[Football] Return of football. Bothered?

[Steve in Japan]

I am not missing it, but I will watch the Albion's games as and when they restart. I am concerned that it is not the same competition we started in August 2019, but nothing I can do about that - there will be 3 very bitter teams come the end of the Season who will be forever certain it wasn't fair.

Hoping that the Albion can become THE team who outperform when playing behind closed doors.

But I do believe that the PL and EFL will only survive and prosper if they get the crowds back. Without them, football is a strange and soulless product, and certainly not worth what the TV companies are paying.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

I have never been an advocate of Project Restart, better to look to next season. But given that it seems certain to happen and Albion’s immediate future depends on a successful 9 match run..... I will be there, glued to my telly, I Pad or transistor radio kicking every ball, wincing at the tackles and cheering our goals.
I have missed football. It gives a wonderful diversion to my mundane life. What else can get you to leap with joy ,shout and sing with such exultation?

 

[Icy Gull]

To anyone who says that they are not missing football, watch the video on the “on our way” thread. I thought I wasn’t missing it until I watched it!

 

[AmexRuislip]

With Sky allegedly wanting money back from the PL clubs, how about saving all the legal fees and let the club's keep the money and deduct it from next year's money that would've gone to the clubs

 

[darkwolf666]

To anyone who says that they are not missing football, watch the video on the “on our way” thread. I thought I wasn’t missing it until I watched it!

You clearly miss the point, some are not missing football for personal reasons, watching a re-run of past glories counts for nothing.

 

[Napper]

If the last two months have shown anything it’s that normality is vastly overrated.

Agree with you about football coming back though

i'd say the opposite , normality is under rated

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Of course I miss football, well I miss the Albion and actually watching games in a stadium. I miss the excitement of waking up on a match day, that feeling that has never left me since I was a kid. I miss the journey to the game, chatting to people you've never met before but you share that common bond, a love of the Albion. I miss the pre match beers with my mates, a chance to catch up about each others lives, but also that chance to get away from the stress of work, parenthood etc and just be yourself for a few hours. I miss that feeling when I take my seat in the Amex during the build up to kick off, it still feels amazing to call it home even after 9 years. I miss the excitement of kicking every ball in my head, head in hands at a near miss, jumping out of my seat and celebrating a goal. I even miss that feeling of despair when we let in a goal. I miss talking about the game and other results on the way home again.

I long for the day when we will all be able to do that again, but I know it is still likely to be many months away. As I said above going to watch to us is my break from everyday life, a chance to forget those stresses for a few hours, and we could all do with something like that at the moment.

Unfortunately we are not getting that back, we are getting an incredibly watered down version, where Sky and a lot of clubs are about to realise what fans actually bring to the game. Hopefully we will considered a little bit more going forward because there is no doubt a live crowd actually adds to the television product, however I fear that is wishful thinking.

Will I watch the restart? I will certainly watch the Albion games and celebrate every goal, cheer every win and lament every loss. But it won't be the same. I very much doubt I will tune into other games, football normally means a lot in our household, with live games taking over the TV but it just won't feel the same, football without fans is a soulless experience and not what football is about.

 

[Napper]

Interesting that most on NSC aren't bothered. I wonder how that compares to the wider fanbase, I bet there less apathy than the politicised masses on here.

and other fan bases . We do lack some passion . Leafy middle class sussex I guess

 

[Napper]

Talksport the other evening reckoned that Dunk and the players are very positive about the prospect of playing soon, with little in the way of anxieties.

course they are. Itching to go the majority. People frozen by fear not really looking at the facts with the risks

 

[Binney on acid]

No.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Of course I miss football, well I miss the Albion and actually watching games in a stadium. I miss the excitement of waking up on a match day, that feeling that has never left me since I was a kid. I miss the journey to the game, chatting to people you've never met before but you share that common bond, a love of the Albion. I miss the pre match beers with my mates, a chance to catch up about each others lives, but also that chance to get away from the stress of work, parenthood etc and just buje yourself for a few hours. I miss that feeling when I take my seat in the Amex during the build up to kick off, it still feels amazing to call it home even after 9 years. I miss the excitement of kicking every ball in my head, head in hands at a near miss, jumping out of my seat and celebrating a goal. I even miss that feeling of despair when we let in a goal. I miss talking about the game and other results on the way home again.

I long for the day when we will all be able to do that again, but I know it is still likely to be many months away. As I said above going to watch to us is my break from everyday life, a chance to forget those stresses for a few hours, and we could all do with something like that at the moment.

Unfortunately we are not getting that back, we are getting an incredibly watered down version, where Sky and a lot of clubs are about to realise what fans actually bring to the game. Hopefully we will considered a little bit more going forward because there is no doubt a live crowd actually adds to the television product, however I fear that is wishful thinking.

Will I watch the restart? I will certainly watch the Albion games and celebrate every goal, cheer every win and lament every loss. But it won't be the same. I very much doubt I will tune into other games, football normally means a lot in our household, with live games taking over the TV but it just won't feel the same, football without fans is a soulless experience and not what football is about.

Good post this.
This covers everything, this is what many of us have missed and we don't know when it's coming back.

 

[Frankie]

I miss it , but i still think it's a mistake trying to restart football this season , even with the Virus avoidance protocol disciplinary procedures yellow card for spitting , straight red for emptying the contents of the nose perhaps ? .

Imagine the meltdown if a player contracts the virus passes it on to a family member and they die , i doubt SKY Sports will want to be associated with that eventuality , and the footballing governing bodies will say something stupid like , well the players knew the risks , that won't make it right , i'm still amazed a restart is still being considered but nothing it seems is more important than ££££££££££££££s .


Reading that back it looks rather Snowflakey , if that's the case then in this instance i happily claim my NSC Snowflake award .

 

[The Wizard]

I wonder if it’s a difference between people who go to games/people who don’t, I’m a season ticket holder and I must say I think people underestimate how much football is about the ‘matchday’ and not just the kicking a ball around, there is nothing quite like being at the game, I don’t know if it’s just me but waking up on a Saturday knowing it’s either an away day or a big home game, I never get the same excitement for watching our games on TV, never have done.

 

[DJ NOBO]

i'd say the opposite , normality is under rated

There are all kinds of ways you can look out. Personally those weeks when there were no cars on the road, the air felt cleaner, no planes, time saved on commuting, not feeling pressure to buy stuff you don’t really need, Seeing rich people like Eddie Hearn frustrated because he couldn’t make loadsamoney.....I loved it. Obvs it is a more complicated picture than that though.

 

[rippleman]

Doesn't matter if the answer isn't popular, I was simply interested in seeing if others identified with how I felt.

The fact that the thumbs up for your OP has now hit the half century (polite ripple of applause) suggests that your views are supported by a significant number of our congregation.

 

[Surf's Up]

As much as I hate to say, end the season now.
Start afresh next season.
Wouldn't be the same behind closed doors, no atmosphere and the player's need to interact with the crowd to play, whatever the final score.
PL should grow some and make that decision IMO.

Totally agree with this. Playing games under the new reality will be a completely new competition with different rules and totally different surroundings, hence the absurdity of trying to tag it on to the end of the current season. The "restart" of the season has got little to do with health and welfare and is just a cynical and desperate attempt to avoid paying large sums of money to the broadcasters by clubs who have been dining from the rich man's table for too long and who have become fat, complacent and greedy as a result. Alas the Premier League will not grow some because cash is king.

 

[ForestRowSeagull]

I'd feel different if we were going for promotion or in mid table obscurity. The knowledge that when it restarts we're back into a relegation battle doesn't fill me with excitement. As said above, the whole Premier League experience is an odd one; if it wasn't for the financial gulf between the leagues I wouldn't be anti relegation at all. Its an odd sort of club that isn't much fun to be in (unless you're near the top) but you know that if you weren't in it the financial consequences are awful.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I think you’re right, but I wouldn’t throw politics into this mix .... throughout I recognised a wide array of NSC'ers (left and right) in these PL threads who confidently and fervently reckoned this PL would never finish (by pure coincidenceM saving Brighton’s relegation mix bacon). Whilst supporters of most other clubs were a far more balanced mix of pro and anti completing this season.

Respect to the half dozen other posters who wouldn’t be brow-beaten by the majority over this subject.

I think football will bounce back, we’ll see full stadia once allowed, the vast majority of people will come out of lockdown appreciating the niceties of life, leisure and hobbies.

Political was the wrong word but I couldn't think of another quick way to describe it.
Sometimes you just have to enjoy something you like for your own benefit, I feel like people are looking for reasons to dislike it because of some other underlying and loosely related factors. It doesn't need to be like that, just ignore the flannel and enjoy the game. As Rishi said " don't let the perfect get in the way of the good"

 

[darkwolf666]

Didn't want to derail the other thread regards Premier League return, but quite frankly, from a personal stand point I couldn't care two shots about the return of Skyball...

 

[Easy 10]

Of course I miss football, well I miss the Albion and actually watching games in a stadium. I miss the excitement of waking up on a match day, that feeling that has never left me since I was a kid. I miss the journey to the game, chatting to people you've never met before but you share that common bond, a love of the Albion. I miss the pre match beers with my mates, a chance to catch up about each others lives, but also that chance to get away from the stress of work, parenthood etc and just be yourself for a few hours. I miss that feeling when I take my seat in the Amex during the build up to kick off, it still feels amazing to call it home even after 9 years. I miss the excitement of kicking every ball in my head, head in hands at a near miss, jumping out of my seat and celebrating a goal. I even miss that feeling of despair when we let in a goal. I miss talking about the game and other results on the way home again.

I long for the day when we will all be able to do that again, but I know it is still likely to be many months away. As I said above going to watch to us is my break from everyday life, a chance to forget those stresses for a few hours, and we could all do with something like that at the moment.

Unfortunately we are not getting that back, we are getting an incredibly watered down version, where Sky and a lot of clubs are about to realise what fans actually bring to the game. Hopefully we will considered a little bit more going forward because there is no doubt a live crowd actually adds to the television product, however I fear that is wishful thinking.

Will I watch the restart? I will certainly watch the Albion games and celebrate every goal, cheer every win and lament every loss. But it won't be the same. I very much doubt I will tune into other games, football normally means a lot in our household, with live games taking over the TV but it just won't feel the same, football without fans is a soulless experience and not what football is about.

Great post, but I have to take issue with the last part. Given our precarious position in the table, I most certainly will be tuning in to watch our relegation rivals in action to cheer on the results I want. I've thought about this, and discovered that yes, I do indeed still very much give a shit. Watching their games play out in empty stadiums won't just be for entertainments sake, it'll be with a view to what we NEED.