Falkirk welcome supporters back with 5-1 win over Albion Rovers

It had been almost 500 days since Falkirk had last played in front of supporters and the Bairns faithful were in good voice to cheer their side on to an opening day of the season victory in the Premier Sports Cup.

An official attendance of 686, all home supporters with numbers still restricted, saw their team go behind early on to the League 2 side but rally back to take a 3-1 lead at half time before securing a convincing win in the second half with two more goals and some positive, attacking football.

“It’s fantastic and it makes such a difference,” Falkirk FC chairman Gary Deans told the Herald.

"We’d rather have more in but to get the numbers coming back, to hear the applause going round and the willingness of the players in how well we showed up was great.

"You could feel it, the crowd was enthusiastic and the players responded to that.

"Obviously it wasn’t as high a crowd as we hope to get later in the season but you can see the difference it makes to the players.

"It’s good from a football point of view but it’s also great from a social point of view, you can feel a buzz again so getting people in to the stadium is a boost for everybody.

"I’d like to thank everybody in the club who has done fantastic work over the summer.

"The work that has gone in to getting anybody back in has been enormous, especially under social distancing rules, so that’s been fantastic.”

Falkirk will once again welcome a limited crowd for this Saturday’s match at home to Hamilton Accies in the cup but it will then be August 7 before the Bairns play at home again when they welcome Peterhead for their second League 1 fixture of the new season.

With restrictions continuing to ease, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announcing that Scotland will move to Level 0 restrictions on July 19, It is hoped that Falkirk will be able to welcome an even larger crowd to the Peterhead game as stadiums across the country gradually return to full capacity.