Murrayfield has stolen a march on the Premiership and will allow some fans attend PRO14 next weekend

Officials in Scotland are celebrating after Murrayfield was given permission to become first professional rugby venue in the UK to allow a small number of spectators to attend a match since the outbreak of the coronavirus restrictions.

The Guinness PRO14 returns this weekend following its five-month suspension due to the pandemic and while no spectators are allowed attend this Saturday's Glasgow versus Edinburgh game at Murrayfield, the way has been cleared for some fans to attend the August 28 rematch between the teams.

This development puts Scotland ahead of the Gallagher Premiership on the road to normality as matches in England have so far gone ahead behind closed doors. 

A statement issued on Friday read: "Scottish Government has supported Scottish Rugby’s plans which will make the game the first professional rugby match in the UK to welcome spectators since the Covid-19 lockdown in March.

"Scottish Rugby’s chief operating officer Dominic McKay said: “Scottish Rugby is delighted that a limited number of spectators will be in BT Murrayfield on Friday, August 28, to watch the Guinness PRO14 match between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

"We are pleased our work with the Scottish Government will ensure that players, support staff and fans will be covered by a comprehensive event plan for everyone’s safety including physical distancing requirements.

"Scottish Rugby would like to thank government ministers and officials who have helped us make this happen, and our own colleagues who pulled together a robust operational plan for the match.

"We hope that our experience and learnings from a live spectator event next Friday can help all of Scottish sport, and the wider events industry restart.”

The fixture is designated as an Edinburgh home match and ticketing information will be issued by the club early next week. Richard Cockerill's side are currently leaders of Conference B in the PRO14 and are targeting securing semi-final qualification against rivals Glasgow, the third place team in Conference A.