‘Without the passion of the fans it’s not the same’
IAN HOLLOWAy ON RETURN OF SUPPORTERS AS WAIT GOES ON FOR TOWN
IAN Holloway is relishing the chance to finally play in front of fans once again – even if they’re not his own.
Grimsby Town make the trip to Colchester United today, with the Essex club set to welcome back 1,000 of their supporters for the first time since March.
A reduced number of fans have been allowed back into stadiums since the national lockdown restrictions were lifted, with a maximum of 4,000 allowed in for teams in Tier 1, while 2,000 can watch their side if they’re in Tier 2.
For the Mariners, the wait goes on to welcome back the black and white army to Blundell Park, with Tier 3 restrictions meaning they still can’t host any support for the time being. Nevertheless, Town will get to experience football with a crowd for the first time since their derby day win over Scunthorpe United when they head to Colchester.
On what it’s been like without fans, Holloway told the Grimsby Telegraph: “I have to say I think it’s absolutely appalling.
“You go there and it’s like a pre-season friendly every minute of every game so far, you can hear what the manager’s saying, you’re all shouting at the referee and there’s some weird decisions going on.
“Without the passion of the fans, even if it’s only home fans, it’s not the same, and the game itself is an emotional game, it’s a wonderful game to be part of.
“There’s ups and downs all the time, the passion that you get from it, for me there’s nothing like it. At the moment, it’s passionless. We’re trying to make it real, but it doesn’t feel real.
“I’m totally up for letting people be brave enough to go into the grounds. If they can have 1,000 and Arsenal can only have 2,000 in a 60,000-seater stadium, it doesn’t sound right to me, but it is what it is.
“I just hope the vaccine comes, we all get back to normality, because that’s what we all need. It’s really strange, strange times.
“No excuses, let’s get on with it. It’ll be great to see some football people coming in the ground, although they’ll hate us, who cares!”
Holloway though admits he’s a little confused by the restrictions put in place that mean Town fans are still unable to attend games, while other supporters pp in League g Two will be able to return.
“If we’re in Tier 3 and we’re allowed to go down and play them, why can’t we have fans in our ground?
“If we’re allowed to go and hug someone at Christmas, how does that make any sense? I feel you either do it or you don’t at people’s own risk.
“You never know what you’ve got. When you had it, it might go, when you’re trying to get it you might moan because you haven’t got it, and when you have got it for a little period and it goes, then you miss it and you treasure it forever. “The one constant is GTFC, and I can guarantee our fans it’ll still be there after this horrendous virus, and we’ll get stronger and stronger all the time.
“Yes, we might not be strong at the moment, we might not have a team to be able to take on Exeter on a fair one-to-one battle at the moment. “Unfortunately, they came out on top with their finishing, their setpieces and whatever they did to unsettle us, but I believe we’ll get there.
“I’m even more determined to do i it with the wonderful letters I got, and I’m going to be writing and answering as many of them as I can personally because it meant the world to me.”