Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor hopes the return of fans for tomorrow’s meeting with Livingston offers the rest of Scottish football some much-needed hope.
County had applied to host a crowd of up to 750 with after the Highland region was placed under tier one restrictions by the Scottish government earlier this week.
On Wednesday, they received permission for 300 fans to attend , which is the same number as attended a previous test event for a home match against Celtic in September.
Speaking to Good Morning Scotland, MacGregor said: “Now that we have the go ahead our fans would have been disappointed if we didn’t offer 300 people through a ballot the chance to come to a match.
“In providing hope in a fairly bleak time with Covid restrictions to allow fans to see the game they love is really important.
“The players are looking forward to the fans coming back again.
“They have been in their own bubble since Covid started. The players have been in their own bubble for training and matches since the league started.
“Even with 300 people in the ground, when we played Celtic it made such a difference to the spectacle on the field as there were claps and noise.
“It was very good.
“It is a really challenging time with how we balance health, mental health and business and everything else.
“It is really difficult and we need to be on the ball and not have any mishaps. In many ways we are an example for the rest of the country.
“Hopefully this will be the chance to maybe get fans back in tier two and progress from there.
“We thank the government, the SFA and the SPFL for giving us the chance to host this game.”
The Staggies chairman admits it has been a quick turnaround for his club to get everything in place to accommodate 300 fans for tonight’s game.
He added: “It is a step in the right direction. We had 300 fans in for a trial game against Celtic.
“When we knew we were in tier one, we asked the SPFL to ask the Scottish Government on our behalf if they would consider allowing us more fans into the ground.
“We got word at teatime on Wednesday night.
“It was short notice to do a ballot of our season ticket holders but hopefully we can make that happen.
“We have been through this before and 300 is fairly easy to manage.”
