SUPPORTERS are set to attend a men’s English professional football match for the first time since March this weekend after the English Football League (EFL) was given the go-ahead to play nine matches in front of up to 1,000 spectators each.

The games are part of the government’s pilot event programme to reintroduce spectators to venues on a socially distanced basis amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Initially there were 10 fixtures chosen to host fans: Luton v Derby, Middlesbrough v Bournemouth and Norwich v Preston in the Championship, Blackpool v Swindon, Charlton v Doncaster, Shrewsbury v Northampton and Hull v Crewe in League One and Forest Green Rovers v Bradford, Carlisle v Southend and Morecambe v Cambridge in League Two.

However, Luton later announced they would not be participating in the pilot scheme, having not been given enough time to prepare.

A club statement criticised the EFL’s communication over the matter.

It read: “To stage a game with supporters here would take a lot of preparation time, and unfortunately, despite asking again from very early this morning, we had heard nothing from the League until a few minutes before they issued their statement stating that we were one of the clubs taking part.

“Sadly, this does not give us enough time to get ready so we are unable to host spectators here for the Derby match.

“We understand that the EFL are beholden to DCMS, but to request clubs to offer and then not back up quickly, knowing there is such little time to prepare, is very disappointing and we are sorry to disappoint supporters who may have raised hopes of attending Saturday’s match.”

EFL clubs are still hoping that supporters will be able to return more widely from October 1, but the government is reviewing that date after a spike in coronavirus cases.

EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to 1,000 fans this week.

“The health and wellbeing of supporters and their wider communities remains the priority, but as we showed at Cambridge, social distancing can be applied safely. By extending across more EFL clubs we hope to further demonstrate that the measures developed can allow fans to return in greater numbers from as early as next month.

“The requirement to welcome spectators back through turnstiles has not diminished in any way, the financial challenges facing EFL clubs have been explained on numerous occasions, they are substantial and a problem that requires immediate solutions.”

An earlier EFL statement said that “having crowds at matches is an absolutely essential part of helping to protect club finances, which remain under extreme pressure.”

It is understood clubs situated in communities which are currently under local lockdowns were excluded from applying to be part of the pilot matches.

The Secretary of State for Sport Oliver Dowden said: “I know that many fans are eager to return to football and that jobs depend on this too, so fans will welcome news that the EFL will be running number-capped, Covid-secure and socially distanced pilots this weekend.

“This will help us build the evidence base to see how we can return fans safely in greater numbers as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Leyton Orient had hoped to host a pilot event this weekend but the timings involved, after only being approached to do so on Tuesday morning, made it impractical.

The club reluctantly withdrew their application and so their League Two clash with Mansfield will instead be played behind closed doors.

A club statement read: “That is not a decision we have taken lightly but with very little preparation time to issue tickets, co-ordinate stewarding and to comply with all of the rigorous safety measures, we will now focus our efforts on a hoped swift return of crowds with more notice being given by the relevant authorities.”