The year is 2020, people are asked to stay indoors, places of socializing are shut, sports events are called to a halt. Days turn into weeks, which turn into months. What initially felt as a forced detox session for us all, slowly turned into an excruciating wait for some entertainment. The public found the walls slowly closing in, with boredom combined with horrid reports from news outlets, combining to spray negativity around the already established gloom.
Even the most determined souls who would dive into studies, art, games or other methods of being ‘productive’ were slowly reaching their edge.
It is no doubt then that the minute there were rumblings of major football leagues returning on social media, the massive fan base latched onto the hope of football’s resumption as a floatation device to keep them from drowning in their sorrow. It started with the Bundesliga making a blockbuster return with the Rivier Derby with Borussia Dortmund putting on a show. It almost seemed like Haaland and Co had taken it upon themselves to drag football fans’ spirits out of the mud.
After a few match-days though, the fan base grew tired of the one-horse race that the Bundesliga is and were waiting expectantly for arguably the most followed football league in the world – the English Premier League. On the 17th of June, the Premier League made its long-awaited return featuring a blockbuster game – Arsenal away at Manchester City. Despite the lack of competition in this fixture in recent times, it still assured us beautiful football and a goal-fest to go along with it.
Two days later, another match between a London side and a counterpart from Manchester. The red side of Manchester traveled to Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium for the first time, but the history books will remember this first visit more for the fact that it was behind closed doors. This did not deter the quality of football though as fans were treated to a little of everything – Controversy, flashy skills, dodgy ‘keeping and a fired up Roy Keane at half-time.
With the fixtures coming thick and fast, we’re finally getting our “Summer of Football” although it features our favourite clubs and not our international teams, but you would not find a single fan fretting about that now, will you?
Football is well and truly back and on behalf of football fans around the world, you were sorely missed.
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