Clubs have risen to the challenge

THIS time a year ago, football went into shutdown mode as the Coronavirus pandemic took hold. We wondered when the game would return, but, in truth, it wasn’t the main consideration at a time when the death toll was rising and families up and down the land were having their lives torn apart.

Of course, football has its role to play in society and can often be a welcome distraction from ‘real life’. Eventually, football returned in the summer and the Premier League and Championship seasons were concluded.

Unfortunately, Leagues One and Two had to call it a day, though play-offs did take place. For the EFL’s bottom two tiers, points per game was brought into play, bringing with it winners and losers.

This season kicked off later than usual in September and the vast majority of matches have been played behind closed doors. Perhaps fans had been taken for granted before, but now everyone knows how important a part they play in creating the atmosphere and energy that we all love and can inspire players to produce that little bit extra.

Off the pitch, many clubs have struggled to survive given the loss of income they would normally have expected to generate. Yet we should be grateful for the sterling work the 72 clubs have done in their communities over the past year.

Yesterday EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “Throughout the year all EFL clubs have stepped up without hesitation to serve their community and have provided stadia for mass testing and vaccinations, made over 500,000 phone calls to isolated fans and delivered one million food parcels (and counting) to people in the community.”

Amid tough times there have been plenty of positive stories and there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel with the rapid rate of vaccinations across the country.

Football-wise, there is hope that fans will be back before too long.

Birch added: “After 12 months of empty stadiums, fans can be assured the EFL will be doing all it can in the coming weeks and months to get our turnstiles turning once again.”

It can’t some soon enough.