Sheffield Wednesday fans want football to continue despite Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdown 3.0

The Owls became the latest club to be hit by an outbreak and closed their Middlewood Road training ground on Monday as a precaution following a number of positive tests within the camp.

Players and non-playing staff will now undergo a further round of tests today ahead of Saturday’s scheduled FA Cup third round tie at League Two side Exeter City.

News of the positive cases at Wednesday came on the same day as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the country would be plunged into a third national lockdown until mid-February at least following a worrying rise in cases of a more contagious strain of coronavirus.

However, as the professional game from the Premier League down to National League North and South level is classed as an elite sport, football will be allowed to continue during the latest shutdown – unlike last March when it was suspended for three months during the first nationwide lockdown.

So, following a huge increase in cases nationally and set against the backdrop of more outbreaks at clubs, we asked Wednesday fans on social media if they believed the sport should be allowed to continue during lockdown 3.0.

On Twitter, 762 fans responded to our survey – which was carried out over a 24-hour period from yesterday until this morning – with 57 per cent of supporters saying they want football to continue, 34 per cent believing it should be halted and nine per cent not sure what should happen.

Coben Nicholson tweeted: “Too right it should. If we can still go to work (lucky we can), then football should carry on.”

On our Owls Facebook page, fans appeared to be split over the continuation of football.

Darren Hibbert wrote: “No. Why should football continue when everything else stops . . . yes that's right, money talks.”

But Matt King believed the game should carry on, saying: “Yes. Some people are sat at home not allowed to do anything with no family or friends and for some a bit of football on the TV is all they have. As long as there’s mass testing with the players/staff etc, keep it going.”

Andrew Mckegg touched on the number of Premier League players who have flouted guidelines in recent weeks and wrote: “Football shouldn't have restarted and the teams/players found to have broken the rules should receive a fine and points deduction, as it is the only way they will learn.”

And Davey Cammack wrote: “Yes, otherwise it'll destroy football in this country.”

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