It’s so quiet you get to hear what the players say, which is great for a football geek like me
PRESENTER’S JOY AT LIVE SPORT AFTER LOCKDOWN Host on empty stadiums
Sports host Eilidh Barbour is one of the very limited number of people allowed to go to football matches while coronavirus restrictions continue.
In her role as a pitchside presenter for BBC Sport, she attended the FA Cup quarterf inal last weekend that saw Newcast le United take on Manchester City and has been at a number of English matches for both the BBC and Sky Sports.
While she has loved being back at live games, she says the crowd-free stadiums make for an eerie atmosphere.
But Eilidh, 37, who lives in Glasgow, wishes Scottish football had followed England’s lead and opted to resume its leagues when restrictions allowed rather than calling the season early.
She said: “I feel incredibly fortunate to be one of the few able to go to football matches now but I do look forward to the day we can all go again.
“Being back at work feels very different. My job hasn’t changed – my role is still the same, the football is the same and the discussions are pretty much the same – but without supporters in the stadiums, it feels very strange.
“When you are watching matches at home now, you have the audio of crowds cheering but at the pitchside itself you don’t hear any of that. There is none of the energy you get from the supporters.
“When something happens in a game, you expect to hear the roar of the fans – the players get a lift from that and play off it – but, of course, that’s not happening.
“On the plus side, because the stadiums are empty, I did feel really privileged that I was in the position to be able to hear one of the best coaches in the world now – Pep Guardiola – shouting instructions to his players.
“Normally you would never hear that over the noise of the crowd. He was only shouting instructions like ‘ press’ or ‘get tight’.
“It’s so quiet you get to hear what the players say too – which is great for a football geek like me.”
Eilidh added: “I usually go to football stadiums three hours before the game is due to kick off so I’m used to being in a stadium that is empty aside from the match day staff – and I like that feeling of being there with very few people around.
“This is different because now it’s empty when the game is going on and it really does feel quite eerie.
“You miss the passion of the supporters and you just expect there to be more noise.
“For health reasons, it’s right that fans can’t be at the games just now.
“And I’m glad that, even though the fans aren’t there, the games are still being played and the season can be finished so discussions don’t have to be made about who goes down and finals are played out.”
The TV host thinks the decision about cal l ing the season in Scotland “was made too early”.
She said: “We stopped the season when it would have been good to allow the Scottish teams the opportunity to get out of danger or make a push for promotion.
“It seems so long since the last match was played in Scotland.
“The last game I was at – with Kris Boyd and James McFadden – was at Ross County and we were building up to the third Old Firm game of the season, which was due to be played on the Sunday, but all football was cancelled on that Thursday.
“It seems such a long time ago that it will be strange going back but exciting too, like the first day of school.”