Is it time for our fans to return?
It’s those deceivingly cold days.
Not a cloud in the sky, but no warmth in the air. Bitter chills thwarted by the combination of the ‘big coat’ and scarf.
Concourses filled with the conversation of the home crowd. Some clutching their foil-wrapped burgers, others with numb fingers, gripping their phones, swiping their selections for the weekend’s bets.
Stewards line the stands and fans begin taking their positions. Kick-off is imminent.
However, this time it’s different…
It’s 2020 and English clubs have been without their fans for over seven months now.
The lack of ticket revenue is financially crippling teams, from the Rovers and the Wanderers, to the Towns and the Dons.
Across the English footballing spectrum, coronavirus is shaking up the system and giving teams a stark wake up call.
Mark Catlin, CEO of Portsmouth Football Club, gave an interview with Good Morning Britain at the end of September, during which he said that the club was losing around £750,000 a month since the start of the national lockdown in March.
Portsmouth FC usually attracts just shy of 20,000 fans to most home matches, which in comparison to other teams’ attendances in Sky Bet League One, is one of the highest.
Harvie Marks, a Pompey supporter and a prominent name on ‘Pompey Twitter’ (@HarvMarksy), boasting nearly 2000 followers, is one of many fans who want to see crowds returning to their grounds.
“Smaller clubs rely on the income of the fans that go into stadiums and so as long as they can’t go in, there is more chance that they are going to go bust,” he said.
“They (lower league clubs) are all for the Premier League having to try and bail them out, because they can’t survive much longer not having fans going in (to football stadiums).”
Meanwhile, Jake Smith, host of Express FM’s Football Hour raises the point that, “you may see clubs like Accrington Stanley having to pay back Manchester United in years to come”.
Will there be strings attached if the Premier League supports the lower leagues now?
Jake Smith and Harvie Marks both believe that lower league clubs will likely suffer the most during and after the pandemic. Especially because before the virus began, Bury was expelled from the football league and Bolton Wanderers received a minus 12 points deduction when Portsmouth were in Sky Bet League One in 2019/20.
Marks continued: “If clubs are going under before the coronavirus pandemic, then I can’t imagine how many clubs are probably struggling at this moment.
“Portsmouth is a footballing city. Nearly everyone you know, whether they are football fans or not, has an association with the club, one way or another.
“If somewhere like Portsmouth was to lose their football club, I could not imagine what that would do to the community.”
Many clubs work alongside their local communities, raising money for charities and increasing awareness of pressing, topical issues with campaigns and helping vulnerable people.
Shane Murdoch, Portsmouth FC fan and season ticket holder, highlighted the fact that other industries have received backing from the Government to continue with audiences and fans.
One of these industries is the Arts.
Images surfacing from the London Palladium showed a 50% capacity crowd attending a Q&A with Arsene Wenger.
LW Theatres said they complied with social distancing, insisting that 1 metre-plus was maintained between groups.
If a theatre running at half the capacity, with 1 metre-plus social distancing allowed, isn’t it reasonable for football fans to feel hard done by when they can’t even attend outdoor trial fixtures?
Smith says there’s “inconsistency” between the decisions being made for sporting events, especially football, and indoor events, such as live theatre.
Portsmouth FC had planned to host a trial fixture against Wigan Athletic on September 26 at Fratton Park, which has outdoor seating, allowing about a twentieth of the maximum match day capacity inside for the game.
What about Sunday league football?
“No one is tested, there is very little social distancing by crowds and yet in a controlled environment (such as a football stadium), supporters aren’t allowed,” Murdoch argued.
“It’s backwards. There are very few logical decisions being made.”
Murdoch had attended Sunday league fixtures since the national lockdown was lifted in the summer and doesn’t understand why hundreds of people can play football, or spectate in a field, yet controlled crowds in outdoor stadiums are still not allowed.
As the nights draw shorter, the towering floodlights will, once again, begin to whirr on for another year.
Empty stands will wrap around stadiums, with no passion to warm the pitch.
For many, the Saturday void continues, with no end in sight.
“You also have to look at people’s mental health. Football is sometimes a getaway to help take your mind off ‘real life’ situations…” says Harvie Marks.
“If you do not have a football club… what do you do?”
