Chairman’s Diary: Most challenging aspect will be getting supporters back into grounds.

The English Premier League returned this week and this gives us in Scotland the opportunity to watch and learn regarding COVID preparations for getting the game back on here. The process to allow for the return of the Scottish Premiership has begun and again, this will give the other leagues the chance to see how things develop.

The earliest date for teams in the Championship, Leagues 1 and 2 is likely mid-October. We’ve moved early to secure 10 players from last year’s squad. Our goal was to have a strong foundation and build on this once we have further certainty on getting back to action. It was good to be back on football matters and see the club make player announcements once again.

We must of course also plan for getting community football back. We are heavily involved with talks around this subject and are actively working at many levels towards achieving this objective. We can only return when it is safe to do so, but we must also guard against being too over cautious. Football plays an important role in communities across Scotland, particularly in supporting positive mental health.

It does feel things are moving in the right direction. The most challenging aspect will be getting supporters back into grounds. There will need to be social distancing but the issues are not insurmountable. We will be ready to go when football returns.