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Irish Cup Final between Ballymena and Glentoran sees fans attend football match in UK for first time since March

PA
PA

Football fans attended a match in the United Kingdom for the first time since March at Friday's Irish Cup Final.

The Covid-19 pandemic initially led to the shutdown of football and most other sports across the globe earlier this year, with supporters unable to attend games following last month's restart due to Government guidelines aimed at combating the spread of the virus.

However, a select number of fans were permitted at the 18,500-capacity Windsor Park in Belfast on Friday night as Glentoran and Ballymena United went head to head in the 2019/20 Irish Cup Final.

Each club was allocated 250 tickets for the showpiece fixture, with fans - who wore face masks - allocated seats behind each of the goals and subject to temperature checks upon entry to the stadium.

There were a number of other precautions put in place to ensure fan and player safety, including the deployments of extra stewards.

Ballymena also hosted a drive-in screening at their Showgrounds stadium for those that missed out on tickets for the final, which was tied at 1-1 at the end of normal time following goals from Paul O’Neill and Cathair Friel.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that further pilot sport events with spectators in attendance will no longer take place as planned in the first two weeks of August due to a spike in coronavirus cases.

Such a decision has affected plans for county cricket, the World Snooker Championship and the Glorious Goodwood Festival as well as sparking new concerns regarding the chances of football fans being allowed back into stadiums across the UK in October.

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