Football is back in the spotlight – but its return has to be done right

Football in England will return to our screens and our stadiums this week for the first time in 98 long days.

The lengthiest break in the modern era of the game will come to an end when Aston Villa and Sheffield United kick-off to get the 2019/20 Premier League season under way on Wednesday evening.

It has been a trying time for all, and that we’re here at all should see great credit given to all involved.

It won’t be the football we remember, however, far from it.

Players and staff have been tested twice a week for the past month and will need to provide a clinical passport proving they have tested negative within the past five days to enter the “red zone” of a stadium.

That “red zone” will only be accessible to a maximum of 110 people at any one time, with the number of players and coaches as well as match officials, medical staff and essential ground staff limited.

We in the media are affected too, with only one representative from each publication rather than the sometimes four or five allowed to attend.

On the pitch, players have been reminded of the need to maintain social distancing when celebrating goals and speaking to referees while spitting is strictly prohibited.

Clubs may use two dressing rooms to maximise space and use other areas within the ground – such as corporate hospitality areas – if necessary, while teams will walk out on a staggered basis.

It’s been a long and trying hiatus, not least for leaders Liverpool, whose 30-year wait for a league title has been agonisingly extended indefinitely.

At the other end of the pyramid the wait goes on with Leagues One and Two voting to end their seasons with the massive financial cost of playing without supporters just too much for clubs at that level to shoulder.

But when football does get its long-awaited green light, it’ll be another cost that will be on the minds of many, with more than 40,000 lives lost in this country alone and hundreds of thousands more across the globe.

To bring football back into that world will bring with it eyeballs from far outside the usual sphere, and with them critics too.

Many of those have argued – quite rightly – there are far more important things in life than a ball game, especially in these unprecedented times, and to bring a sport back, even one as precious as it is to so many, is a case of too much, too soon.

But back it is, and the world will be watching.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor