The Evening Standard’s launches ‘Bring Back the Fans’ campaign today with the support of Arsenal and England football legend, Ian Wright.

Banning fans from football grounds has already cost the London economy close to £1 billion in lost spending and threatens the future of scores of local businesses.

The campaign features an article written by Ian Wright, reflecting on his personal experience and the current state of the game, stating “I can tell you as a player that football without fans just isn’t the same.”

Ian is backing the Evening Standard’s campaign, encouraging people to sign the petition to the government and asking “How many more clubs and small businesses in our local communities have to go under before they are even given a chance to show that they can put in place the necessary protocols and get fans in safely? We are running out of time.” The campaign argues that technological solutions are available to get fans back into grounds safely, as seen in the Bundesliga, and calls on the government to consider implementing these in England.

The campaign highlights more broadly the economic and community impacts of the restrictions, such as:

• Premier League games played behind closed doors since March have cost local economies at least £680 million, using the top flight’s own estimates of an average £20 million of gross value added (GVA) per game.
• Including the knock-on effect for Football League clubs such as QPR, Brentford, Millwall, and Charlton Athletic, the total is likely to be approaching £1 billion already.
• The loss of matchday revenues has had a devastating impact on businesses close to grounds that rely on spending by fans.
• Local community sports clubs are at risk of closing permanently without support from sporting foundations and charities.

If you would like to hear more about the campaign and the research conducted by The Evening Standard or speak with Head of Sport James Major, please do get in touch.