James Shield: Sheffield United supporters and other football fans get dismissed yet again
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I’m a Republican. Not the kind who whoops and hollers whenever Donald Trump enters the room. Just someone who’d rather be a citizen than a subject.
Despite my objection to living under a monarchy, I’ve respected folk with a different opinion as they mourn the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II. So, given that I also wouldn’t wish to intrude on her family’s private grief, it would be nice to think those of you who don’t share my view reciprocate after reading this. The only reason I’ve referenced my standpoint on the matter of unelected heads of state is because people who know me, loved ones, friends and maybe even some acquaintances, might think the thoughts expressed below are born out of bias. They’re not. I’d be writing exactly the same thing - that football fans left out of pocket when last weekend’s matches were postponed should be compensated - if the mourning was for a president. Providing they want to be recompensed, of course. I’m acutely aware, unlike those members of my profession who have spent the week insisting otherwise, that there’s no such thing as a collective national consensus. Many of them, although an unscientific poll on one of my social media channels would suggest they’re in the minority, will believe the Premier League, EFL and FA were right to postpone the entire fixture schedule as a mark of respect to Her Majesty.
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Hide AdSheffield United were due to face Rotherham seven days ago in a South Yorkshire derby. Although you can travel between their respective grounds in less than 20 minutes, that doesn’t mean that everyone scheduled to attend lives within their general localities. Some, I personally know of one, had booked a train ticket and hotel after moving pretty far away for work. Just in case you were wondering, they’re still firing off emails to the companies involved in what, it’s increasingly beginning to look like, is a futile attempt to recoup even a percentage of the dosh involved. He’ll be one of thousands up and down the country.
Personally, I don’t envy those who were forced to decide if matches went ahead. Thanks to an expertly crafted piece of Governmental guidance, which actually offered no guidance at all, the organisations tasked with running our national sport were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. I say expertly crafted because, although the upper echelons of our political sphere appear to be devoid of intellect and our new Prime Minister and those surrounding her do a superb job of convincing otherwise, I don’t subscribe to the theory they’re a bit dense. Conniving, though, yes. Because they probably knew, by refusing to publicly outline what they really wanted, clubs were left with no chance of being reimbursed for their losses. Fair enough I suppose. Because, as we all know, whatever money is left in the public purse must be used to subsidise energy companies who are making obscene profits and ‘free marketeers’ whose businesses would go under if they didn’t receive subsidies.
Privately, one suspects football was deliberately manoeuvred into a situation whereby it had to rearrange its entire calendar. Okay, matches can be a drain on policing resources. But so is horse racing, thanks to the amount of drinking which now goes on at racecourses. And, after a polite pause, that went ahead as planned. Also, after an admittedly very brief look at the footage of those lining Birdcage Walk and the Royal Mile to pay their tributes to the Queen, I’m going to take a punt and suggest not to many of those in crowd were likely to get pulled for snorting a few lines off the back of their Daily Mails or going on a Pimms fuelled rampage.
Snobbery, I’m sure, was at play here. The Establishment didn’t trust United fans and their counterparts to behave themselves. When, whatever their thoughts on the Royals, I’d be prepared to wager a pretty hefty sum that the exact opposite is true.
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Hide Ad“To begin with, I thought it was the right thing to do and then I wish we’d played,” United manager Paul Heckingbottom admitted ahead of Tuesday’s win over Swansea City, which ensured his team travels to Preston North End this afternoon on top of the table. “And if people thought there might be issues, which I don’t personally think there would be then, well, those are still going to be there when we get back to it.”
Football has been placed in a sticky situation which, for once, is not of its own making. And it doesn’t need any help in alienating itself from those who keep the whole shebang going. Well, those who actually turn up to watch their teams in action anyway.
In the absence of financial assistance from the PL, many teams further down the pyramid won’t have the resources to make some sort of gesture to those left out of pocket seven days ago. But that doesn’t mean to say they shouldn’t. Particularly in the middle of a cost of living crisis, and an era when, moving forward, people aren’t short of other things to do.
The grey suits and twin sets inside Number 10 are quick enough to prop up their pals in the city with cash from the taxpayer. Oh, and then blame the fact we’re supposedly skint on benefit scroungers and others at the bottom of the ladder while turning a blind eye to corporate tax avoidance.
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Hide AdSo why not, if travel and leisure firms aren’t going to be ordered to automatically repay customers who had stumped-up to attend games, create some sort of fund to help them via a windfall levy? After all, if the royals are as altruistic and as caring as I’m being told, then I’m sure that’s what they’d want.
But will it happen? Almost certainly, no.