Albion's pioneering friendly against Chelsea was always going to be a hugely worthwhile exercise.

But its value might increase even further if yesterday’s most optimistic predictions are fulfilled.

“Fans in by Christmas” was the hopeful call as the DCMS pledged to treat football the same as other parts of the entertainment industry in terms of admitting the public when lockdown is eased.

Albion played Chelsea before 2,524 fans at the end of August with the government represented in the stand.

By now, that Saturday afternoon should be seen as a distant first chapter of the story of bringing back spectators to the Prem.

Instead, it is still all the 20 clubs have got to go on in terms of practical experience.

They will have access to a hugely detailed report which highlighted what went well and what didn’t on the big day.

Albion chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber said the club were “very transparent” with their findings.

He said: “We were fortunate that the vast majority of the event was excellent.

“There were one or two points in terms of the implementation of the plan for the day that we weren’t happy with.

“For example the necessity of having photo ID for children under the age of 13 was, we felt excessive.

“The government agreed with us and that was fed back to the Sports Grounds Safety Authority as one of the learnings from the day.

“There was also a lot of debate as to whether masks should be worn in the stadium bowl as well as on the concourses and when queuing.

“At that particular time, the government’s policy on mask-wearing was far more optional and flexible than it is now.

“The chances are, by the time we do another test event or are given permission to bring fans back, mask-wearing in the stadium may well be necessary.

“We have said all along we would be very open-minded to any measures the government felt was necessary to get fans back into the stadium sooner rather than later.

“We shared all that information and the idea was the Premier League and EFL would disseminate it to all clubs who wanted to see it, which they did.

“Those clubs would then use that plan and the debrief to build their own plans.

“The point I made to the Secretary of State was every club is different, every stadium is different, every pathway from car parks and bus stations and train stations to turnstiles is different.

“Each club will have to adapt the plan to their own circumstances.

“That’s an important point because the sooner we get the green light, the more time clubs will have to prepare for the return of fans.

“What we have said all along is we want as much notice as possible.

“Once we start the process of bringing fans back, we can learn from each other again and make plans even better.

“The problem we had was, post our event, everything stopped and therefore all that time we hoped to gain more learning has disappeared.

“We are not back to square one because we have had some events and the government have allowed the O2 and Royal Albert Hall and so on to have events and sell tickets. But we are not as far along as we hoped.”

Albion were last night reserving judgement on reports from the DCMS meeting until seeing details.

Barber has been talking recently in terms of fans not returning until 2021, possibly in the Spring.

That might be revised when more information emerges about what is being said at government level.

Advice he will give, if asked, is to trust the supporters and be positive in messaging.

That was learnt when Chelsea visited.

Barber said: “Fans knew the club were on trial - yes, it was self-imposed but it was a trial - and they were also aware we had the eyes of the football world, in England at least, watching us.

“Our fans were fantastic that day because they really had a part to play.

“We made a decision to have a light touch, to keep rules to a minimum and to keep advice as clear as it could be.

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“We adapted special signage on a green colour we don’t normally use to catch people’s attention.

“It was devised to be guides and advice rather that diktats.

“What we learned and told the government was, if you ask reasonable people to do reasonable things in a reasonable way, you are going to get a great result because most people are reasonable.

“So it was a light touch but we also said we would be zero-tolerance for any deviation.

“In the event, there wasn’t a single incident in the stadium.

“It was a really good cross-section of people as well.

“We were very pleased by that and felt very proud of our fans that day.”

They might have played a bigger part than could possibly have been imagined at the time.

That Saturday afternoon might have been the only dress rehearsal.