Perfect venue for the BIG games... why not QPR or Rotherham?

THE Bundesliga is proving what we already know — that big stadiums were built for big crowds.

And without supporters filling them, Germany’s cavernous arenas are sucking the life out of the acoustics and atmosphere created by the players and management staff.

I can imagine it’s proving a turn-off for plenty of football fans who are tuning in from around the globe to see what the new normal looks like.

And I worry the Premier League will suffer similarly when it gets going behind closed doors again next month and that, if this goes on for some time, our top flight could end up losing a generation of supporters. That’s why I’d love to see

our clubs ditching their home grounds for the last 92 games of the 2019-20 season in favour of neutral venues borrowed from teams in the EFL.

I can think of a dozen grounds at least that would make viewers feel closer to the action than they would at Old Trafford or Anfield, with QPR’S Loftus Road chief among them.

I played there several times in my career and again in September 2017 (below) when I took part in the Game 4 Grenfell alongside Jose Mourinho, Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand.

It’s a neat and tidy ground with four stands that are close to the pitch and dugouts right next to the touchline, meaning viewers would get a real feel for everything that is going on.

Without supporters in stadiums, I’m going to want to hear everything that is being said on the pitch.

I want to hear, ‘Oi, Sergio, **** ing mark him, will you?’.

And, ‘Harry, in here, he’s your man’ – listening to the way players talk to each other will make up for what’s being lost with no fans.

I know cardboard cutouts of supporters have been suggested by some people, and others think live Zoom pictures of people watching a particular game should be beamed into stadiums.

But that is going to make zero difference and rather than trying to get the fans closer to the action, we need to spin it on its head and get the players closer to the supporters.

At grounds such as Loftus Road, camera operators would be able to get up close and personal with players and because of the fixed-camera positions they wouldn’t all just look like dots.

It’d be the same at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, Rotherham’s New York Stadium, Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium, Wycombe’s

Adams Park, Burton’s Pirelli Stadium, Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road, Shrewsbury’s New Meadow, Forest Green’s New Lawn, the Bescot Stadium in Walsall, Salford’s Moor Lane and The Den at Millwall.

We carried out interviews on the pitch after the Grenfell game when the stadium was empty as well and there was still a good feel about the place, still a good atmosphere with not many people in it.

Grounds with smaller capacities are capable of that and you can still guarantee that players would enjoy playing at all those I’ve mentioned as well.

On top of all that, playing at these grounds would take away the ‘home’ advantage argument and tick all the boxes.

STANCOLLYMORE