SPORT in Warrington should remain largely unaffected by the new Covid restrictions announced last night – at least in the short term.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed England would move to “Plan B”, which includes wider requirement for face masks and working from home where possible, to combat the spread of the new Omicron variant.

More pertinently for sport, however, the new rules will require an NHS Covid Pass or a negative lateral flow test to access unseated indoor venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people or any venue with more than 10,000 people.

The capacity of Warrington Wolves’ Halliwell Jones Stadium stands at over 15,000, so anyone attending Wire home matches would be required to show their Covid status.

When restrictions were lifted to allow grounds to operate at full capacity again, the club were recommending supporters took a lateral flow test before attending games.

However, there remains the possibility that restrictions could be eased by the time the stadium is next in full use – the first Wire match of 2022 is Stefan Ratchford’s Testimonial match against Wigan Warriors on Saturday, January 29.

Football and other local amateur sport is set to be unaffected by the rule changes, which come into force next Wednesday.

The town’s largest non-professional sporting venues – Warrington Town’s Cantilever Park and Warrington Rylands’ Gorsey Lane – both have capacities that fall below the threshold that requires Covid status to be shown.

 

Cantilever Park has a capacity of 2,500 - beneat the threshold for Covid status requirement. Picture by Darren Murphy

Cantilever Park has a capacity of 2,500 - beneat the threshold for Covid status requirement. Picture by Darren Murphy

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