JACKSON: TIME FOR A 2-METRES READING
As lockdown begins to ease it’s a good time to take 2-metre reading
THE time has come to wash our hands of this coronavirus horror show.
To begin to prepare for a return to some sort of normality and perhaps even challenge the idea that Scottish football will have no choice but to open up behind closed doors when the new season begins in August.
The great escape from this pandemic is gathering pace all around. Yesterday Prime Minister Boris Johnston ordered a review of the two-metre social distancing rule in a move that could be a potential game changer where spectator sport in this country is concerned.
Across the channel discussions are already under way seeking to thrash out a plan to stage the Final of the Coupe de France next month in Paris with as many as 20,000 supporters possibly allowed in through the gates.
These detailed conversations are going on despite an earlier edict from the French government which outlaws mass gatherings of over 5000 people until September.
And this Thursday our own First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to announce a further relaxation of the lockdown which has kept us all in the house for the last three months.
When this all began the perceived logic of those in charge of the national game was that professional football would be unlikely to begin this side of August anywhere in the UK.
And yet on Wednesday of this week England’s Premier League will resume and play the current campaign to a finish, albeit in empty stadia.
In Italy, where Serie A is also coming back out of cold storage, the ministry of health has declared that supporters may be socially distancing inside grounds by the middle of next month.
All of which points to a rapidly changing world and offers up considerable hope Scottish football’s turnstiles won’t necessarily have to remain padlocked when the new campaign begins.
Over at Murrayfield the men with odd-shaped balls have been busy calculating what a return to action might look like.
Assuming the two-metre rule stays in place they believe as many as 14,000 fans could be safely spaced out around their 67,000 capacity arena.
But if the government brings it down to just one metre – in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines – that potential figure would shoot up to more than 34,000.
With Hibs and Hearts in discussions with the SRU about using the home of rugby as a bio-secure hub, the possibility for them to unlock enormous amounts of matchday revenue appears to be a great deal more realistic than previously anticipated.
Hearts of course have some other major issues to resolve before they can start to set targets for the new season. First and foremost they must find out what division they’ll be playing in as the Championship has already resigned itself to staying in lockdown until October.
To that end they’ll have a clearer picture by lunchtime today after the SPFL collates indicative votes from all 42 clubs over a “take or leave it” plan for league reconstruction.
The proposal is for a new-look 14-10-10-10 set-up but the numbers don’t look good where Ann Budge is concerned. For change to be rushed through 11 of the 12 top-flight clubs will have to place a tick in the box.
But Record Sport understands Ross County owner Roy MacGregor has already decided that a 14-team Premiership simply doesn’t cut it for his club.
St Mirren’s chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick has gone on record recently to explain why he would struggle to support reconstruction while also insisting that Hearts performed so poorly last season they absolutely deserve to drop down into the second tier.
There are others, including Hibs, who have been steadfastly opposed to throwing Hearts a lifeline since the decision was made to pull down the shutters on last season.
It’s possible of course that some of these attitudes could soften ahead of this morning’s 10am deadline. But it’s highly unlikely that all of them will.
And even if they did all suddenly rush to offer Hearts a hand, further hurdles will be encountered in the Championship where no less than six yes votes are likely to be required.
That’s six clubs all willing to send Inverness up to the top flight even though Caley Thistle have become the outcasts of the division over these last few weeks.
In particular, the words and actions of chief executive Scot Gardiner have caused outrage among his rivals and the idea that they might all be about to forgive and forget and wave him on his way into a revamped top tier is bordering on the absurd.
That’s a great shame for Partick Thistle too and this simmering bad blood is probably what chairman Jacqui Low was referring to at the weekend when she issued a classy, heartfelt plea ahead of this morning’s SPFL opinion poll.
“Don’t use your vote to settle old scores,” she implored. “Don’t reinforce rivalries between clubs just to keep fans happy. Don’t turn a blind eye because it doesn’t impact on you – this time.”
Thistle’s conduct throughout all of this injustice has been hugely impressive. Low’s tone and timing were also immaculate as that may have provided some clubs with cause to pause and reflect before pressing the send button this morning.
Often it has felt as if Scottish football has been in an unseemly, panic-ridden rush to kick lumps out of itself ever since this odious virus first came coughing and spluttering into view. Perhaps now is the time for our game to get its head up and its foot on the ball. With calm minds and clear, concise thinking there is a chance to right the wrongs that have already been done to it by Covid-19. More importantly, where the longer-term health of all our clubs is concerned, it’s time to look forward to the day that fans can return and any future consequences of this nightmarish pandemic can be kept to a minimum.