At the moment I don't feel at all excited by the prospect of football behind closed doors. It just won't be the same without fans, and on top of that with rule changes about subs and neutral venues suddenly springing up as well. It is a very poor substitute for the real thing where I can turn up and feel part of an event and enjoy all the pre and post match ritual with mates as well as the event itself, or at least get a feel for the excitement in the stadium by watching on TV. No, it won't be the same at all and in the future the record books and commentators will always put an asterisk on the records of the 2019/20 season. It will always be the Covid season. Not a proper season. And 2020/21 is likely to be the same.
But. In recent weeks my favourite Indian restaurant has started to do takeaway meals. They're not the same quality as when you're sitting there with your Mrs and/or your mates and it comes dished up piping hot and you're having banter together and with the staff and folk at other tables. But, they are a substitute for the real thing, they keep the business going, and they're better than nothing or the curry I make myself. And when I'm eating it, although I think "this is not as good as the real thing" I don't think it is inherently wrong that the business should be trying to survive like this whilst Covid is killing thousands. And I accept the managed risk I and the staff serving or delivering the takeaway are taking.
And then again, I miss my real ale in the local and for the first couple of months there was no substitute except bottled beer with it's fizz inferior taste - only serving it very cold in the hot weather made it drinkable. But then the local started producing 5 litre kegs of real ale on Thursday to Sunday evenings. Ok, so I can't stand at the bar laughing and joking with mates and the bar staff and the regulars like I really want to. And it's not as good as the draught from a hand pump. But it's the best substitute I can get and I'm I'm supporting the business and the risk when I go to collect it is managed by Andy, the landlord, as best he can.
And every business is trying to do the same. And my reaction to their efforts is not to condemn them because Covid is still killing thousands, but to recognise that it is what people do to keep their business afloat, protect their future even if it's not normal service, not as good as the real thing.
So, we ought perhaps to recognise that football is doing what any self-respecting business is trying to do in the current strange and difficult situation. And when it puts on this inferior product, because it can secure takeaway income from the TV, we should think about the hundreds of lower paid jobs that is supporting who work at Premier League clubs and indeed in bookies around the world and in media outlets - these businesses do not just employ overpaid megastars.
And save your sympathy and your thoughts for those lower League and non-league clubs who have no substitute product to sell to TV companies. They rely on gate money and their fans have no inferior TV takeaway to consume. And now, more than ever, they will look to the FA and Premier League for any crumbs to help them survive. The cold leftovers of last night's curry washed down with some dregs of stale ale.
I agree with a lot of what you say here, if getting the football back up and running doesn't take resources away from fighting covid then that's fine, as long as the risks are minimised for everyone involved then great, have at it.
The issue I have with it, and this is where the reality is different to your restaurant and pub analogy, is that football isn't back for all. It's back for a couple of the leagues in this country and not others. To go back to your analogy its like saying that your local can't open as it's not a big enough business but the Wetherspoons can as they have more customers and donate directly to the government.
Football clubs are businesses but they're also part of various competitions unlike pubs and restaurants. To resume playing using different rules in a league competition part way through is a joke, it makes a mockery of the phrase 'integrity of the league', it's just plain stupid.
If the rules are changed part way through a knockout cup competition it's different as each round can be seen as a seperate competition, so if cup games are played at neutral venues for one round then that's fine, as long as each team in each round plays the game in equal circumstances then that's fair. This doesn't work for leagues though. To carry on a league competition with different rules than it started with makes literally no sense, it's no longer the same competition.
They should have just given the scousers the trophy that the league has been working towards gifting them all season, take their photos to market it abroad and then come up with some kind of separate local competions for teams that felt willing and able to compete in. These could have been televised as one off competitions and the money shared out equally between the various teams, this would have helped out so many teams across all the country in all leagues and would have had an arguably bigger draw on TV than watching a stale kick about between two mid table teams with unfit and unmotivated players.
Use whatever system they fancy to work out final league placings, PPG or whatever and take that as the final league placings for relegation, promotion and European placings and call off this ridiculous abortion of a season. Its not ideal but it's probably the fairest way of doing things, teams are going to get relegated because their games aren't played in the same manner their opponents games are which is ridiculous.
This may at least give us a chance of getting next season started in some kind of organised fashion, possibly using rules that incorporate some kind of provision for this happening again if there's a second wave of illnesses.
