Nick Powell’s winner for Stoke City at Adams Park was greeted by a spectacular sight. A desolate Wycombe fan – a real one, not a cardboard pin-up or a printed face on a lifeless canvas – sat alone in the stands, stooped over in his chair with his head in his hands. Isn’t it marvellous to be back?
This weekend, there will be thousands of others like him as supporters finally return to games for the first time since March. Teams located in parts of England placed under Tier 2 restrictions will be able to welcome up to 2,000 of them through the gates in a huge boost to clubs’ revenues.
For those who are attending games at more modern stadia, there will be no click of the turnstiles and no stale pints on the floor of the concourse to greet them. We have been warned: there will be no singing, shouting or elbow nudges from fellow fans in the stands. No hurtling down flights of stairs after a goal, no hugs with strangers.
It will be an unmistakably different experience, but one which for many represents a badly needed return to some form of normality. The prospect of going to a football match, which was a routine rather than a pipe dream at the start of 2020, is now “a light at the end of the tunnel in such a miserable year”.
Jaden Christy, a Leyton Orient fan, is hoping to be back at Brisbane Road next week. “To me, Orient is everything, my whole life revolves around the club. Saturdays and Tuesdays are only for Orient and nothing else,” he tells i.
“I think no doubt the matchday experience is going to be different when we go back, but the simple things like going to the Coach and Horses with my Dad and brother pre-match for a drink will be brilliant to have back. It’s the little things you miss so much. Hopefully this is a first step in the right direction for all of us football fans to get back to the clubs we love.”
At a ground with a capacity of 9,271, the matchday experience may be a little closer to an ordinary game. Across the capital at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, currently built to hold 62,303 people, it will be a north London derby like no other when they face Arsenal on Sunday.
The league-leaders go into the game as huge favourites, but for the lucky few who were successful in a ballot of more than 41,000 season-ticket holders, the football itself will almost be of secondary importance.
“Going to the football has always been a massive part of my life,” says James Welham. “Not just the 90 minutes, but the whole day out is something that I look forward to every weekend.
“Going back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time on Sunday isn’t just exciting for the obvious reason of being able to do something I love, but more importantly it also feels like a huge step back towards normality.
“We all know that it will be a very different experience on Sunday to any game we’ve been to before. Not being able to pile into a packed pub for pre-match pints. Having only 2,000 people in a stadium big enough for 62,000. It might not be football as we know it, but at least it *is* football… and hopefully the first day back ends with three points!”
‘It’s work and football, and both were taken away’
John Wenham, another Tottenham season-ticket holder, is equally confident of Jose Mourinho’s side delivering a perfect day out. “Spurs have showcased a few Mourinho masterclasses in recent weeks, while Mikel Arteta looks like a supply teacher looking after a disruptive class.”
The current gulf between the two sides on the pitch is far from the only reason this will not be a regular derby day, Wenham says. “My last game was a packed house for the visit of Liverpool and it’ll be a vastly different experience not mixing with friends and family all over the stadium, visiting the usual watering holes as we used to in the build-up to kick-off – but this is the current norm.”
To add to the familiar emotions – the agony and the ecstasy – will be the loneliness. Not everyone is excited about the prospect of returning in the current climate. Some are waiting until they can go with family and friends again before buying tickets.
Then there are questions of the competition’s integrity. Is it fair that some teams will be playing in front of thousands of supporters, while others – including Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa – will continue to play behind closed doors?
Perhaps not, but on a personal level, it matters that football is back. It’s not back for everyone, but for many fans up and down the country, particularly those who have suffered hardship, it’s the first step towards regaining a part of their life which was lost in March.
“My life revolves around work and football and both were taken away,” says Neil Donaldson. “A return to the stadium will do the world of good for my mental side as I haven’t been back to work. We’ve realised how much we miss and support our players during recent performances.”
Without fans, football hasn’t been the same and many have felt the void just as deeply. Now that they are slowly coming back, going to the game won’t be quite what it was – but it’s something that won’t be taken for granted again.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/37A8kPE
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