Returning is a small step to normality

IF the Premier League needed reminding it is lucky to be restarting its competition, a survey of 14,000 fans does just that.

The vibes and mood music coming out of the weekly meetings of club executives have changed over the past fortnight or so.

During the early stages of Project Restart, there was anxiety in some quarters, an underlying sense of acrimony as the parties tried to plot a way forward.

Some simply believed it was too soon to discuss getting back on to the pitch when the United

Kingdom was in the throes of becoming the European country worst hit by the pandemic.

But recently, as resumption dates have been confirmed, there is almost a sense of unqualified optimism about getting back into action.

Even those with gravest doubts, such as Watford’s Troy Deeney, seem to have been won over.

But the survey suggests more fans are against Project Restart and the resumption of the Championship than are for it.

It is close – 48 per cent to

47.7 per cent, with the remainder unsure – but that means there is still a significant number of supporters who believe football should not be coming back.

And the figure of 87 per cent who would completely back a player – even a star player – if he felt unable to take part because of safety worries for him and his family shows health concerns still dominate the national psyche.

That is why football has to strike a balance when it returns.

It will be good to watch again, good to cheer your team on, it will be a very welcome distraction from the relentless worrying about Covid-19 and its grim long-term ramifications.

It is not, though, a time for triumphalism.

Let’s face it, football is coming back as much out of commercial necessity as it is out of a desire to lift a nation’s morale.

That is probably why those 48 per cent of 14,000 fans do not want to see it back.

While there will be very little about the matches that is familiar, it WILL be a small step towards normality.

But there are still plenty of people out there who think it is abnormal to be ushering the elite game back in when the crisis rages on.

And when, in particular, the Premier League ‘celebrates’ its restart, that is something everyone should be aware of.