NOT JUST US, WE’RE ALL AT A STANDSTILL
NON-LEAGUE fans in England who are being locked out of games and deprived of their Saturday football fix during the pandemic, have little need to envy their counterparts on the Continent.
The position is the same just about everywhere. If football at the lower levels is taking place, fans are being banned except perhaps in some parts of Eastern Europe where restrictions are more casual. The guidelines are tough and almost every football nut is suffering the consequences.
Take Germany for instance where legendary groundhopper Markus Linke is so fed up that he can’t even bring himself to watch games on television. “I am not really following these ghost matches,” he said. “For me that has nothing to do with football.
“I think the season below level five (the Oberliga) will be cancelled. Some friends go to games and try to see something through the fence or from a rooftop or whatever but that is not for me.” With his wings clipped, Linke added: “I use the time to reduce the chaos in my apartment.” Footballers participating at the lower levels in Germany are not being allowed to play or train.
A combination of the pandemic, winter break and freezing temperatures has forced NonLeague football to grind to a halt in Scandanavia. Jouni Karapalo, who supports Manchester City from afar when he is not shouting on Ilves in Tampere, said: “It’s -19C here in Finland and indoor gyms are the only option for games and training.
“However, due to the pandemic only professional clubs are allowed to train and play for now. For Non-League, there is only discontinuity. Hopefully, the season will start in May but it’s all in the hands of the state health and regional authorities.”
Swiss schoolteacher Leandra Hautle, whose father Franz played at a decent level, said: “No games are being played outside the professional leagues (Super League and Challenge League). Kids aren’t allowed to train anymore and gyms are closed. I can see the effect all this is having on the kids here. They can’t do any kind of sport.”
Non-League competitions in Belgium and Holland have all been cancelled. “There will be no champions or teams relegated,” said Belgian journalist, Danny Goyvaerts. “Lots of Non-League clubs have got financial problems and will do well to survive.”
At least, Goyvaerts can still go to games in his capacity as Mechelen’s press officer and as a supporter of Cercle Bruges who give him press tickets.
Crumb of comfort
In France, amateur and semi-professional clubs could train and play behind closed doors for as long as they were involved in the Coupe de France but now that they have all been knocked out, that privilege has disappeared.
There is no football in Italy below Serie D (effectively the fourth division) – that is being voided. Across the Aegean Sea, the position is no better in Greece. Ex-pat, Wes Nicol said: “There’s nothing going on below the Super League. No fans are allowed in anywhere. We drive past our local amateur club, Apollon Petalidi quite often and there’s nothing happening there.”
For the most part, football in Spain’s lower levels is continuing with each region’s local authority deciding on whether small crowds can be admitted. Even though Alberto Sanchez has not been allowed to enter the ground to see his beloved Guadix play since last March, he was somewhat ambivalent when their season in the Division de Honor in Andalucia was curtailed by the league on December 20 following his team’s ninth successive defeat. “Until then they were only charging us a very reasonable 2.50 Euros to view the streaming of matches,” he said, seeking a crumb of comfort.
Only Romania’s top Non Leagues will resume behind closed doors later this month after the winter break. The situation is similar but more haphazard among Rumania’s neighbours. “Fans are not officially allowed into games in Bulgaria but they do still attend Non-League games (level 3),” said Ivo Simbaev, a scout for Stoke City. “Basically, there is no-one to control it and fans go in and out of games as they please. “At one game before Christmas, they even got onto the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate their club’s victory. “In North Macedonia they use every trick in the book to get in!”