If the last year has shown us anything it is that football needs fans as much as fans need football. Nobody, from the players, the pundits, the authorities and most importantly the fans want games being played in empty stadiums. It’s not just that the game is soulless without fans, football clubs throughout the leagues simply won’t survive without them.
As football authorities and clubs prepare to welcome back fans, multiple measures need to be in place to satisfy fans that they are doing everything possible to protect them, as many will be anxious about being in big crowds again.
It is interesting to note that Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers had recently appointed Veraco, antimicrobial touchpoint specialists.
Veraco has developed a range of protective covers for door handles, rails, buttons, touch screens etc that stop bacterial and viral growth on surfaces.
We have learnt over the last year that creating safe environments is about putting multiple measures in place that combine to reduce the risk. The vaccine and testing will likely play an important role, as will mask-wearing, staggered entry, and social distancing.
Hygiene around touchpoints will also play a critical role where large numbers of people will be repeatedly touching the same points.
It is well documented that viruses spread through droplets that land on surfaces, but so far solutions that address the actual surface have been overlooked in favour of hand sanitiser and cleaning.
Stadiums have multiple high-frequency touchpoints across staff and fan areas like rails, turnstiles, touch screens and doors that have to be protected by products like those made by Veraco.
Veraco uses this technology to manufacture protective covers for handles, push doors, buttons, handrails and touch screens.
The technology breaks down the biological makeup of dangerous pathogens, reducing microbial growth by up to 99.99%, as well as being effective against Human Coronavirus.
This technology is not new and has been used in critical care for some time, but now it has much broader important use. The benefits of the solutions are that they work on touch continuously and they are a visible reassurance to fans that even if someone hasn’t sanitised their hands, there is still protection in place. This reassurance will be critical to getting fans back in the terraces.
‘We have to do as much as we can to create an environment that’s safe, hygienic and clean and especially on match days and at our training ground. Working with Veraco has been great and in my opinion, it’s products like these that are the new standard of hygiene now and for the future.”
Stuart Jones, Wolverhampton Wanderers
George Strong from Veraco said “We know our products can provide the extra layer of security that can help get fans safely back into stadiums and their visible nature gives customers and staff peace of mind. Cleaning and hand washing can’t be done continuously so the fact that our products work on touch is a great back up”’