Join Now for Free
Home » Fan Forums » Tickets & Travel

R16 and QFs outside UK

Pretty much given up on these now. Probably should have a long time ago.. Even if any of the host countries turn Green around the 29th (unlikely) then taking two tests is probably not worth the risk. EU COVID certificate becomes valid from 1st July but UK very unlikely to be accepting it. If there is a relaxation of rules for fans coming to UK for the Semis then would be a bit mean if England fans returning from a QF abroad had to quarantine (if still Amber) but foreign fans arriving for the Semi didn't. Govt deny this is being considered anyway. All hope gone?

36 Replies

  • Matthew Isle

    It's a huge gamble isn't it?

    Some of our group still have flights.

    Unimaginable, how we'd feel, having someone on your flight test positive and you having to isolate, and miss later rounds, like the CL pickle isn't it?

    englandsupporters.thefa.com/.../15945

  • Sheila Mcdonald

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    You can do test and release after 5 days it will mean missing one game though. So if did the q/f at Rome you could miss the semi but still make the final.
  • Matthew Isle

    In reply to Sheila Mcdonald:

    Indeed.

    Missing potentially a fullish 'home semi at Wembley Vs an earlier round and all the current travel procedures and quarantine.


    Big call isn't it?

  • Andrew McCarthy
    Do we have any sense yet whether the ballots will be run any differently for the knockout games compared to the group stage games? Given the first ballots for the group stages started about 3/4 weeks ago, and tickets are still being balloted, this clearly wont be possible for the knockout games with 4 ish days between fixtures? Does anyone have an idea how they'll get round this issue?
  • Matthew Isle

    In reply to Andrew McCarthy:

    Andrew McCarthy
    Do we have any sense yet whether the ballots will be run any differently for the knockout games compared to the group stage games? Given the first ballots for the group stages started about 3/4 weeks ago, and tickets are still being balloted, this clearly wont be possible for the knockout games with 4 ish days between fixtures? Does anyone have an idea how they'll get round this issue?

    The article from a few weeks ago only indicates that the L16 and QF tickets will be balloted for all those successful - irrespective whether members returned their tickets.


    www.thefa.com/.../important-uefa-euro-2020-ticket-update-20210422;sc_lid=84961302&sc_uid=u5NTdTeSMF&sc_llid=8442

  • Andrew McCarthy

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    Thanks. I was more querying the timescales, and how Team England will deal with any unpurchased tickets, given we've had 2 ballots already, and a third to come, this wouldn't be possible in the times between games. You'd imagine the same low take up of tickets might persist into the knockout games, especially for the higher priced tickets
  • Simon Ostcliffe

    In reply to Andrew McCarthy:

    I emailed TE about this, especially with potentially increased capacities in later rounds, & was told to 'keep an eye on their website' :-)
    So there you have it............One mad almighty scramble when the capacity for Wembley goes up to 75%.
  • George Smith

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    I have a bit of an absurd solution for anyone with time off work or who can work from "home" for a few days. The key is that there is no quarantine or testing requirement for stays in the UK of less than 48 Hrs.

    So it should be possible to go to the QF in Rome or St Petersberg and then assuming we got through only fly back to the UK the day before the Semi and have a 10 quid Ryanair flight booked out of the UK the next day - making sure you only spend less than 48 hrs in the UK. That way if we win you repeat the process flying back in for the final... if we lose the Semifinal then you can just start your quarantine after that game and book the day 2 and day 8 tests to quarantine at home. Same thing for the final - have a flight booked out afterward and when you "miss" that flight you can book the day 2 and day 8 tests to quarantine at home (hopefully recovering from celebrating an England victory). You would need to pay for two covid tests to return to the UK after the QF and after the Semi-final and then the day 2 & 8 (and potential day 5 test to release).

    I have been emailing with the test and trace government team and I believe this all checks out (Have been in contact with them as I am coming from the US and it is so confusing what the actual rules are when you don't have a defined amount of time in the UK - because of the euros where we don't know when or where I would be leaving the UK to).

    Seems crazy we could be forced to come back and forth on multiple flights to comply with rules AND be able to watch all the England games. PS I was vaccinated 2 months ago out here so would not feel bad at all about going through with this plan.
  • Richard Strong

    In reply to George Smith:

    Hi George ....A great idea .......this might work for me in a different way...... if your investigations into the regulations are correct .

    I live and work in Norway ....am fully vaccinated and just got a Covid pass (Norwegian /EU ) .
    Had all the English game tickets up to final ...so obviously devastated losing them . Have been to all the tournament in last 30 years ..but living abroad meant only having 8 caps ....so chances I have are minimal getting a ticket before possibility of increased capacity for the semi or priority 1 final .

    So with your idea , in principal ,it would mean I could travel 48 hours to England see semi / final and back . Without having to quarantine in England.

    Would you be so kind to give me the contact telephone or department ....so I can double check it from a Norwegian travel prospective .

    Cheers for a great possible solution I hadnt thought of .
    Regards Richard

  • David Lilley

    In reply to George Smith:

    George Smith
    The key is that there is no quarantine or testing requirement for stays in the UK of less than 48 Hrs.

    I would advise you to ask your email contacts to send you a link to the government webpage which describes this 48 hour rule. I've just spent the morning searching the site www.gov.uk and have been unable to corroborate what you have been told.

    Visitors to the UK in certain occupations are granted quarantine easements although, in most cases, they are only released temporarily from quarantine whilst they are carrying out their work.

    Those who are transiting through the UK are exempt provided that the sole purpose of their visit is to transit somewhere else. They can go landside provided they stay at the port of entry.

    In other cases, unless this 48 hour rule is real, those entering the UK from an amber country are expected to quarantine for 10 days or, if their visit is less than 10 days, for the whole period of their visit. Of course, whether the 'test and trace' service is nimble enough to catch a quarantine breaker within the first 48 hours is another matter.

    Remember that, when Turkey was put on the UK government's red list, it was proposed that the Champions League final be moved to London. The reason this didn't happen and the match went to Porto instead was that the government wouldn't give quarantine exemptions to UEFA's VIPs. These VIPs wouldn't have needed special treatment if there had been a 48 hour rule.

  • George Smith

    In reply to Richard Strong:

    Yes David I have found the Govt websites are absolutely atrocious for being able to actually find any information for any kind of non-standard situation (especially traveling with kids of different ages and different vaccination statuses)

    I have been emailing the contacts given at the bottom of this page which seems to get you somebody in the NHS test and trace team: I HAD TO TAKE LINKS OUT OR IT KEEPS GETTING MODERATED BUT PLEASE GOOGLE "how-to-quarantine-when-you-arrive-in-england"

    I was asking about scenarios where I am arriving in the UK from an Amber list country for a short amount of time, like potentially between the R16 & QF. Their exact words to me were "If you will be in the UK for less than 48 hours you do not need to purchase testing kits nor quarantine".

    I did see on the below page:

    LINK REMOVED - GOOGLE " coronavirus-covid-19-safer-air-travel-guidance-for-passengers#transiting-through-the-uk" and then scroll to transit section

    it says:

    "When you transit through the UK
    You do not need to quarantine or take a COVID-19 test on arrival or on day 2 and day 8.
    This applies if you are transiting ‘airside’ or ‘landside’.You must.. travel directly from your port of entry to another port of departure in England"

    but given I got advice more favorable to our circumstances via email from an official source I am going to go with that. Also even with the more restrictive advice, a flight getting into Gatwick and out of Luton seems to have a pretty direct route that takes you via Wembley where, given no requirement to quarantine, one could stop to change trains and go for some food and beverages somewhere where there just happened to be a football match going on??
  • George Smith

    In reply to George Smith:

    The email address at the bottom of that page is dhsctesttrace.customerfeedbackteam@nhs.net
  • Richard Strong

    In reply to George Smith:

    Hi George ...thanks for all your help ....there always is a loophole somewhere ......will check ...as Dave Lilley stated above it might be necessary to give a reason for the 48 hours stop over ....not sure England in Final will cut the mustard ..... But work for Birdseye in Norway ...head office is in England ...always asked for meetings ...also both parents died not so long ago ...so still have lot of paperwork to deal with and even must tend their graves .
    Just got my vaccine pass from Norway and they allow free entry back with test .....so will depend on entry into England ...but thinking of going and taking the quarentine on the chin....and just hope to get out quick and cross fingers for semi and final tickets .
    Thing Boris will do everything possible to get a PR trick with a nearly full house ....then I SHOULD god willing get my tickets back !
    Cheers Mate anyway ....Hope you fix everthing for yourself !
  • Paul Probyn

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    My understanding is that if we travel to an amber list country for a game, our travel insurance will be invalidated. We could still use our EHIC card for Denmark or Italy, but obviously not St Petersburg. So even with a fan ID, that's looking like a no no.
  • David Lilley

    In reply to Paul Probyn:

    In addition to the testing and quarantine requirements when we return to the UK from an amber list country, we also need to consider whether that country would allow us to enter from the UK and, if so, what their requirements would be. I've been monitoring Denmark and the situation for travellers from the UK keeps changing. The Copenhagen R16 match is scheduled for 28th June so I'm planning to put up a post about it on 23rd if we qualify for that match. In the meantime, I advise people not to book non-cancellable travel yet because there is a distinct possibility that they might not be allowed into Denmark.
Sign In or Sign Up

To participate within this community you need to sign is as an England Supporters Club member here.