Strange – and there wasn’t even a half-time pie!
It was live football in Scotland – but not as we know it.
Covering Rangers’ friendly at Ibrox yesterday was a whole new experience.
If this is the new normal, then let’s hope Covid-19 is relegated to the annals of history sooner rather than later.
Arriving at a major football ground in the hour before a game is something most fans will be very familiar with.
It can often be a bit of a challenge to navigate your way through the traffic and find a parking place.
On this occasion, the vast Albion car park beside Ibrox lay deserted. You’d never have known a home game was taking place.
Entry to the stadium was taken care of swiftly. With a temperature test passed, hands had to be sanitised before proceeding inside.
Under normal circumstances, writers then take a seat in the press gantry that runs right along the middle of the Main Stand.
This time, it was a seat in the West Enclosure, ensuring you were two seats and two rows away from anyone else.
So many things were different. But some, slightly bizarrely, remained the same.
There was a stadium announcer giving out the team line-ups, and playing pre-match music.
Presumably that took place for the benefit of those watching at home on Premier Sports, and to give the players a flavour of their normal matchday experience.
The most unpleasant aspect of the afternoon was having to wear a face covering at all times.
It’s something we’re all having to get used to, and it has to be respected if it limits the transmission of this virus.
There have been some occasions when wearing an eye-mask seems a good idea – normally during another flop by Scotland – but never one that covers the nose and mouth.
It’s easy to reel off a list of things you’re without when going to a football game under these circumstances.
There’s nowhere put your notebook, no power for your laptop and no halftime pie.
Ultimately, the only thing that’s really missing is a crowd.
The journey from sofa to stand could be a long one – but we have to get there.