Response to Covid-19 survey

Following our Covid-19 survey, we have met with the club and have provided updates to concerns raised in the survey.

There’s plenty of information from this. Some you will already be aware of, some you won’t so the brief version of this is:

85% of fans happy to return to watch matches
80% of fans want more information from the club before doing so
Fans to return to matches from Saturday 3^rd October when we host Fleetwood Town.
The Club are following advice provided by the SGSA in allowing fans to return to games
Trust and club to liaise on Supporter Code of Conduct
Supporters allowed to buy Season Cards to be sat in Household / Support bubbles. Doesn’t apply to Sandy Lane
Sandy Lane to have crosses on floor to indicate where fans can stand
Ratcliffe and Dale Bar to be open with reduced capacity, Carlsberg and Desmond’s Den to be closed.
Kiosks will remain open with additional facility outside the ground to which fans will have access
Extra stewards will be brought in with focus on ensuring supporters are cooperating
Club to open as many turnstiles and exit points as is possible
Supporters asked to arrive in plenty of time before kick off but there will be no allocated arrival times
Hand sanitizers in place at key areas around the ground
Supporters asked to wear facemasks in any areas classed as being “inside”
Rules against chanting comes from the EFL
All matches to be streamed by iFollow until more fans are allowed into games

Response to questions:

Do you have concerns about social distancing regarding any of the following?

Answer	Votes	%
Going to the toilet	97	20.0%
Leaving the stadium	93	19.2%
When watching the game from my seat	81	16.7%
Getting to and from my seat	77	15.9%
Entering the stadium	75	15.5%
Visiting the kiosks	61	12.6%

Comments and questions from supporters

Returning to matches

When will we know if we can return on 1st October?
How likely it is we will be able to come to games?
When fans can start attending?

Fans will be allowed to return to matches from 1^st October. Given the fixtures that we were released on Friday morning, the first game that Dale supporters will be able to attend will be the game against Fleetwood Town Saturday 3^rd October.

Preparing for the return of supporters to matches

More information about the effects of the COVID 19 virus, nobody certainly not government and certain experts have any idea about the transmission of the virus. We must find some competent people to analyse the international response to the virus and compile a best-case scenario.
Also to note the possibility of local restrictions continuing in the Gtr. Manchester area at present.
I am over 70 and until this disease is minimal or there is a vaccine. I am struggling to be able to mix with crowds, outside of family members.
As an exile my main concern is public transport, but that is not something the club can do anything about.
The only information needed is a safe reliable vaccine to Covid and almost eradication of the disease which is the only thing that would convince me to attend matches again. Having had a full season ticket for the last 11 years I will not be renewing or attending matches this season or indeed until it is guaranteed/ 99% safe to do so.
I’d like the information someone with impartial clinical knowledge thinks is important. Not from the club.

All the information that the club are acting upon comes from the Sports Ground Safety Authority and the EFL. The SGSA are the Government’s advisor on safety at sports grounds. They provide independent, expert advice, based on nearly three decades of experience in making football in England and Wales a safe and enjoyable experience for spectators.

The club have had to produce risk assessments and plans that have been approved by the Safety Advisory Group. They have also been working with a company called Engage in Safety extensively since April for all aspects of the club’s response to Covid-19. The club’s Safety Officer Brian Slater has been heavily involved throughout all of this.

The recommendation from the SGSA is that supporters are given a Spectators’ Code of Conduct. It states that the Code of Conduct should take the following into consideration:

The contents should be tailored to the specific characteristics of the ground, the nature of the sport being staged and to the provisions of any national and/ or local guidance in force at the time.
The Code should be written in concise and plain language, making it clear if any parts of it are mandatory.

If being communicated in digital form – as is strongly recommended – a check box should ideally be included for recipients to confirm that they have read the Code, before leaving the page.

Printed copies of the Code should be posted in prominent locations within the spectator accommodation.
Where appropriate, the wording of the Code should be shared in advance with representatives of supporters’ groups.
The Code should make clear whether spectators will be required, or simply recommended, to wear a mask or face covering.

The Code should emphasise that compliance is a way of showing respect for fellow spectators, and that non-compliance, as well as jeopardising public health, may harm the reputation of the host club, team or venue, the sport they represent and the wider sporting community.
It may be beneficial at some grounds to draw up two Codes, one for spectators in seated areas and one for spectators in standing areas.

The suggested Code of Coduct from the SGSA can be found here. The Trust will be working with the club to ensure that our Code of Conduct is tailored to the needs of our supporters and is written in such a way to allow supporters to show respect for their fellow supporters rather than an imposing list of “You must not…….”. This will be publicised well in advance of the first game back at the Crown Oil Arena.

Main Stand / Pearl Street Stand / Willbutts Lane Stand

A definite decision regarding attendance is what most people I think are waiting on
Can a season ticket holder sit with a relative who is only paying on the day?
Seating arrangements
Bubble seating together
What social distancing will be in place? Also on a return, this should be as soon as it is safe to do so.
Exact details of distance between seats
Can I sit with a member of my household who is also a season ticket holder or do we have to sit separate?
How will seating be allocated, what does it look like in the seating areas
Seating plans produced once tickets have been sold.
How seats are going to be allocated?

Season tickets are now on sale to existing season ticket holders. There have been around 1000 season tickets in total sold by Monday 24^th August. These will be on sale to existing season ticket holders until the end of August before going on open sale.

Seated Supporters can buy their season tickets in “bubbles”. This allows people from the same household or support bubble to sit together. These will be allocated when purchasing season tickets and can only be done at the ticket office or via telephone – hence season tickets in the Pearl Street and Main Stand not being available to be bought online.

The club are following the guidelines provided to all clubs from the Sports Ground Safety Authority. In calculating social distancing, each supporter is allocated 1m². This is based upon “a 1.0m diameter circle, centred on the head, regardless of whether the individual is sitting, walking or standing.” rather than a specific distance being kept between seats.

The club are following a recommended method which leaves alternate rows empty. This image is taken from the guidance provided to clubs:

Because of the allocation of season tickets, it will not be possible for a pay on the day supporter to sit with a specific season ticket holder as it would impact on the allocated 1m² per supporter.

Sandy Lane Terrace

How are the people you are stood with in sandy lane going to be sorted as its not off seat number when me and my dad order at completely different times?
How social distancing will be handled in the Sandy?
As a Sandy Lane season ticket holder, I’d like to know how many people will be allowed on the terrace and how the club anticipates managing distancing? we can’t all stand behind the goal!

Those supporters in the Sandy Lane terrace will have to follow the same guidelines as those in the rest of the ground with the capacity based around each supporter requiring 1m². There will be markings on the terrace for people to stand on. These will not be reserved and will be take on a first come, first served basis. It won’t be a “fill up from the far end” style operation. It will not be possible for “bubbles” to exist within the Sandy Lane terrace. If this was to happen, it would impinge on the distance with other supporters.

Season tickets still remain on sale for the Sandy Lane terrace but any that are bought now will be housed in the Willbutts Lane stand as part of the overflow before being moved back to the Sandy Lane terrace when restrictions allow.

Stadium Bars

What are the arrangements both pre-game and HT for bars like the Ratcliffe?
Will the Dale bar be open?
Pub be open?
Would like to know if bars and Desmond Den can be opened?
Will the Bars be open?

When the games recommence, the Ratcliffe Bar and the Dale Bar will be open, prior to the game only, but not at half-time, but the Carlsberg Lounge / Desmond’s Den will not be open. Both the bars will have to operate on a reduced capacity to ensure social distancing. Both will be operating on a cashless system.

The EFL are now suggesting that the clubs do not sell alcohol inside the ground due to concerns over the capacity of the concourses. The club have not made a decision as of yet whether to go with this suggestion. The Ratcliffe and Dale Bar would be classed as being inside the ground and does not have the same concerns that a stadium concourse might have.

Details on what supporters will face has been published on the Ratcliffe Bar’s website.

The Catering Kiosks will be open, and, similar to the bars, will be operating on a cashless system, in addition to a facility on the car park located outside the ground that supporters will have access to before the game.

Stewarding

I would like assurance that stewards will ensure fans are complying with social distancing regulations and that they will take action on anyone who is not.
What are the safeguards and stewarding?
Will the ground be properly policed covid wise in all areas?
Do they plan on kicking people out who will inevitably cheer when we score?
How stewards will act on fans who do not follow the rules. They have been unable to make a large group of teenagers sit down in the Pearl St end for a number of seasons now – it does not give me confidence that they will be able to enforce the Covid rules particularly to this group of fans.
Particular instructions regarding breaches of Covid guidelines to stewards – to prevent arguments!
Will the social distancing be entirely self-policed or will stewards also step in to ensure everyone is acting responsibly?
How strictly certain rules are going to be enforced i.e social distancing and no chanting/cheering?

With no away supporters in the ground, the entire purpose of the stewarding will be to ensure that supporters are co-operating with the rules in place for the safety of themselves and their fellow supporters. There will be no higher priority than that. All stewards will be provided with PPE equipment by the club.

There is going to be a need for all supporters to show common sense throughout and to stick with the Code of Conduct.

Entering / Leaving the ground

Arrangements for leaving ground, people arrive spaced out, leave as a whole. Will Stewards be competent enough to enforce social distancing?
How is all going to work safely, entry, exit, getting to & from your seat etc.?
How will social distancing be policed outside the ground before/after matches? People will be milling around in their hundreds
Social distance required throughout the ground as well as entering, leaving etc
Details of the entry procedure, turnstiles or into seated covered areas.
Plans for egress and a commitment to utilising all exits and not keeping some out of use.
How do the club manage any queues that might build up outside the ground?
Entrance / exit arrangements that allow social distancing
will there be arrival & departure time slots?

There will not be allocated arrival times for supporters. This has been discussed but it is not felt that this will be necessary at the Crown Oil Arena. However, supporters will be asked as part of the Code of Conduct to arrive in plenty of time for the game – this will reduce queuing time outside of the ground.

Supporters will be allocated a specific turnstile to enter the ground as part of their Season Card, and all available turnstiles will be open. Signs have been put up at the Turnstiles to indicate which blocks they represent. There will be social distancing markings in place whilst queuing to enter the ground.

When accessing a seat, it will be necessary for supporters to avoid face to face contact when passing other spectators situated on their row.

It is not expected that there will be many people milling around outside the ground. Supporters will be asked to enter the ground as early as they can which will prevent this, and there will be little to do outside the ground to encourage fans to hang around. The turnstiles usually open at around 2pm on a normal matchday but they will be opening earlier.

In addition, the Ratcliffe Arms and Dale Bar will be open to limited numbers to provide somewhere for supporters to go.

Given there will be no away supporters, the club will not have to restrict exits to avoid fans coming together. Therefore, all exits will be open at the end of the game with exits allocated to each section of the ground.

There is not expected to be any issues regarding exit from the stadium. The Sandy Lane terrace will have two exits for 260 supporters. The main stand has two exits at either end for 365 supporters. The Pearl Street Stand will have three exits to accommodate 828 supporters, and the Willbutts Lane stand will have two exits for 600 supporters. This is well within the recommended guidelines. Crowd modelling research suggests that a level surface will disperse 72 people per channel per minute and a 54 people per channel per minute on stepped surfaces.

At all times, supporters will be asked to use common sense and show respect to their fellow supporters, and this will underpin everything that is put in place.

Stadium Hygiene

The condition of the toilets. Will there be hand sanitiser stations?
What exactly have the club put into place regarding hygiene practices between matches?
What cleaning regime will take place before, during and after matches?
Personally being high risk, toilets are spotless and everyone wear a mask
I just think guarantees that the toilets will be cleaned regularly with soap and sanitiser readily available
how will toilet access be controlled
Hand sanitisers required at key areas.

There will be hand sanitisers at all entry points to the ground, kiosks and toilets.

There will be extra stewards in place to ensure that the rules are followed at the toilets. Given that the toilets are inside, there will be an expectation that facemasks are worn when using the toilets at all time.

The toilets will be cleaned thoroughly between matches and checks will be in place to ensure that this is the case. The toilets will be cleaned through the game as well.

Wearing of Facemasks

Will everyone be wearing masks at all times including entering and leaving the ground?
Will stewards enforce the rules, eg wearing of face masks?
Should masks be made compulsory, will this be enforced?
Are masks compulsory?
Will everyone be required to wear a mask? I hope so and that it is enforced.
The situation with regard to wearing masks at matches for fans in general and myself as a vulnerable person in particular.
Use of masks
Whether face coverings will be required.
Will wearing facemasks be made compulsory?
mask wearing procedures

It is not compulsory to wear facemasks in this country at this moment in time. We will be asking all supporters to wear facemasks whenever they are “inside” which includes concourses and toilets, and stewards will be asking supporters to maintain this.

Ticketing

I don’t want to buy a season card and not be allowed in for a long period of the season
How they propose to honour keeping your seats from 19/20 season?
More clarification, when possible, about how tickets can be bought in advance by non-season ticket holders would be great
Still more information on season ticket numbers exceeding capacity. First come first served basis does seem fair when people are paying for the same product. Plan does not appear clearly thought through.
As I live some distance from Rochdale, I have previously had a Country season ticket. Given the likely limited ground capacity will I be able to buy match tickets in advance?
Info about any restrictions on exiles travelling to games from outside the local area
How’s it being decided which season ticket holders are let in?
Will the club sell part / half season tickets or ticket blocks if/when restrictions are eased later in the season?
I attend most home games and plenty away but because I didn’t have a season ticket last year, my chance of attending most home games this season will be unlikely which is very disappointing. This is due to the capacity restrictions (understandable) and the way Rochdale AFC are restricting non-season ticket holders with the ˜early bird” system for previous season ticket holders.
Will current ST seat be available next season if this season is missed?
Will anybody not buying a ST for 2020 still have access to their seats in 2021/22? Or are we now likely to lose our position due to fear of attending in 2020/21 for nothing but health issues?

The club are already on record as saying that should the situation worsen after supporters return in October to matches, then Season Card holders will be given iFollow passes for any matches that are played behind closed doors. Should the Government retract its guidance on allowing supporters into the ground from October 1st onwards, then the Club will look to offer either a refund on Season Cards or the provision of additional ifollow passes.

Around 1900 season tickets are being offered at this stage only to existing season ticket holders. With around 2600 season ticket holders last season, these are being offered on a first come first served basis. We are aware that a number of season ticket holders will not be in a position to renew for 2020-21, so should any season tickets remain at the end of the renewal period, they will be offered to non-season ticket holders.

Once the season starts, the club will be aware of how many tickets they will be able to offer on a match by match basis to Dale Family Rewards Card holders, and come up with a plan about how these will be made available to supporters.

Should the restrictions be lifted during the season, the club will look to reallocate season ticket holders to their original seat. If the capacity increases, the club will reassess ticketing for the remainder of the season.

The club have stated that they will wherever possible look to guarantee seats for supporters who are unable to renew their season tickets for the 2020-21 season for whatever reason. The Trust will look to work with the club on this at the end of the renewal period. However, the club have stated that at this stage, there is no guarantee that they will be offering season tickets for the 2021-22 season, something that was considered for the 2020-21 season.

The Trust are working with the Exiles to ensure that they will still get some access to matches from the tickets not taken up by Season Card holders. This will be done on a very limited basis, and all Exiles are being contacted in respect of this.

Chanting inside the Ground

Why can’t you sing, shout or chant?
Are we REALLY not allowed to shout anything, as said in the update from the club yesterday? Or is that just something they have to publicly say? How strictly will this be enforced? I can’t imagine watching football (especially Dale!) without shouting anything.
Is the no chanting a government directive?

This is something that has come from the EFL. Government advice is that shouting and chanting will increase the risk of the virus being spread.

iFollow

Concise information on iFollow voucher reward for matches behind closed doors i.e is it commentary or visual or is it extra to view and how much? Does the voucher apply to Covid limited attendances where on a first come basis I haven’t be able to attend the match?
Will the 3pm blackout remain in place when games are behind closed doors or with reduced capacity or can the club stream the games on iFollow? And what percentage discount for this is included within the new rewards card given a lot of the other incentives will have limited availability while there are capacity restrictions? This is important when deciding whether to replace my discontinued season ticket with this new awards card, or if it isn’t worth it this year which will probably have capacity restrictions for much of the season.

It is the intention of the EFL to video stream all league matches for the 2020-21 season on iFollow up until the point where the restrictions on stadia are lifted to 50% capacity. The only exception to that will be games that are being broadcast live on television. We are still awaiting confirmation about the matches being streamed in the Cup competitions, but it is expected that this will be the case. The costs of watching League matches through iFollow will be £10 per match.

The EFL have waived their revenue of this for the forthcoming season, meaning it will be a vital income stream for the club throughout 2020-21. The club will receive money from away games when the number of Dale supporters purchasing the iFollow passes surpasses what would be the expected number of away supporters – eg if we normally take 200 supporters to Gillingham and 250 pay for an iFollow pass for this game, we would receive the income from 50 passes with Gillingham taking the income from 200 passes.

No decision has been made so far as to what the discount will be to holders of the Dale Family Rewards Card. The Trust will be following up on this and will provide details as soon as possible.

For home League games behind closed doors, Season Card holders will be provided with ifollow passes.

There will not be any season passes to purchase all games.

General

Will we be made to use the track and trace system?
If someone tests positive after attending a game, what happens?

Due to the new ticketing system, the club will have contact details for all supporters in attendance at the match. The club are looking at how they will respond should a supporter subsequently test positive following a match, with details to be published when available.

Absolute clarity – perhaps in the form of instructional videos for each stand – so that supporters know exactly where and how to queue/stand; where the sanitising stations are; one way systems; staggered exit; emergency evacuation procedures etc. prior to arriving at the stadium.

The club felt this was a good idea and would look into this.

Can we bring our own drinks into the ground rather than queue at kiosks?
Am I allowed to bring a beer and drink it outside before the game as a beer before football is tradition?
are we hoping the Gov change legislation for drinking in the stands?
What will we be allowed to take into the stadium? for example, I collect matchday programmes, so bring an a4 sized bag to keep them safe, protected from bad weather.
How will programmes be sold?

Supporters will not be allowed to bring their own alcoholic drinks into the ground, with the Ratcliffe Arms and Dale Bar available before games for supporters wanting a pre-match drink.

The club will be producing a printed version of the matchday programme but it will only be on sale from the club shop.

How does no music add to safety?

Government guidance states that when loud music is played, it encourages supporters to shout to be heard and this is considered to be a higher risk of spreading the virus.

Action points:

Club and Trust to work on Code of Conduct
Club to update as to access to Ratcliffe Bar at half time
Club to update with procedures if supporters tests positive after attending match
Club to look into producing videos ahead of first game back
Club to provide info on iFollow discount for Season Card / Dale Family Loyalty Card holders

All of the above is correct as of 24/8/20. We have all seen how quickly things can change and there may well be changes between now and the first game that supporters will have access to. If anything changes, we will do what we can to provide updates.

The full survey can be viewed here: