EFL confident of fans in attendance for Spurs vs. City Carabao Cup final

With a few exceptions, Tottenham Hotspur fans have not been able to watch their team play in stadiums this season. But there’s still a chance that fans might get to watch them lift a trophy at Wembley. According to the Evening Standard, the English Football League (EFL) is confident that up to 10,000 Tottenham and Manchester City fans could be allowed to attend the match on April 25, socially distanced and masked after talks between the EFL and the government.

EFL Chairman Rick Parry continued to have hope that declining coronavirus cases in the UK could lead to some fans be allowed entry for the cup final, though far from Wembley’s full capacity of 90,000.

“Clearly we are hopeful. We didn’t enter into this season thinking we were going to be without fans.

“Of course, the Carabao Cup isn’t a dress rehearsal for us, it’s the pinnacle of the season and a really important event.”

It’s not confirmed, obviously, but talks are continuing. Nor is it clear who would get tickets or the mechanisms by which they could request them — certainly there are contingency plans in place should the decision to include live fans proceed.

Football has continued this season despite the global pandemic, which has been wonderful. But football with fans is a far superior experience, even if only a fraction of Wembley’s capacity is allowed in. With a substantial percentage of the UK now vaccinated and the number continuing to rise while COVID-19 positive cases continue to drop, there’s hope that the Carabao Cup — hopefully lifted by Tottenham for the first time since 2009 — will be among the first steps in a return to something like normalcy.