champions and the best team in the league."
The new rules only allow home fans to attend matches, meaning Brighton fans will not be able to travel to London to see the side play Arsenal at the Emirates on the final day of the season on Saturday.
Brighton currently sit 17th in the Premier League table on 37 points.
They are already assured of top-flight football in 2021/22, with Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United having already been mathematically confirmed as relegated.
Kick-off is at 7pm.