The FA are looking into plans to play the FA Cup final in front of 20,000 fans at Wembley, but only if the coronavirus infection rate dips.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 17: Captain Thomas Vermaelen of Arsenal (2R) lifts the trophy in celebration alongside Lukas Podolski (L), Mikel Arteta (2L) and Arsene Wenger manager of Arsenal (R) after the FA Cup with Budweiser Final match between Arsenal and Hull City at Wembley Stadium on May 17, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Vermaelen (2R) lifts the FA Cup trophy alongside Podolski (L), Arteta (2L) and Wenger on May 17, 2014. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The Mirror report that the FA are exploring plans to allow a maximum of 10,000 fans from each side to support their team in the stadium for the FA Cup final. This will only happen if the coronavirus infection rate dips below 0.5 first.

Wembley has a capacity of 90,000, so it would only be 22.2% full. Stadium officials believe the size of the ground would allow them to control the flow of supporters.

For now, that’s still a way off. There are no plans to reintroduce supporters in Premier League matches this season, and no guarantees they’ll return for a large part of the next campaign either.

Essentially, the FA Cup final could become a test pilot for the return of football fans, but only if we meet a number of conditions before then. At this stage, it’s pretty much impossible to say how likely that is.

Arsenal are still in the FA Cup, at the quarter-final stage. If they beat Sheffield United and win their semi-final, they could have 10,000 fans travelling to Wembley in August.

I’d imagine those tickets will be hard to come by, if any of them make it out of the hands of corporate sponsors in the first place.