Arsenal are hoping to welcome fans back to the Emirates Stadium for the first time since lockdown when they face Sheffield United in October.

Writing in a message to supporters about the return of fans to the Emirates on Friday, Arsenal said: “We hope to be able to welcome supporters back to Emirates Stadium for the Sheffield United game scheduled for Saturday 3 October.”

The club did stress that this was based on current Government guidelines. We already know the situation is subject to change at any moment, the last few months have made that all too clear.

It’s good to hear they’re at least planning for the return of supporters this year, though. We all miss the atmosphere at games, and Arsenal in particular miss the revenue fans provide. There aren’t many clubs out there who bring in more money from ticket sales.

The next question is going to be about how exactly the return will work. Arsenal confirm the plan is for ‘reduced capacity’ matches, and that they’ll share further details of the plan early next month on September 2nd.

It’s a mystery how that will work with the number of season-ticket holders at Arsenal. Perhaps they’ll alternate games, or apply for each one on a raffle basis and only pay for the matches they get. We’ll see in September.