[Albion] Missing matches due to COVID...

[Green Cross Code Man]

I have a genuine fear that we'll all be missing matches due to Covid in the not-too-distant future, alas.

The way things are panning out that wouldn't be a surprise. Brentford on Boxing Day I wonder?

 

[Bozza]

The way things are panning out that wouldn't be a surprise. Brentford on Boxing Day I wonder?

I think it will take longer than that, partly because we don't have a great track record of acting quickly, and also because the exponential growth of Omicron will have it at quite low levels then. If it does have a 3-day doubling rate though, mid-late January might not be too pretty.

But given the tales of super-spreading events of Omicron already like this - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...rom-oslo-christmas-party-may-surge-to-100-nrk - then you could probably make a case that packed football concourses possibly shouldn't be in use if there was any real intent to try and stem the spread of Omicron.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I'm in the same boat as you, ST holder and Seagulls travel ST although I'm 75. I went to the Amex for Everton and Leicester but haven't been since as I'm not happy walking through the concourse or the toilets where 90% of people aren't wearing a mask.

I'm triple jabbed but I'm very unlikely to go to a game again until well into the new year; does there come a time when the club will say I'm not using my ST so they'll take it away? I doubt they'd do that if I'm not going to games during the pandemic for health reasons but there must be loads of people like me who aren't using their ST?

That would be harsh, seeing as how the club make zero effort to try and enforce the wearing of masks

 

[Fat Boy Fat]

I’m in my late sixties, healthy, but nervous of going to matches. I’ve got a ST which I put on the ticket exchange, being a single it never sells. I’ve been to three matches. I didn’t go just before my holiday, so hopefully I wouldn’t test positive.
. I don’t like Saturday evening matches and when I do go, I don’t feel safe on the concourse, no one wearing masks. I don’t really like sitting in my seat without a mask.
I’ve paid for a season ticket with Seagull Travel, so I’m losing money all round.
I’m tempted to cancel my ST next season and just buy a ticket as and when it feels safe to go.

I think it's stories like yours that go a long way to explaining the gaps in the crowds at home games this season, and not for other reasons that some would have us believe.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Any superspreading was more likely to have occurred on the packed trains and in the packed "away" friendly pubs. I sat opposite a guy on the train on the way there, who seemed fine when we got on the train, but by the time we reached Southampton, his eyes were bloodshot and he was moaning.

FFS, do you always have that effect on strangers? You weren't telling him about our xG from last season, were you?

But seriously, I think you are right - it is the travel, pubs, concourses etc that are likely to be the higher risk areas, rather than sitting in the stadium. I'm certainly not of the "they're not doing this, so why should I do that?" ilk, but it seems odd that my daughter in her first year of secondary school now has to wear a mask for much of her school day, yet twenty PL games with crowds of between 30k and 75k are going ahead every weekend with no similar protocols in place, either in or around the stadiums. Measures to try to limit transmission should either put in place and enforced or instead just don't bother; window-dressing serves no purpose.

 

[CheeseRolls]

FFS, do you always have that effect on strangers? You weren't telling him about our xG from last season, were you?

But seriously, I think you are right - it is the travel, pubs, concourses etc that are likely to be the higher risk areas, rather than sitting in the stadium. I'm certainly not of the "they're not doing this, so why should I do that?" ilk, but it seems odd that my daughter in her first year of secondary school now has to wear a mask for much of her school day, yet twenty PL games with crowds of between 30k and 75k are going ahead every weekend with no similar protocols in place, either in or around the stadiums. Measures to try to limit transmission should either put in place and enforced or instead just don't bother; window-dressing serves no purpose.

Masks are anti-social. You can't have a meaningful conversation across a train wearing one and the easy answer is just not to bother. It is a strange definition of freedom, that includes freedom to choose to cough over other people and to not wash your hands after going to the toilet.

 

[dazzer6666]

It's all so inconsistent so it's easy to see why people are ignoring requirements..................I went to London for a few days last week. Train up from Sussex was virtually empty, but we had to wear masks (not enforced - and not everyone was), tube was fairly busy and maybe 50-60% compliance (no enforcement), shopping centre was busy - again maybe 50% compliance with signs and announcements but no enforcement at all and attended the football on Weds night and then a reunion lunch on Thursday that started in a packed restaurant and finished in a packed pub in Covent Garden - barely a mask in sight despite the crowds. Same at Saints on Saturday.

I don't feel much at risk in my seat (outside, not facing anyone) at The Amex compared to bars, restaurants, the underground (and away games) and don't use buses or trains to get there but taking plenty of risks in other settings - maybe foolishly relying on the vaccine to limit any potential illness.

 

[RandyWanger]

I missed the Man City home game through 'the worst cold ever' that tested native for covid, but in theory could have gone but as it could have been covid I didn't want to risk others.

 

[pearl]

I’ve only been to the Watford game this season. I was asked to show my Covid passport when I went in, but I arrived early. It worried me a lot when I crossed the concourse to go to the loo, just before kickoff as nobody was wearing a mask. I am over 70 with an autoimmune disease.
I did go to the Swansea cup game which only had 8000, but didn’t feel much safer.
I haven’t been since, partly because of the times of kickoffs which affects travel, and partly because it scares me. I am triple jabbed, but know people who are but have still been quite ill when infected.

I've only been to one match this season also. Like you I felt worried on the concourse. I hope to go to the Spurs match on Sunday, but we'll see. It is crazy, but this weird paranoia kicks in. I know it is probably stupid

 

[sparkie]

I'm in the same boat as you, ST holder and Seagulls travel ST although I'm 75. I went to the Amex for Everton and Leicester but haven't been since as I'm not happy walking through the concourse or the toilets where 90% of people aren't wearing a mask.

I'm triple jabbed but I'm very unlikely to go to a game again until well into the new year; does there come a time when the club will say I'm not using my ST so they'll take it away? I doubt they'd do that if I'm not going to games during the pandemic for health reasons but there must be loads of people like me who aren't using their ST?

I was considering making the Wolves game my first of the season having finally had my booster, but reading the stories about mask-less concourses and Omicron Superspreading I think I'll give it a miss. Family members to consider.

I am fully expecting my season ticket to be taken away at the end of the season, but que sera sera. In these Covid times the club should be grateful for my season ticket money, but they possibly see it as an opportunity to punish non-attendance. So what can you do, eh ?

 

[Bozza]

I was considering making the Wolves game my first of the season having finally had my booster, but reading the stories about mask-less concourses and Omicron Superspreading I think I'll give it a miss. Family members to consider.

Whilst hanging out on the concourses might not be advisable for those with Covid concerns, I think it's possible to largely bypass that by just heading straight for your seat upon arrival at the stadium. If you time your entrance to be early or late, relative to kick-off, then there'll be very few people on the concourse as you pass through.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Whilst hanging out on the concourses might not be advisable for those with Covid concerns, I think it's possible to largely bypass that by just heading straight for your seat upon arrival at the stadium. If you time your entrance to be early or late, relative to kick-off, then there'll be very few people on the concourse as you pass through.

There’s still a problem with going to the toilets. At 5’ 6”, most people’s noses are at my head height, so breathing down on me.

 

[sparkie]

Whilst hanging out on the concourses might not be advisable for those with Covid concerns, I think it's possible to largely bypass that by just heading straight for your seat upon arrival at the stadium. If you time your entrance to be early or late, relative to kick-off, then there'll be very few people on the concourse as you pass through.

That is reassuring. 9 days until Wolves so I'll keep an eye on the Omicron figures and decide nearer the time.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

There’s still a problem with going to the toilets. At 5’ 6”, most people’s noses are at my head height, so breathing down on me.

Maybe the only thing to do there is go when the match is on. Maybe a fortuitous injury if that's not an oxymoron.

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[Super Steve Earle]

Masks are anti-social. You can't have a meaningful conversation across a train wearing one and the easy answer is just not to bother. It is a strange definition of freedom, that includes freedom to choose to cough over other people and to not wash your hands after going to the toilet.

Of all the things masks may be, it is not anti-social. They protect the person you are talking to and unless they need to lip read it is no harder to hold a conversation than without a mask. Handily it keeps any splutter from a cough contained in the mask, plus as a bonus it protects others in the vicinity too. If you carry a spare
you can even dry your hands after washing in the loo. What's not to like?

 

[Bozza]

There’s still a problem with going to the toilets. At 5’ 6”, most people’s noses are at my head height, so breathing down on me.

I've not been to the gents once yet this season at the Amex. That I'm not standing around on the concourse quaffing cider probably helps!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Just running through the Covid protocols myself today as a small relative I saw yesterday tested positive by LFT today. Hoping we all go clear by Sunday with PCRs if needed as a) don't want any of us actually sick and b) don't want to miss Spurs and Wolves.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Maybe the only thing to do there is go when the match is on. Maybe a fortuitous injury if that's not an oxymoron.

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That could be a plan, especially when I missed the goal of the season, when Ali J did his bicycle kick against Chelsea.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

That could be a plan, especially when I missed the goal of the season, when Ali J did his bicycle kick against Chelsea.

Oh no! [emoji24]

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[Thunder Bolt]

Oh no! [emoji24]

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I could hear the roar from the loo! Friends still tell me to go when we need to score!