LANCASHIRE Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford have responded with excitement to news that participation in sporting and major events will resume this summer.
During Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation, he announced that sporting events could reopen at 25% capacity on Monday May 17, and major events and performances could be held at full capacity from Monday June 21, subject to government data showing four key tests passed.
The latest roadmap will have a significant impact on Lancashire Cricket, Emirates Old Trafford and all of the club’s members and supporters, customers, business partners and guests.
The proposed schedule would mean fans will be welcome back to Emirates Old Trafford for the first time starting Thursday, May 27, when Lancashire’s County Championship Roses takes on Yorkshire.
It would also mean that the Vitality Blast Roses Match would be played in front of a full house on Saturday 17th July at Emirates Old Trafford. Tickets for this legendary game went on general sale yesterday and are in great demand after a significant roll-over from last year. Currently there will be a 25% total capacity limit on a number of previous Lancashire Lightning home Vitality Blast devices.
This summer, on Wednesday July 21st, the ECB’s new competition, The Hundred, will also start. According to the new roadmap, all four Manchester Originals home games at Emirates Old Trafford are possible without restrictions.
Emirates Old Trafford welcomes Pakistan for an international T20 on Tuesday 20th July and India for a friendly from 10-14 September.
Daniel Gidney, CEO of Lancashire Cricket, said, “It is the moment the whole nation has been waiting for – finally there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are thrilled to see life go back to normal and live events will be returning at Emirates Old Trafford. Yesterday’s announcement was fantastic news for cricket fans who will now experience the thrill of seeing some of the best cricketers in the world play at our brilliant venue later this year.
“As we work on the key government dates for Monday May 17th and Monday June 21st, we hope that we can enroll members in Emirates Old Trafford earlier as part of a government pilot program to provide the dates that Needed to confirm the phased reintroduction.Our experience of successfully hosting closed-door friendly matches last summer, coupled with 17 acres that we have on-site, allows us to safely conduct large-scale volume tests in April, and we hope that we can support the government with pilots.
“We believe that most of our members at the time had a vaccine that can only help. In addition, we plan to develop an outdoor cafe bar so visitors can safely visit Emirates Old Trafford when large, non-essential retail stores, zoos, theme parks and large pub gardens reopen on April 12th.
“It is also a critical day for Emirates Old Trafford’s events business and we look forward to welcoming guests back to conferences, meetings and events on May 17th. We have a significant number of events planned for the second half of the year and we are delighted that our partners can now be certain that these events will take place. We are working closely with the Meetings Industry Association (MIA) to support their advanced plans for pilots in this area as well.
“The announcement will also instill confidence in customers and event bookers who have waited for the government’s green light to commit to their plans. We anticipate the 2021 Christmas party season will be very busy with businesses, who are desperately trying to finally bring in large numbers. ” of people together.
“We are very excited to have the government confirm the return of live sports and events. We are ready to welcome guests back to Emirates Old Trafford since we held closed-door international cricket in a bio-safe bubble for 21 days. The learning from this experience has been immense and we have tried to share this knowledge with the broader industry and our partners at every opportunity. We are delighted that we can now put our lessons learned back into practice to ensure that all future visitors to Emirates Old Trafford are safe at all times.
“In summary, we commend the government for their comprehensive and detailed plan to support data-driven economy and event attendance. Our experience makes us uniquely able to develop pilots who support the safe passage of small crowds who gradually return to the stadiums. Our close geographic proximity to the Liverpool government research project on volume lateral flow testing also makes us an active partner helping the government generate the data it needs for each of the four phases of the reopening program. We also believe that pilots should be renamed as Pre-Safety Events to better describe the process so that venues can reach up to 25% capacity from May 17th. ”
Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Emirates Old Trafford held international cricket behind closed doors for 21 days last summer. During this time, the club has completely revamped its operating procedures, hired a dedicated Covid-19 officer and conducted more than 6,000 Covid-19 tests at the venue.
After experiencing operating a bio-safe bladder, Emirates Old Trafford launched the “Safe in One Place” campaign to share the knowledge and best practices we have accumulated with the broader events industry. The venue was later recognized for its efforts as its operations team was named “Team of the Year” by the MIA and shortlisted for the “Best Venue Event Safety Plan” category at the Exhibition News Awards.
In addition, Emirates Old Trafford has been awarded the industry standard “We Good to Go” by Visit Britain and AIM Secure. This is in recognition of the venues’ dedication to providing a healthy and hygienic environment, as well as your dedication to doing just the best for your customers and your employees.
