28th April 2022
Feature: How seriously did the football world take COVID-19 pre-lockdown? By Adam Holt.
Pictured: Journalist John Townley
The Coronavirus pandemic has been an unprecedented catastrophe that has had a strangle hold on every facet of our daily lives for the past two years. The world of football of course didn’t avoid the effects it would bring.
Media
Greg Johnson, Head of Insights and Planning for Sport at Reach PLC has shared his perspective on when Coronavirus first became a real concern for him and the media.
He said: “It was more of a story in the background for sport in the early weeks of 2020. Our colleagues working in news were obviously covering it directly across their sections of our websites, largely through explainers and news stories that tracked the spread of the virus.
“In January, the focus for the first few sport stories we did publish online fell on the inconveniences to football coaches working in China and the impact on international events such as the World Indoor Athletics Championship, which was cancelled due to the outbreak, and less so on how it could (and would) eventually affect football and other sport in the UK and Europe.
“Mikel Arteta's positive test result ended up becoming the big moment for football and sport in the UK as matches were suspended, following which the 2019/20 season as a whole was either put on pause or cancelled depending on the league or competition.
“I think in the UK the football authorities were left waiting on the UK government's lead, who themselves seemed to prefer to wait and see what decisions other entities would be forced to make before endorsing their decisions and acting as if they had been part of the government's thinking all along, retroactively.
“It was a public health matter and I actually think the English football authorities in particular acted with more haste and better leadership than the UK government, whose job it should have been to take the lead rather than effectively being led by other entities instead of taking the responsibility themselves.”
John Townley, a football writer for Birmingham Live has given his take on the events in the football world in the lead up to the suspension of the season and the subsequent lockdown.
He said: “With little knowledge of what impact Covid-19 was about to have on the world, let alone the world of sport, it never really crossed many journalists’ minds that football could be cancelled for many months, as it turned out. Instead, fans and indeed the Premier League and EFL had hoped it would be a few weeks until the action was back.
“I still vividly remember the days leading up to the Premier League’s announcement that football was to be suspended until further notice. Football was near enough the last to make any sort of decision. For that reason alone, I think the Premier League and the EFL didn’t take it as seriously as they should have.
“In terms of the media, we, like the rest of the public, had very little information on what exactly COVID-19 was and to what extent it was going to affect sport. As it would turn out, quite a lot. The days leading up to the Premier League’s announcement were frantic and frankly, something you couldn’t prepare for. It was only the days after the announcement that the picture became a little clearer.”
Ashley Preece, Aston Vila reporter for Birmingham Live echoes Johnson and Townley’s views on how football authorities managed the Coronavirus crisis initially and speaks of when COVID became a real concern for him and his colleagues.
He said: “I'd say March 2020 and the week after Villa got beat 4-0 at Leicester City. It was a real period of uncertainty - especially with the Chelsea fixture being cancelled and the season halted after that. The Premier League, as we know, eventually returned in June.
“It was unprecedented so I believe clubs and the media did all they could to make sure they faced the challenges as best as they could.”
Fan Media outlets such as the ‘Men in Blazers’ podcast have given their views on the confirmation that the suspension of football would be extended. Host Roger Bennett gave his view on the matter at the time.
He said: “It was more of a story in the background for sport in the early weeks of 2020. Our colleagues working in news were obviously covering it directly across their sections of our websites, largely through explainers and news stories that tracked the spread of the virus.
“In January, the focus for the first few sport stories we did publish online fell on the inconveniences to football coaches working in China and the impact on international events such as the World Indoor Athletics Championship, which was cancelled due to the outbreak, and less so on how it could (and would) eventually affect football and other sport in the UK and Europe.
“Mikel Arteta's positive test result ended up becoming the big moment for football and sport in the UK as matches were suspended, following which the 2019/20 season as a whole was either put on pause or cancelled depending on the league or competition.
“I think in the UK the football authorities were left waiting on the UK government's lead, who themselves seemed to prefer to wait and see what decisions other entities would be forced to make before endorsing their decisions and acting as if they had been part of the government's thinking all along, retroactively.
“It was a public health matter and I actually think the English football authorities in particular acted with more haste and better leadership than the UK government, whose job it should have been to take the lead rather than effectively being led by other entities instead of taking the responsibility themselves.”
John Townley, a football writer for Birmingham Live has given his take on the events in the football world in the lead up to the suspension of the season and the subsequent lockdown.
He said: “With little knowledge of what impact Covid-19 was about to have on the world, let alone the world of sport, it never really crossed many journalists’ minds that football could be cancelled for many months, as it turned out. Instead, fans and indeed the Premier League and EFL had hoped it would be a few weeks until the action was back.
“I still vividly remember the days leading up to the Premier League’s announcement that football was to be suspended until further notice. Football was near enough the last to make any sort of decision. For that reason alone, I think the Premier League and the EFL didn’t take it as seriously as they should have.
“In terms of the media, we, like the rest of the public, had very little information on what exactly COVID-19 was and to what extent it was going to affect sport. As it would turn out, quite a lot. The days leading up to the Premier League’s announcement were frantic and frankly, something you couldn’t prepare for. It was only the days after the announcement that the picture became a little clearer.”
Ashley Preece, Aston Vila reporter for Birmingham Live echoes Johnson and Townley’s views on how football authorities managed the Coronavirus crisis initially and speaks of when COVID became a real concern for him and his colleagues.
He said: “I'd say March 2020 and the week after Villa got beat 4-0 at Leicester City. It was a real period of uncertainty - especially with the Chelsea fixture being cancelled and the season halted after that. The Premier League, as we know, eventually returned in June.
“It was unprecedented so I believe clubs and the media did all they could to make sure they faced the challenges as best as they could.”
Fan Media outlets such as the ‘Men in Blazers’ podcast have given their views on the confirmation that the suspension of football would be extended. Host Roger Bennett gave his view on the matter at the time.
Tweet from March 2020. Link to tweet: Here
Fans
Several fans have given their opinions into how seriously they think the authorities took Coronavirus initially.
Tom Cunningham, a Liverpool fan has given insight into when Coronavirus started to become a real issue for him and other supporters.
He said: “I remember thinking it would all blow over pretty quickly. It would just be a quick break and football wouldn’t be affected because football never is, right? No matter what, football always carries on. Well, look how wrong I was.
“The Liverpool/Atletico Madrid game should never have gone ahead, for example. Once lockdown was in place, however, I thought football dealt with the situation well, with weekly testing amongst other protocols.
“Considering that football did stop in the end, yes, I think it could have stopped earlier. Outlining that the league would not become null & void from the off would certainly have eased a few anxieties.”
Tom Cunningham, a Liverpool fan has given insight into when Coronavirus started to become a real issue for him and other supporters.
He said: “I remember thinking it would all blow over pretty quickly. It would just be a quick break and football wouldn’t be affected because football never is, right? No matter what, football always carries on. Well, look how wrong I was.
“The Liverpool/Atletico Madrid game should never have gone ahead, for example. Once lockdown was in place, however, I thought football dealt with the situation well, with weekly testing amongst other protocols.
“Considering that football did stop in the end, yes, I think it could have stopped earlier. Outlining that the league would not become null & void from the off would certainly have eased a few anxieties.”
Pictured: Aston Villa fan Luke Robinson
Luke Robinson, an Aston Villa fan is in agreement with Cunningham in regard to how well football itself dealt with the issue. Robinson also highlights the moment when he first became increasingly concerned about what was a rapidly developing issue at the time.
He said: “I feel like they waited until the right moment, football stopped before the country did so I feel like it was the right time, they gave it every chance but unfortunately it had to stop.
“Covid first became a worry at the last game I attended before the first lockdown, Leicester away, the rise in COVID was there for everyone to see, I remember being in a cramped away end thinking this feels weird.
“I feel that COVID for everyone was a learning curve, I do feel like as much as we hated behind closed doors and the break, the football world handled it well and when it was ready with the right protocols we got it going again.”
Chris Green, a Huddersfield Town fan has given his perspective on how the initial stages of the pandemic affected him as a football supporter.
He said: “I got the impression that the virus was going to be threat by just keeping an eye on developments on the news. However, I just tried to concentrate on the football as much as possible until the news broke that football was halted.
“It could have been stopped sooner because on the news the severity of the virus was clear to the naked eye. Some things are bigger than football, it’s only a sport.”
He said: “I feel like they waited until the right moment, football stopped before the country did so I feel like it was the right time, they gave it every chance but unfortunately it had to stop.
“Covid first became a worry at the last game I attended before the first lockdown, Leicester away, the rise in COVID was there for everyone to see, I remember being in a cramped away end thinking this feels weird.
“I feel that COVID for everyone was a learning curve, I do feel like as much as we hated behind closed doors and the break, the football world handled it well and when it was ready with the right protocols we got it going again.”
Chris Green, a Huddersfield Town fan has given his perspective on how the initial stages of the pandemic affected him as a football supporter.
He said: “I got the impression that the virus was going to be threat by just keeping an eye on developments on the news. However, I just tried to concentrate on the football as much as possible until the news broke that football was halted.
“It could have been stopped sooner because on the news the severity of the virus was clear to the naked eye. Some things are bigger than football, it’s only a sport.”
Former players
Ex-Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa forward Garry Thompson has given his insight into how players will have been affected by COVID.
He said: “They had to shut places down and clean things up. Footballers have a routine, they train three or four days a week, they do stuff all the time and they know what they are going to be doing, their life is structured, but this would be a massive change for them and a massive shock to a lot of them, but I must say they are all quite adaptable.
“From a players’ perspective, I actually thought that the Government’s handling of Coronavirus was very poor. It could have been handled better, but maybe they did not know enough about it.”
Jamie Carragher, former Liverpool defender turned media pundit for Sky Sports shared a tweet when no-one really knew what was going to happen with football.
He said: “They had to shut places down and clean things up. Footballers have a routine, they train three or four days a week, they do stuff all the time and they know what they are going to be doing, their life is structured, but this would be a massive change for them and a massive shock to a lot of them, but I must say they are all quite adaptable.
“From a players’ perspective, I actually thought that the Government’s handling of Coronavirus was very poor. It could have been handled better, but maybe they did not know enough about it.”
Jamie Carragher, former Liverpool defender turned media pundit for Sky Sports shared a tweet when no-one really knew what was going to happen with football.
Tweet from March 2020. Link to tweet: here
This tweet encapsulates the uncertainty that surrounded how Coronavirus would affect football and the wide reaching implications of what actions football authorities would choose to take.
It is clear from perspectives from various facets of the footballing world that Coronavirus was almost immediately a significant concern. No-one could have known the extent of the changes it would bring to our lives and various people will say that action from footballing authorities could have happened sooner, even if their general handling of the crisis was satisfactory.
It is clear from perspectives from various facets of the footballing world that Coronavirus was almost immediately a significant concern. No-one could have known the extent of the changes it would bring to our lives and various people will say that action from footballing authorities could have happened sooner, even if their general handling of the crisis was satisfactory.