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The Great Mass Debater

Football without fans is awful

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We come to the end of the season, and the agony is almost over. No, not Norwich's season, but football without fans.

 

I am so glad we decided to finish the season. Writing off the season, or calling it, or suspending relegation etc which other countries/leagues have done never sat right with me, and it was so the right thing to do to finish it properly in the spirit of fairness.

But my god hasnt it been awful? The games have felt like pre-season friendlies. Yes the players might be out of sorts due to suspended training as well as the season, but without the fans every game has felt flat.

It really rams home just how important fans are to the entire thing.

 

So Im glad we finished it, but Im also glad its finishing.

 

The point of my post is not to moan or complain about any decisions taken or anything like that. Merely a comment on how awful even the highest level of football is without the atmosphere and drama and galvanisisng effect of fans. 

The thought of further football like this fill me with cringe. Personally I think Id rather suspend football completely until fans can come back than carry on like this

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Totally agree. I was firmly in the null and void camp a couple of months ago, but now, I’m glad it’s been played out.

it has been awful, not just our results which actually have been worse than awful but football in general, it’s not football without the fans part of it. It’s what makes it what it is.

i too, would like to see it suspended until we can go back to the terraces. I know this isn’t going to happen but I feel it should. Football needs to regain its soul and the only way that can happen is with floods of fans heading to their home ground. 

Unfortunately the powers that be are unable to see beyond TV money. Shame.

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16 minutes ago, The Great Mass Debater said:

 

The thought of further football like this fill me with cringe. Personally I think Id rather suspend football completely until fans can come back than carry on like this

Having watched some of the restarts which has seen me lose some love for the game as it is now i cannot honestly see too many people disagreeing with your last paragraph.

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Its an exhibition game without fans.

Sadly football seems to think its immune from the economic fallout of covid and we hear of top clubs still willing to spend £xxx million on a single player. It just does not sit right with me and i think football at the top level is in danger of disappearing up its own ****.

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If the ban on crowds is long lasting many may not go back at all when it is lifted.

Without crowds football is a sterile experience.

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10 minutes ago, duke63 said:

Its an exhibition game without fans.

Sadly football seems to think its immune from the economic fallout of covid and we hear of top clubs still willing to spend £xxx million on a single player. It just does not sit right with me and i think football at the top level is in danger of disappearing up its own ****.

We can but hope.

Teams, pundits, fans talking about Future transfers as if nothing has happened. I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to take stock and press the reset button, but it seems no lessons have been learnt.

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3 minutes ago, duke63 said:

Its an exhibition game without fans.

Sadly football seems to think its immune from the economic fallout of covid and we hear of top clubs still willing to spend £xxx million on a single player. It just does not sit right with me and i think football at the top level is in danger of disappearing up its own ****.

Absolutely. For my sins I peruse the BBC teletext ‘football gossip’ over breakfast before leaving for work. The countless millions is seems the big teams (especially Man Utd / Man City and Chelsea) are going to spend is obscene. When the likes of Bury (and no doubt many others post pandemic) are on or over the ‘brink’ it does not sit well with me, it’s almost like a parallel universe. PL football without fans will continue, because of ££££, but ‘real world’ football needs fans, it is the whole raison d’être IMO. I’d like to think the dreadful standard, poor atmosphere output in the games since the restart would persuade a few armchair fans it really isn’t worth the £30/m subscription, thereby instigating something of a ‘reset’ but I fear it’s just a pipe dream.

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15 minutes ago, duke63 said:

Sadly football seems to think its immune from the economic fallout of covid and we hear of top clubs still willing to spend £xxx million on a single player. It just does not sit right with me and i think football at the top level is in danger of disappearing up its own ****.

I think this only applies to a small number of clubs in the Premier League. Even then Liverpool have said they will be scaling back planned recruitment until there is a clear understanding of the overall impact. It may be that this summer the window isn't hugely affected as some clubs feel they can still finance their spending plans, but it could be next summer we see a significant drop in spending as longer term impacts hit harder. Dortmund have changed their position on Jadon Sancho from trying to resist a sale this summer and doing it in 2021, but being more open to doing now as they predict a dampened market in a years time. 

Of the clubs that are seemingly still pressing ahead - Chelsea and Man U being the major two - both rely much less on fan attendance to generate revenue. Man U's business plan relies on them making big name signings to drive up commercial revenue while Chelsea are sitting on a bit of cash having spent relatively little recently. They are taking advantage of their strong position to secure deals that they probably couldn't if others weren't feeling more cautious due to Covid. 

1 hour ago, The Great Mass Debater said:

The thought of further football like this fill me with cringe. Personally I think I'd rather suspend football completely until fans can come back than carry on like this

The problem with that is the longer football is suspended the harder it will be for many to restart. The Premier League would be alright, as would much of the Championship, but the lower down you go the larger the problems. We are already going to see a difficult curtailed season. Any delay would make 20/21 hard to complete. Take a whole season away from many clubs and they will be bust by the time 2021/22 rolls around.

I suspect by September we will see some fans allowed back into matches, although reduced capacity and no concession stands and masks required in when inside. 

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Agreed with Bethnal’s post. 
 

Surely the whole point of restarting the season (and possibly starting next without fans or reduced numbers of fans) is exactly because clubs know they are not “immune to the economic fallout of covid”. Surely playing in front of empty stadiums and getting some tv revenue is better than doing nothing, with no income, still incurring outgoings and half the clubs in the country going bust? If we can get half the number of fans in even then, certainly lower down the leagues, that will make a big difference.

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Can anyone seriously see Champions league football being played over the winter months in Europe?

Spain is already back in quarantine and in the middle of their hottest spell of weather for years.

Players travelling across Europe to play football in the middle of the worst pandemic for over 100 years should not be allowed to happen.

Hopefully Governments will put a stop to it and then financial reality will set in with the biggest clubs.

 

 

Edited by duke63

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31 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I suspect by September we will see some fans allowed back into matches, although reduced capacity and no concession stands and masks required in when inside

I noticed that some people have been allowed in to watch some cricket today, only a small amount but it is a start

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Tbh i find watching football on tv totally boring. 

It also kills the enjoyment of the live game so i can't wait for the terraces to open up again. The sooner the better. 

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It has been a long time since I have posted but there is much on here with which I agree.

GMD - totally agree, football without the fans simply is not football at all. In fact true of most sport. Quite simply I have stopped watching sport.

Ricardo - I too can see fans not returning. A reduced capacity stadium is better than an empty one but it will not be the same experience . The atmosphere of a sold out Carrow Rd is a vital element of our matchday experience. 

BYG  and Aggy - I feel the season has to start for the lower league clubs. If the transfer market and fees are diminished this will be a blow for clubs that need to sell to survive. To then take away match day revenue is likely to threaten the existence of clubs unless owners are prepared to altruistically throw money at the problem. The better news is that reduced capacity could also be of less impact if they are closer to their average attendance.

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