FOOTBALL HAS ACTED RESPONSIBLY SO IT’S TIME TO GET FANS BACK IN
COMPLETING a Premier League season behind closed doors was a novelty, starting one behind closed doors is a nightmare.
The new normal of fake crowd noise and socially distant post-match interviews is an apocalyptic vision for club owners.
Considering the spirit of col laboration between politicians and the Premier League that enabled Project Restart to go ahead, the letter to the Government on Friday was cutting.
Referring to the limit imposed on test events, the Premier League missive read: “At 1,000 supporters, not only would there be little to learn from a test event, but each match would be heavi ly loss-making.”
Taking their ball home, the Premier League have now refused to take part in any trials until the limit of 1,000 is lifted. Their frustration is understandable.
When it comes to the vagar ies of Covid- 19 restrictions, there is, inevitably, a lot of ‘whataboutery’.
Here is a personal anecdote. I covered the FA Cup Final at Wembley, had my temperature, my pulse rate, my oxygen saturation levels taken, wore a mask throughout, was isolated at my desk in a cavernous stadium that can seat 90,000 people, but, on this day, was host to few more than a couple of hundred. The next day, I was at Silverstone, where entrance was only allowed after a Covid-19 test and you had to stand alone, again masked, at a venue that sprawls over several square miles and normally attracts a crowd of 140,000 but, again, was populated by a few hundred.
All right and proper.
Went home after the British Grand Prix, fancied a pint and walked into a pub beer garden where, maskless and carefree, they were singing, hugging, carousing, in the i r considerable numbers.
That sort of anomaly is commonplace.
It comes with the nature of the restrictions. And, clearly, football should not lay claim to being a special case.
Only the Government has always made it a special case.
While the Premier League was desperate for Project Restart to go ahead for commercial reasons, the Government was also enthusiastic.
It would lift the spirit of the nation, said Dominic Raab.
Generally, politicians love clambering aboard football’s bandwagon.
And they seem to have enjoyed their element of power over the game in these trying times, leaving the Premier League with little choice other than to televise all their matches live.
The Premier League – and the EFL – have played ball, but are now asking for a little something in return.
When Premier League chief executive Richard Masters says it is ‘absolutely critical’ fans are allowed back into stadiums as soon as possible, he is not exaggerating. For financial reasons, obviously, but also for the credibility of the game.
In their letter to the Government, the Premier League point out £100million will be lost to football every month the stadiums are still empty. But there is a greater cost. It is wrong to say football without fans is nothing, but football without fans is a far lesser thing.
Again, football should not be a special case and certainly should not be in any way exempt from restrictions imposed on the basis of medical advice.
But the ultra-efficient way the Premier League – and the EFL – implemented Project Restart should be glaring evidence that if any sport can safely welcome back a decent proportion of the public, it is football.
It is time to get the fans back.