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WEMBLEY WAY TO GO
Chelsea vs Leicester FA Cup final watched by 21,000 fans in biggest post-lockdown UK crowd – but heavens open at Wembley
LEICESTER and Chelsea supporters enjoyed a big day out at the football once again as Wembley opened its doors for the FA Cup final.
Although it was fans of thr Foxes who went home happiest after Youri Tielemans' stunner saw them lift the trophy for the first time.
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Some 21,000 supporters attended Saturday's clash as Brendan Rodgers' side earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
It was the biggest crowd welcomed into a live event since the coronavirus pandemic led to lockdowns and games being played behind closed doors.
Those trekking up Wembley Way were asked to take a Covid test in the days prior to the game before a lateral flow test this morning.
They also had to battle the rain as a downpour began over north-west London during the first-half.
Leicester won their first-ever FA Cup final after four defeats in the showpiece, the most recent in 1969, thanks to Tielemans' rocket.
Chelsea - eight-time champs - thought they had earned extra-time as ex-Foxes ace Ben Chilwell's late effort deflected in.
But the left-back was adjudged to be marginally offside via a VAR review and Leicester held on to triumph.
Several test events have been held across the UK in recent weeks including the 8,000-strong crowd at the Carabao Cup final and the snooker fans entering the Crucible for the World Championship.
And from May 17, the Government is giving the green light to crowds nationwide of up to 10,000, or 25 per cent of a venue's capacity.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden stated on Saturday: "The crucial road map date for theatres, music venues and sports has always been step 4.
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"So I understand this is an anxious time as we assess the situation over the next couple of weeks.
"We continue to make good progress with the vaccine rollout and with testing the safe return of audiences through the Events Research Programme, but must accept we enter a period of heightened vigilance with the new fast-moving variant.
"We will keep engaging with, and updating, organisations to allow everyone to plan their full reopening."
Today however came amid warnings that the Government may have to delay further reopenings of the country.
The 'Indian variant' of the Covid disease has been detected in the UK and there are fears it is more transmissible than other variants.
It has been detected in Bolton, Greater Manchester, as well as in Blackburn, Lancashire, and Sefton in Merseyside, which have all seen rates rise rapidly.
Bolton is the area with the highest rate of cases - almost ten times the UK average, with the equivalent of 228.5 cases per 100,000 people.
It has seen a particularly sharp rise in cases among unvaccinated under-25s.
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Meanwhile a government adviser warned today that Covid vacccines are "almost certainly" less effective at cutting transmission of the Indian variant.
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Prof Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The vaccines may be less effective against mild disease but we don't think they're less effective against severe disease.
"But in combination with being less effective against mild disease, they're almost certainly less effective against transmission."
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