Play-offs are even more of a lottery now

WATCHING the return of the Premier League and the EFL play-offs has shown how strange it will be when the National League play-offs are, hopefully, played next month. Chester are still to confirm their participation and are, quite rightly, weighing up the financial impact of saying yes will have on their club.

We can’t forget these decisions are being made in the midst of the worst global health crisis we have ever known. The Blues have a board meeting tomorrow to discuss it.

But it seems the other contenders are all good to go and are busy putting all their plans in place to return to training, if they haven’t already.

What we know from the games that are back on behind closed doors, is that these play-offs will be nothing like we have ever known.

It raises intriguing questions about how teams will react to the enforced break and whether home advantage counts for as much as we would usually expect.

As BT Sport co-commentator Adam Virgo says on pages 16 and 17, they really are a lottery this year.

Havant & Waterlooville manager Paul Doswell provides fascinating insight into the protocols the clubs will be following.

Players turning up in their training kit, no car sharing and having to be temperature checked will quickly become the norm for players as they aim to keep their promotion dreams alive.

No doubt there will be mixed emotions for fans of all the play-off clubs. Ultimately they will want to see their team be successful but we will all find it odd those fans aren’t in the ground.

We’re told BT Sport are looking into whether they can show all the games. If they can it will be a great platform for Non-League to showcase itself to a wider audience.

Clubs will work on their own streaming services if that’s not possible so fans won’t miss a kick.

But the return to football at the top end of the game has shown us the importance of atmosphere inside the ground.

You can lay soundtracks over the game as much as you like, but it is synthetic and missing that natural emotion that flows off the terraces. Voices from the crowd can change the swing of a game.

Non-League football, as anyone will tell you, literally doesn’t exist without supporters. It isn’t just the money through the gate, but the people who give up their time just to help out their club for the love of it.

We all hope football can return as soon as possible. And, really, it will only return properly when the terraces are occupied once again.