Lockdown football...it's shit and we know it is.

I doubt if any football fan can seriously debate whether the game is better off during lockdown than not.There may be a few contrarians who would but they're probably the same people who'd argue that walking into the middle of the motorway keeps drivers alert...

It's been a year since lockdown began and  our lives have probably changed for ever,or at least for the forseeable future, and of course the world of football is'nt immune from the outside realities despite occasionally believing itself to be so...The vast majority of us who regulary go to games are bereft of our crutch,our escape from the grind for one or two days a week for nine months of the year.If truth be told many of us miss the social side of it more than the actual game itself...

Of course football has not stopped at all,just us fans.Football without fans is like a wedding with no guests.Yes the couple get hitched but there's no family to enjoy the day,no pissed off inlaws,no full bar,no dodgy finger buffet and no brawl in the car park.It's just a thing that happens for official records and nobody gives a shit...

I have a season ticket at Wolves and go to as many games as i can during a season.I can't get to them all for a varity of reasons but probably make 65% home & away.A pretty decent amount i think.Usually i have a great crack no matter the result with good beer and good mates.I think my matchday experience is on a par with most football going football fans.Even in times of normality i find it hard to watch a televised game through the whole 90 odd minutes of the match so watching lockdown games i find almost immpossible...

The way with football is that the excitement is sporadic at best.If you get play that grips you for half of the game you're lucky.A quarter or third of decent play is the norm.The rest is filler and for me that's when my mind drifts off and i watch the crowd.During televised games it's great fun to see the twelve year old acting tough to the opponent fans or the respectable looking grandad clearly calling the ref a fucking wanker.It's fun.It's all part of the fabric of the game.The Fans are the game and when they're not there it's devoid of any sort of meaningful impact on what's going on down on the pitch.I love seeing the crowd celebrate a goal.A moment of delirium when all inhibitions are swept aside to jump all over starngers declaring your love for them...I love hearing the songs that tumble down from the stands.In the DBL(Days before lockdown) if you could hear the players on the pitch you knew it was a shitty game with no atmosphere.Now it could be the best technically sound match there's ever been but you can still hear the players and so it's meaningless and you don't give a fuck...

In some cases the tv companies have tried to counter the noiseless stadiums by providing piped in crowd noises but it does'nt work at all and to me it's an unwelcome distraction.Bless em' they try but even after all these years they have no real idea about fan culture.So they pipe in 90 mins of continious singing which just does'nt happen anywhere ever.They also add "Ohhh's" and "Ahhh's" too signifying a near miss but often it's two seconds too late.Two seconds does'nt sound much but if a team hits the bar and the reaction is'nt instant it's a fucking lifetime...

But of course all this will end once fans are allowed back in and i believe the fans will be louder than ever, for a time anyway, until the novilty wears off.One thing i fear will not change is staggered kick off times for all Premiership games.It's my belief the tv companies have wanted this for a while so they can televise every game thus making as much money as possible and this pandemic is the perfect window for that experiment.The goose is laying the golden egg and i can't see the FA providing a butt plug to stem the flow...The only people to suffer in that are us fans but hey what do we matter?

Like most fans i can't wait to get back in the stadiums for a game.Can't wait for the bad beer,bad food,bad farts and bad jokes.Can't wait for packed pre and post game pubs.Can't wait for that first walk through the subway(don't dare get rid of it Wolves council) to the southbank.Can't wait for that  dodgy as fuck double cheeseburger plastered in caramalised onions and red sauce outside the ground.Can't wait for that rancid smelling flag to be passed over our heads in the south bank.Hell i even miss Hi Ho Silver bloody Lining...

I can't fucking wait...