What tier is my football club in? How Premier League and Football League fans are affected by new tier system
Scroll down for the full tier guide for all Premier League and EFL clubs
Half of Premier League clubs will remain behind closed doors after the Government confirmed the new tier systems to replace lockdown next week.
The Manchester clubs, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Wolves, Newcastle, Burnley, West Brom and Sheffield United have been placed in tier three. No club across the top four tiers will welcome 4,000 fans back, but 10 clubs in the top flight will welcome 2,000 fans back from Dec 2.
Arsenal's Europa League tie against Rapid Vienna is likely to be the first top match to have fans back on Thursday. Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Southampton, Everton, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Fulham are also in tier two.
There was frustration from fans, however, that the Government website allowing them to check on their postcodes crashed as the tiers were announced. Clubs are split on whether teams still playing behind closed doors will be put at a disadvantage.
Despite Jurgen Klopp dismissing the prospect that his team would have an edge, Steve Bruce said: "I really think that's unfair. I'm all for smaller clubs getting some income, but at St James' it's neither here nor there with the numbers we can have."
Brighton, Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham are likely to be hosting the first league matches with top-flight matches since the Covid-19 outbreak took hold in March although the Premier League is yet to confirm the scheduling for matches to be played over the weekend of December 5 and 6.
Brighton will host Southampton, Chelsea are at home to Leeds, champions Liverpool take on Wolves at Anfield while West Ham could welcome fans to the London Stadium for the visit of Manchester United.
The other six matches will be played in tier three areas, where fans are still not allowed. Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have been placed in the lowest Tier 1 set of restrictions, with people in all other parts of England set to face more serious limits to their freedom.
Large swathes of the Midlands, North East and North West are in the most restrictive Tier 3, but London will be in Tier 2.
Liverpool, which had been in Tier 3 before the lockdown, will move to Tier 2 in recognition of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “these are not easy decisions, but they have been made according to the best clinical advice”.
Even smaller top-tier teams like Brighton are expecting a £1million-plus dent in their finances for every home match under the current plan to have limited crowds back.
Tier 1
No Premier League or EFL clubs
Tier 2
Premier League
Arsenal
Brighton
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Southampton
Tottenham
West Ham
Championship
Bournemouth
Brentford
Luton
Millwall
Norwich City
QPR
Reading
Watford
Wycombe
League One
Charlton Athletic
Crewe Alexandra
Ipswich
MK Dons
Northampton
Oxford United
Peterborough United
Plymouth Argyle
Portsmouth
Shrewsbury
Swindon
Wimbledon
League Two
Barrow
Cambridge
Carlisle
Cheltenham
Colchester
Crawley
Exeter
Forest Green Rovers
Harrogate
Leyton Orient
Southend
Stevenage
Tranmere
Tier 3
Premier League
Aston Villa
Burnley
Leicester City
Leeds United
Manchester United
Manchester City
Newcastle United
Sheffield United
West Brom
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Championship
Barnsley
Birmingham City
Blackburn
Bristol City
Coventry City
Derby County
Huddersfield
Middlesbrough
Nottingham Forest
Preston
Rotherham
Sheffield Wednesday
Stoke City
League One
Accrington Stanley
Blackpool
Bristol Rovers
Burton Albion
Doncaster Rovers
Fleetwood Town
Gillingham
Hull City
Lincoln City
Sunderland
Rochdale
Wigan Athletic
League Two
Bolton
Bradford
Grimsby
Mansfield
Morecambe
Oldham
Port Vale
Salford
Scunthorpe
Walsall
*Devolved administrations in Wales have the power to set their own coronavirus regulations meaning Championship sides Swansea City and Cardiff City and League Two Newport fall outside of Thursday's tier system for England. Talks are still ongoing with the Welsh government around the return of fans.
England's tier system
Tier 1: Isle of Wight, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly
Tier 2: North West (Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Warrington and Cheshire), Yorkshire (York, North Yorkshire), West Midlands (Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin), East Midlands (Rutland, Northamptonshire), East of England (Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough, Norfolk, Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea, Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes), London (all 32 boroughs plus the City of London), South East (East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Surrey, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire, Hampshire (except the Isle of Wight), Portsmouth and Southampton, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire), South West (South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor, Bath and North East Somerset, Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon, Devon)
Tier 3: North East (Tees Valley Combined Authority (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Darlington, North East Combined Authority (Sunderland, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, County Durham, Northumberland), North West (Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen), Yorkshire and The Humber (The Humber, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire), West Midlands (Birmingham and Black Country, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull), East Midlands (Derby and Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, Lincolnshire). South East (Slough [remainder of Berkshire is in tier two], Kent and Medway) South West (Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset)