How St James's Park will be transformed for Newcastle United's Premier League restart

St James's Park will be divided into three zones when Newcastle United resume their Premier League campaign.
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Football, suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, will restart this month.

The club will restart its season on June 21 with a behind-closed-doors home game against Sheffield United.

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West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady has revealed how stadiums will be split into red, amber and green zones.

St James's Park.St James's Park.
St James's Park.

“We are now in the process of agreeing the matchday protocols, which will include everything from zoning the stadium into red, amber and green zones,” Brady said in her column in the Sun.

“Red zone will be the most severely restricted area, including the pitch, the tunnel, technical areas, changing rooms will be limited to 105 people maximum, to include players, coaching staff, match officials and all the essential staff only.

“And only those who have tested negative for Covid-19 in the past five days can enter this area.

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“We will be creating a Clinical Passport System for those who will need to have access to the red zone.

“The amber zone will be restricted to the minimum number of staff required to meet contractual requirements for broadcasting, media and club staff. This area includes all interior areas within the stadium and anyone entering this area will be subject to a temperature check and a health questionnaire. And the green zone is the stadium exterior.

“In all areas, social distancing needs to be observed, and a series of one-way systems and other procedures need to be incorporated to ensure that it is. This includes in the dressing room (save for 15 minutes for the pre-match tactical talk by the manager) and the showers.

“A new strict accreditation process will be developed, including an isolation room should someone unfortunately develop symptoms of Covid-19 whilst within the stadium.

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“We also have to ensure players refrain from spitting and everything must be disinfected, including the corner flags and match balls. There can be no sharing of drinks and no hand shaking.”

Brady also revealed that lower-tier rows of seating in each of the 20 stadiums will be covered by clubs’ insignia and fan representation. All shirts will feature the NHS logo.