Preston North End cannot wait to welcome fans back to Deepdale

It is coming up 12 months since the Lilywhites played in front of supporters at home.

Games behind closed doors will continue for the rest of the season, with restrictions on fans being in stadiums starting to be relaxed from May 17.

North End’s final home game of the campaign is scheduled for May 1 with the regular season finishing the following week.

All restrictions in grounds will stop in June, so if things go to plan, there should be an air of normality for the start of the 2021/22 season.

PNE advisor Peter Ridsdale told the Lancashire Post: “Any industry which hasn’t had any fans or customers for 12 months is going to have found this period a big strain and we have been no different.

“We have missed having our fans at Deepdale and the atmosphere they bring, we have missed them travelling to away games.

“The supporters are the lifeblood of a club and it is vital we have them back.

“I think you can see from some of the results in football this season that having to play matches without supporters has changed the whole focus of the game.

“We need to get the fans back for normality.

“From a financial point of view, here at Preston we are fortunate to have the ownership model we do.

“Without the owner there wouldn’t be a business left.

“So we are grateful for the owner, for his financial support in continuing to pay the staff, paying the bills and paying the tax.

“Some of our competitors are creaking financially but we are in good shape and looking forward to the future.”

Currently, clubs are taking their lead about having fans back from what Prime Minister Boris Johnson said when laying out the roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions.

The matter will be discussed at league meetings in the coming weeks.

Ridsdale said: “All we know at the moment is what the Prime Minister said.

“We are assuming from next season it is back to normal with no restrictions.”

The start of relaxation on fans being in grounds from May 17 will initially see a 10,000 limit or 25% of capacity.

Although the regular EFL season will have finished by then, the last round of Premier League games fall on May 23.

The play-off finals will be able to have a limited number of fans at Wembley.

The FA Cup final falls two days before restrictions are lifted but it could be that the FA applies to use the game as a test event to get some fans in.