Harlequins have privilege of being first to bring back fans – but it’s been no easy task

EXCLUSIVE
Harlequins will be the first English team to play in front of a home crowd since lockdown
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Harlequins and their CEO Laurie Dalrymple have in the past hosted matches for 80,000 fans, but as it turns out staging an event for 3,500 this weekend has proved just as challenging.

For the first time this weekend supporters in England will be able to watch a rugby match in a stadium as Harlequins host Bath at The Stoop.

It is a big moment for the sport which, like many others, is working towards getting fans back into grounds around the country after the Covid-19 pandemic hit earlier this year.

Harlequins were selected by the DCMS to act as a pilot for rugby and they have left no stone unturned to ensure Saturday’s match is a success.

It has been a mammoth and quick task and one they have had just weeks to prepare for too, but there is a belief this could be the start of rugby’s long road back to normality.

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“In many ways we’ve got a few thousands people in the ground, you’d look at that at face value and think that’s nothing,” Dalrymple tells Standard Sport.

“The team with our experience and professionalism could probably do that stood on their head, but there are so many more complexities to it.

“We organise The Big Game at Twickenham every year, which is 80,000 fans, and the complexities of that are vastly different to when we have 15,000 at The Stoop.

“The enormity of what we are trying to achieve on Saturday probably ranks really, really highly up there in terms of other events that we have delivered.”

Harlequins have been exceptionally diligent in their planning for this match with Bath and have been working with a number of stakeholders - including the local council and RFU.

They have partnered too with Control Risk, who specialise in global risk and strategic consulting, and they have helped to map out the stadium so it will adhere to social distancing guidelines while getting the greatest number of supporters in.

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Tickets have been sorted via a ballot, with only members able to apply, to ensure track and trace can be easily initiated. Fans will fill out health questionnaires, wear face masks and have their temperature checked before entering The Stoop - which they will do at an allocated time to ensure there is not a rush of supporters. Once inside fans must sit in their designated seats and, to avoid congestion on the concourse, an app will be used to order food and drink right to supporters - which is perhaps one perk of the new environment.

“Frankly, it is just going to be brilliant to have fans in the ground, supporting the team and driving them on,” says Dalrymple. “We certainly see it as a privilege that we are going to be the first ones to take the responsibly of safely bringing spectators back into our venue.

“We can see this as a real community-led event. It is not just a Harlequins event, it is a community event, it is a London event and we can firmly put ourselves on the national map.”

Staging Saturday’s match has been the latest challenge for Harlequins who, like all Premiership clubs, have been rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

For Dalrymple, who was only appointed as CEO last November, it has been a particularly challenging first year in the job - but one he has no regrets over.

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“It’s funny I had some time with the owner on Sunday at the game. He asked a similar question with a bit of sort of chuckle,” he says. “It has been challenging year for everybody, but I think we have learned a huge amount about ourselves to try and create the best environment for us to operate in.

“We will have taken a number of areas of our business, sport and culture over the past six months to take forward.

“It has been really difficult and there’ve been difficult days when we didn’t know when we would be coming back.

“At times like this you learn a lot about each other. It just further reinforces the quality of the individuals we have at Harlequins.

“I think we are building something here at the club that has got every chance of succeeding in future seasons. That is firmly our target and aim.

“We think we can do something fantastic here. We have hopefully used this time wisely to ensure we have building blocks in the place for the future to do that.”

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