Cod Almighty | Diary

A level playing field

21 April 2020

With football no closer to returning, one of the many Twitter debates Casual Diary has entered into was: how should season ticket holders respond if the season is written off with games unfulfilled?

One of the running themes of the last 12 months is that I have often found myself on the opposite side of an issue from the one I would traditionally take. I found myself in the unusual bizarre position of arguing that the club - and by default our non-chairman/major shareholder - should not be expected to refund cash.

Now I must point out that I have no skin in the game. I took the decision at the start of the season that I wouldn't contribute to a season ticket until John Fenty had relinquished control of the club. However, even if I had, I feel sure I would not be clamouring for my £60 back, or even a discount on next season. The club I support is clearly in perilous financial difficulties that are not of their making.

The counter argument is that there are people, especially in these straitened times, whom could use £60 much more than a professional sports club. The club has few current running costs, has ready access to bank funding, a millionaire non-chairman/major shareholder, and 80 per cent of its wage bill is being met by HMRC. It is a compelling argument. I concede that anyone in dire need, or who feels the club would be duty-bound to offer a refund would be justified in their claim. I doubt that many will.

It may of course all be irrelevant. The rags which pass as the printed media, as well as the state mouthpiece and online sources, were full of a plan by the "World's greatest league" (™) to resume in early June and conclude by mid-July.
The plan is apparently for players to return to training as soon as the government allow non-essential shops to open.

All games would clearly be behind closed doors. The likelihood of the government allowing crowds is nil. This is especially the case given the fire they have come under for allowing the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead, and for 3,000 Atletico Madrid fans to visit Anfield; how many were Spanish exiles travelling within the UK is a moot point. By far the greater danger of spreading disease would be to Devon and Cornwall as the Kopites made their way back home.

It should be taken as read that if the top flight decides to resume behind closed doors, then the puppets at the Football League will follow suit. I will avoid the obvious joke about this placing Scunthorpe, Cheltenham and Forest Green Rovers at an advantage as they are used to playing in empty grounds (OK I didn't.)

Would the presence of a TV crew to film the games be allowed? No doubt Sky, BT and the other broadcasters will apply enormous pressure for the screening of closed-door games to take place. But it is doubtful they will have too much interest in the fourth flight, apart from the play-offs.

And what of radio? Five Live and Talksport will put the pressure on, but what of Radio Hull? Will Burnsy, Swanny, Whitey et al be allowed to travel to cover the lower echelons? Will John Tondeur again bring us despair from Wheldon and Gresty Roads? Can we all join in Matt Dean's after-game analysis from a level playing field as none of us will have been to the game.

It will bring a whole new perspective to the regular match goer. We can gain a greater understanding of how Dave from Grimsby never went but knows exactly what went wrong. Or how Darren (they always begin with a D) from Cleethorpes left at half time but still knows the second half performance was shit.

I have never seen an I-Follow screening, preferring to take my football in the raw rather than from an armchair. I have no idea of how many cameras are present or of the commentary. But it could present the club with a get out of jail card by offering season ticket holders free access to all games, rather than the usual £10 fee.

Personally, I will want to get the train to the venue and watch it in a local pub while singing "I wanna go home, I wanna go home Chel..."

ATAW. See you in September apparently.