No fans but no spitting – football is back
TONIGHT, THE Premier League is back – just not as we know it.
It is important England’s top two divisions finish what they started but Sheffield United’s trip to Aston Villa will be unrecognisable from their previous game, at home to Norwich City 102 days ago.
Coronavirus days are like dog years, so it feels like 102 weeks.
Without fans or late-season intensity, tonight will not be totally satisfactory. We will take what we can get.
In a country which trades on supporter passion, the terracing will echo to the shouts of players who must mind their language. Told not to spit, clear their noses or crowd the referee, and with the ball in play longer, it could be a better game in some respects.
Benches will go on forever, with nine substitutes to choose five from now, all sat two metres apart. Sporting integrity has been compromised, but that is not new, just the extent.
Leeds United unfairly had a 1972 title decider two days after winning the FA Cup, and even 2015-16 went into extra time after an Old Trafford bomb scare.
This show had to go on once safe as football’s cash cascades from the top and without it, clubs will fold. Hopefully more trickles down than usual.
Sheffield United and Leeds United are on the verge of historic achievements and were champing at the bit in lockdown.
Barnsley will attempt another great escape which could have Hull City, Middlesbrough and/or Huddersfield Town fidgeting nervously. The table suggests Sheffield Wednesday are Yorkshire’s only side with nothing to play for, but a possible points deduction could see to that. Harrogate Town, Halifax Town and York City might yet face play-offs.
It will be weird, it will be imperfect but it will be back. Prepare for life to get much more enjoyable some days, much more miserable on others.
This is just something we have to do.