Many clubs in critical danger without the lifeblood of fans
WITH a fair wind, today could have marked the return of supporters to the Premier League. Tottenham’s plan for their game against Everton would have represented more of a trickle than a tide of humanity – 8,000 in a stadium with a 60,000 capacity – but it would have been a crowd nevertheless.
Real people rather than cardboard cutouts, bringing with them life, noise and colour. A collective brother and sisterhood with butterflies in their stomachs and anticipation in their hearts, ready to feel the unique soldering power of matchday together – albeit at a social distance.
Spurs’ request to stage the trial at the Everton game was rejected by the Government.
Cambridge United’s pilot event against Carlisle United was also scrapped yesterday with the League Two game, intended to host 2,000 fans, returned to behind-closeddoors status.
Further north, the St Leger meeting at Doncaster concluded in isolation, the plug pulled on punters attending after one tantalising day.
Yorkshire’s T20 cricket match against Durham on Wednesday has gone the same way.
The fair wind has turned and the cold rush of continued Covid reality has hit anew. The locks are being secured on the gates of the country’s sporting arenas again.
The authorities are to review the scheduled October 1 date for the wider return of spectators. For ‘review’ read ‘put back’.
The coming autumn is looking bleak.
Many organisations were looking to it as the day their fortunes would change; now for some it could be the day their fate is sealed.
For Tottenham and the rest of the Premier League, the shutout is an irritation rather than a death sentence. The bulk of their money comes through broadcasting deals and, as long as matches are being played, the millions will keep on rolling in.
It is on the lower rungs of the football ladder and across the wider sporting landscape where the skies are darkening.
Gate receipts make up a third of income in League One and League Two. They rebooted yesterday, having been mothballed since March to worrying uncertainty.
Unless crowds in some shape or form are allowed to return, some will go the wall.
Public health must be the priority but at a time when indoor spaces like pubs and cinemas are open, it is incongruous that outdoor venues like sports stadia remain stubbornly off limits.
There must be a method to reopen them, with restricted capacity, safely. Other countries
have managed it. In Denmark, where England played out a draw of slate-grey drabness behind closed doors in midweek, the new Superliga season began on Friday night with supporters.
SØNDERJYSKE’S 10,000-capacity ground was allowed to be one-third full for the visit of champions FC Midtjylland. Each supporter had an empty seat next to them and had to remain seated at all times. Fans on the concrete terrace were also required to sit but, as a concession to buttock numbness, were permitted to bring a pillow.
In Japan, 5,000 is the limit at J-league games. They look and sound different, too. Drumming – a big part of the football culture – has been banned in case it encourages singing and chanting, which has been ruled off limits.
It is difficult to imagine English football supporters following such draconian rules and the Japanese alcohol ban would not be popular either, but a workable domestic version must be possible.
If it takes strict staggered entry times, temperature checks and no food or drink on site for a crowd to
be sanctioned, then so be it. Better to watch sport in the raw with restrictions than not at all.
While grounds remain closed, every Premier League game this month will be broadcast on television. Inevitably fans will congregate in pubs to watch since they are open.
The virus probably cannot believe its luck. While it loves an indoor gathering, it is a lot less keen on people spaced out in the open air.
On the way to the Community Shield a fortnight ago, the inconsistency of the approach struck home.
A group of Arsenal fans were headed to a Wembley boozer to watch the game because they were prohibited from dotting themselves around a vast outdoor bowl built for 90,000.
Which would have been more dangerous?
The Government is allowing people to frequent pubs to stop an industry going to the wall. It should do the same with sport for exactly the same reason.
Take out the Premier League and its Looking Glass finances, and sport is on its knees. It needs some common sense applied to accommodate a partial return of fans before it is too late.