After what will be 18 months since we have last seen a full capacity crowd at an English football ground, the Premier League today stated their intentions of having full stadiums from Matchday 1.
Watching Hungary face Portugal in front of 61,000 fans was a stark reminder of how special playing in front of full stadiums is. Feeling the atmosphere of the Hungarian fans through my TV was as exciting as it was emotional. For too long now, we have been watching games played in front of lifeless, empty stadiums.
Admittedly, the whole of football was put in an impossible position. Leagues across Europe, in fact worldwide, were forced to play in front of empty stadiums due to government guidance. The fact that we had any football at all to watch shouldn’t be taken for granted.
"The Premier League has announced that it and its clubs are committed to the ambition of having full stadiums, including away supporters, from the start of the season, and will continue to work closely with Government and all relevant authorities, ensuring operational plans are in place ready to safely welcome supporters back to stadiums in August.(Via: manchestereveningnews.co.uk)"
All English Premier League
The 11th man was missing and it was felt by all Premier League clubs
Something was missing. A lot of games were played at training pace, and home advantage was lost for many. Home support has often been attributed as the great equaliser in football. Without it, away teams found it easier than ever to win on the road.
A team trailing in the final minutes would normally feed off their fans’ support for an extra push, but not last season. Some may say that players shouldn’t need help for extra motivation. If anyone feels this way, then I doubt they have been to a game in a full stadium.
Now with fans – hopefully – returning in August, we will once again see how much of a difference having supporters in the stadiums will make, not just to the atmosphere, but to the players too.
Players will no doubt be excited to get fans back into the stadiums. Although some may disagree footballers are essentially artists as well as competitors – they will be keen to show off their work in front of a live audience.
Premier League re-emphasises its commitment “to the ambition of having full stadiums, including away supporters, from the start of the season” (14 Aug). Wembley games/trials going well. Delta variant the main concern.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 16, 2021
There is nothing like watching a Premier League game in a packed stadium
There is nothing quite like watching a game in the stadium, and I don’t expect fans to ever take it for granted again. Atmospheres in those first few games back should be unlike anything we have seen before.
But before we get too excited, we will have to wait and see if the UK Government follows through with ending all UKlockdown restrictions from July 19th.
The positive news is that Boris Johnson said on Monday that they are continuing with trials that allow more fans into sports venues – most notably allowing capacity attendance at the Wimbledon final, and then 45,000 into Wembley Stadium for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020.
Board members and managers will have expectations of team performance next season. The start of a new season always comes with some optimism. After all, every single team starts with the same amount of points: zero.
But in reality, all that really matters is getting fans back into stadiums and enjoying themselves.