Barrow AFC chief executive Levi Gill says this weekend “belongs to the fans” as the Bluebirds prepare to welcome back some of their faithful.

About 1,100 AFC supporters will be able to watch their team in Football League action for the first time in nearly half a century on Saturday.

The visit of Salford City sees Barrow finally able to open their gates, under the new Tier 2 Covid-19 rules.

David Dunn’s 21st-placed side will hope to be boosted by the return of some of the AFC faithful.

Preparations, meanwhile, are continuing at the Progression Solicitors Stadium with staff at the ground tonight for a full briefing session ahead of the game.

The club are issuing information packs to the season-ticket holders who will be attending, explaining the various protocols and arrangements in place on Saturday.

Gill said he hopes it will be a rewarding day for fans who have waited a long time to see the Bluebirds at this level of football in person.

He said: “To get an atmosphere back, which we’ve not had since March and, in the Football League, for 48 years, will be very special.

“There will be a sense of pride come 3pm in our team having achieved it.

“But it belongs to the fans. It’s for them. Especially for season-ticket holders who were here in 1972 when we were last in the league, it will be a very cathartic moment for them I’m sure.

“It’s very exciting for them, and very exciting for us to be able to do it.”

Barrow received approval on Tuesday from the safety advisory group to stage the game in front of fans.

Although clubs can host a maximum of 2,000 fans in Tier 2, Gill explained why the decision had been taken to limit this weekend’s game to AFC’s season-ticket holders.

He said: “We’ve got approval for our season-ticket holders, around 1,100, we’ll have those on Saturday with a view to assessing for the next package of three games, on December 19, 29 and January 2 – we’ll then look to raise that up to a figure of 1,502.

“We’ll keep huts and bars closed, but we’ll then be able to allow a few hundred in over and above the ST number.

“Then we have a two-week break before our next home fixture, which will give us time to review and assess whether to open refreshment huts and things like that.

“In terms of the number of people attending this weekend, first and foremost we didn’t want to compromise on people’s safety.

“I think what we’re doing is as aggressive as we’re comfortable with it being. We want as many fans in as we can, as quickly as we can. We want the fans safe and we also have a duty of care to the staff – stewards, turnstile operators and so on.”

Gill said those staff had a briefing session on Monday and will go through things again tonight.

“It’s important for us to remember the ground’s changed since the fans were last in in March,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful not to ask too much of people too soon.

“The ground will be configured differently, three will be things not available to them like refreshments. It was the right thing to do to get season-ticket holders in and we wanted to give staff and fans the opportunity to do things comfortably.”

AFC invited fans to collect season tickets from Wednesday until the end of Friday, with some living further afield having their season tickets posted.

Gill said: “Those people are receiving a pack of information, which includes a site map, the ground broken up into sections, and exits and turnstiles numbered.”

Fans are being informed of a particular time slot when they are asked to arrive at the ground, in order to stagger the arrival of 1,100 people as much as possible, with similar requests regarding leaving the ground.

At full-time, Gill said, the stadium announcer at Holker Street will announce five-minute interval slots for fans to exit.

Supporters are asked to wear masks on arrival, when leaving and when moving around the ground, such as going to the toilet, but they can remove masks when in their positions to watch the game.

Gill said: “It’s going to be a period of education and it’s important we get as much information to the fans as possible.

“There will be a lot of signage around the ground – there are something like 130 new signs going up, internally and externally.

“We understand fans will have questions and stewards are mindful they’re on the front line for fans’ questions.

“It is all about arming people with information and making sure they are comfortable.”