IT’S QUITE SIMPLE — LET THE FANS IN AS SOON AS WE CAN

GIVEN the various lockdown exit dates, there is the possibility fans might be inside stadiums for the final round of Premier League fixtures. Immediately, the integrity of the competition is questioned. It would create an unfair advantage for some clubs to have a home crowd on the last day. Fulham against Newcastle, for instance, or Leicester versus Tottenham. What nonsense. For a start, how many matches are important by then? How many relegation or European places are still to be decided? Last season was an exception — three clubs into two Champions League slots, two out of three going down. Even so, that left six of 10 matches deciding no more than financial reward. Also, a handful of games were played mid-season with limited crowds. What happened to integrity then? If fans can get in, get them in. That was the fairest and best logic earlier in the campaign and it remains the fairest and best logic now. If some grounds are fuller than others that’s pot luck, as it was before. And fans do not guarantee results. If they did, no home matches would ever be lost. Fans are as capable of transmitting tension as confidence and they can’t overcome a superior performance. Between September 12, 2020 and January 13, 2021, West Ham were defeated in one home league game — the only one in which supporters attended the London Stadium, against Manchester United. Paul Pogba was exceptional, the visitors were the better side and no earnest support could outplay that. So nobody is going to get relegated or finish top four because of a half-full arena on May 23. It is still the 37 prior matches that will have greatest impact.