I do feel sorry for a lot of people in this, not just those that are going to miss out on going to the game.
And I think it is something that we will need to consider when we turn on our TV’s tonight to watch the game.
We saw the news come out on Monday that London has been moved up into Tier 3 for the foreseeable future, and as a result there will be no fans in the stadium tonight to watch us take on Brighton And Hove Albion.
There has been plenty of talk about the return of fans to grounds in recent weeks and the impact that it has had. And Fulham are no exception to that, with Peter Rutzler of The Athletic saying after the game against Liverpool:
“It makes such a difference. It gives the game some personality, a different dynamic and surely helped Fulham start so strongly. Hopefully it can lift the team against Brighton.”
Will you be trying to go back to games when given the chance?
Yes
No
But alas, we won’t even get to see whether or not they can make a difference tonight, as Craven Cottage returns to being empty, the way it was since the summer. And speaking on talkSPORT, the ever opinionated pundit Simon Jordan came out with a rather impassioned speech about how he felt places like Craven Cottage should be allowed to carry on as normal through all this:
✅ "If you can go to a retail shop and gym, you can go into a stadium."
👎 "Sport is being victimised."
😡 "Gyms can be trusted but not sport and pubs. It's wrong!"@SJOpinion10 says football stadiums should be exempt from Tier 3 restrictions. pic.twitter.com/21MjC1sHrD
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) December 15, 2020
To a large extent, I agree with Jordan. I was at the game on Sunday and the amount of safety measures that take place before, during and after the game are far more stringent than most places in society these days, so for grounds to be closed during all this is rather nonsensical.
And from a somewhat selfish perspective, if fans being allowed in grounds is giving home teams a perceived boost, then in a relegation six-pointer against the Seagulls tonight, we could do with all the help that we can get.
Let’s just hope there are some changes in the near future.
What about you? What do you make of Jordan’s comments?