Watching football on TV with no crowds is a dry, soulless undertaking.

For a long time the life has dripped out of football making it an increasingly anaemic spectacle. All seater stadia, fielding weaker teams in cups, VAR and now empty stands.

Watching games that no one can attend removes any sense of occasion.

Attending was always the best thing. I remember the first crowd roar on approach. The ticking sound of the turnstile. The newspaper callers. The smell of tobacco, alcohol and Bovril. The sway of the crowd. There was also something we used to call seeing people. It was a time when Zoom was a song by Fat Larry’s Band and ‘streaming’ was only ever seen in the gents.

Some of the changes were unavoidable. Some were for the better. But we need to get the crowds back soon or the game could die!

Alan Bates