Bristol Rovers supporters' wait for a return to the Mem has been delayed further with Saturday's pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle to be played behind closed doors.
Gasheads were due to return home for the first time since March 2020, with 2,000 home supporters planned to be in attendance.
But those plans have been aborted and the game will be played in an empty stadium, with the club saying the event would run at a "significant loss" had supporters been in attendance.
COVID-19 restrictions, which will be lifted two days later on July 19, require clubs to host test events, which would have limited the capacity, caused extra costs to ensure social distancing and prevented bars and kiosks from opening.
The game will be streamed live on iFollow.
The club insists pre-season fixtures against Swansea City on July 24, Havant & Waterlooville on July 27 and Oxford United on July 31 will be played in front of a crowd at the Mem.
“We take our responsibility regarding the safety of supporters very seriously and we are in constant dialogue with the safety advisory group (SAG) to ensure all relevant guidelines and procedures are both instated and adhered to," CEO Martyn Starnes said in a statement.
“Unlike a large proportion of clubs, we didn’t have the opportunity to stage a test event last season and the implications of hosting a test fixture before the restrictions are relaxed would have a significant impact on the permitted attendance figure, resulting in an increased cost to the football club.
“Heading into the new season it is vitally important that we all continue to operate with caution to ensure that we don’t do any risk to the full attendance of supporters once the season starts.
"We hope that supporters can understand our reasoning for this decision and we look forward to welcoming fans back to the Mem safely in the near future.”
Rovers kicked off their pre-season campaign at Melksham Town on July 2, with hundreds of supporters in attendance at Oakfield Arena.
The Mem has not hosted supporters for a game since the 2-0 win over Sunderland 16 months ago on the eve of the coronavirus outbreak.
