Premier League rises to occasion with players taking a knee
It did not take long to notice that something was different. The players of Aston Villa and Sheffield United, contesting the first English football fixture in 100 days, came out on to the pitch at staggered times and then stood in a physically distant line to listen, as the Premier League anthem echoed across empty stands.
The teams then passed by each other without the traditional shake of hands and when the referee, Michael Oliver, blew his whistle for kick-off something else uncommon happened too: both teams and their coaching staff dropping to the ground to take a knee. This graceful, powerful action had been initiated and coordinated by the players to show support for racial justice. It was an image beamed around the world as a global audience tuned back in to the Premier League.
Project Restart is now complete and the world’s most successful domestic football league has finally got back under way three months after it was halted by the coronavirus crisis. Villa versus the Blades was the appetiser, followed by the champions, Manchester City, playing host to Arsenal. Another 90 matches will follow in six weeks, all shown live on TV, all played in front of empty stands. Football is back, but a lot has changed in the interval.
While the pandemic has affected everything, the Black Lives Matter movement had a direct influence on the day. Players displayed the slogan on the back of their shirts where their names would usually be (on the front was a badge of a blue heart with the letters NHS inside). Much of the prematch buildup on Sky Sports was spent discussing racial inequality, the experience of black people and players and what their white colleagues and neighbours could and should do to effect change. There were no highlights annotated by pundits, no contrived talking points about video referees.
The opening match, as experienced by everybody who watched beyond those directly involved and a small smattering of selected media, was a very different experience too. The stands were filled with flags to cover the empty seats and dotted with club staff in personal protective equipment. There was also a solitary hi-viz jacket, a tribute to the father of the Villa manager, Dean Smith, who died from a coronavirus-related illness three weeks ago and had been a long-time steward at the club.
The sound was as unusual as the sights, with one Sky channel playing the game as was – with only the shouts of the players audible – and another overlaying a “carpet” of artificially generated crowd noise. The hubbub was supposed to rise and fall in tandem with the action but on its debut it seemed to suffer slightly from delay and the occasional inappropriate overreaction.
As for the football, it was pretty good. The energy, tempo and relentless physicality that is the Premier League’s trademark was present and correct from the off, and the game was peppered with hefty challenges and swirling crosses. There was a customary point of controversy, as the Villa goalkeeper carried the ball into his own net without a goal being given because of a goalline technology failure. In the end the match finished 0-0.
Earlier in the day, at the government’s daily Covid-19 press conference, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, had called the league’s return a “hugely symbolic moment”.
Dowden, who played a central role in driving the restart, said: “The Premier League is returning and the world will be watching. All but five countries will be airing tonight’s games – underlining football’s global reach and the soft power of UK sport.“Of course, it will be a very different event to what we’re used to, but there’s no doubt that this is a hugely symbolic moment. An important step forward in our careful journey back towards normality.”
Dowden also had his own message for fans. “To keep the home advantage, support from home,” he said. With fans prevented from entering stadiums because of a fear of contagion, a subsequent fear of supporters congregating outside grounds had been a central concern during the weeks of restart planning. Last month, police at a national level suggested the season should be completed at neutral grounds to eliminate such a risk. Such an outcome was avoided but only with the proviso that the league and its member clubs take action to keep fans at home.
The Premier League has undertaken to help persuade fans to eschew the outside and has duly come up with its own tripartite mantra: “Support your club. Stay Safe. Follow at Home.” The Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring the first goal actually given on the Premier League’s return, in front of an empty Etihad Stadium. league posted a short online video on Wednesday to thank fans in advance for staying away and encourage them to start new match-day rituals at home, such as “singing our songs in the kitchen and celebrating in the garden”.
Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, marked the restart by saying: “I am delighted we are resuming the 2019-20 season tonight. We have taken it step by step, working with the government, our clubs, the players and managers and many other organisations to ensure we are starting at the right time. There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point but the real prize will be finishing the season.
“Of course, it will be an unusual experience not having fans in the stadiums. The Premier League won’t be fully ‘back’ until fans can return, but we all know that is not possible at this time, so the best thing supporters can do is enjoy the action in their own homes – watching on television, listening on the radio or following on social media.”