Roy MacGregor is hopeful Ross County will be able to admit as many as 1,500 supporters to Victoria Park this season.
The Staggies are awaiting the green light for next Saturday’s Premiership home match against Celtic to be a test event with crowds, with MacGregor predicting a crowd of between 500 and 700 to be permitted.
County have a released a questionnaire to season ticket holders in order to obtain information about families and household groups, with a view to enabling more supporters to attend games.
MacGregor is optimistic the Staggies will be able to hold as much as a quarter of their stadium’s full capacity under social distancing guidelines.
He said: “We are trying to make sure we can get the maximum into the ground.
“We tried to put families and neighbours together who are in a bubble, so we could get a few more in.
“We worked out that we could maybe get 1,500 season ticket holders in, if the bubbles worked out right.
“It means we are going to get 25% of the capacity into the ground, so we are preparing that.
“Depending on how many the government say, we will need to have some sort of ballot system for rationing.”
Given the restrictions on the permitted capacity, MacGregor expects entry to be limited to season ticket holders only this season, with no pay at the gate option.
MacGregor also confirmed the Staggies are in the process of automising their turnstiles to a swipe card system, which he is hopeful of having in place for the visit of Aberdeen to Dingwall on September 26.
MacGregor added: “It’s probably pretty easy to say that I don’t see us being able to have walk-ups to football this year.
“I think the track and trace system is OK for the season ticket holders. We can track where they are sitting, and who they are sitting with.
“We wouldn’t be able to do that with walk-ups though.
“Some of them bought season tickets at the beginning, but sometimes members of the family didn’t, because with a season ticket you were getting one television audience.
“We are trying to encourage people that, if they want to come to the match, they should get their season ticket.
“There has been quite an uptake in the last couple of weeks. It has mainly been families or people related to the same group who have come back and said ‘it looks like I can go back to the football.’
“We held most of the seats for season ticket holders, knowing this would happen.”
MacGregor has been pleased with the response to the club’s televised streaming of matches, however, he feels the matchday experience is sorely lacking supporters.
He added: “The feedback has been really good, and the numbers have been really good.
“I would expect we will have a five-figure audience for the Celtic game, which is based on Celtic viewing figures.
“There will be an excess of 10,000 people watching it on pay per view at a cost of £15.
“The home team keeps the gate, less the cost of the production which they provide.
“We have tried to put a joint show on, where there will be a balanced view for the Celtic fans that can’t make it to the game.
“Personally I have found it challenging that there has been no atmosphere though. It’s a bit surreal.
“No matter how many they let into the ground, even if we got 700 back into the ground I think it will be better. At least there would be some sort of atmosphere.”
