When Will We Be Back?

I know that tomorrow the restaurants, the pubs and the bars are to open up again across the country, although the Football Stadiums for their fans don’t.

It’s been approximately 125 days since I went to watch QPR and I miss a lot of aspects about it. Actually, I really miss the match days.

I still have a look at the QPR App as well as Sky Sports to try and learn about any important type of team or match news, I also still choose a QPR shirt to wear for a match, yet I miss meeting up with my cousin and my uncle at the train station, talking about the match. I miss the lively and excited QPR fans as we walk to the stadium and I miss buying the match day programme as well!

I miss having a look at what’s taking place at the FanZone, as there always seems to be a variety of activities going on for younger fans, I also think that it really highlights the absolutely excellent work which the QPR Community Trust team carry out. I miss hearing the team-news an hour before the match and I miss having a look around the QPR Superstore.

I miss walking up and getting to my seat in the Lower Loft area, seeing a few familiar faces on and off the pitch and hearing those familiar chants. I miss being close to and watching, working out and having a look at the players warming up before the match, I also miss Jude the Cat.

I miss the excitement levels increasing as the players come out of the tunnel before the match, along with the crowd noise and the emphatic roar as the match is about to get underway.

I also miss the ebb and flow of the matches, I miss supporting the team along with a lot of others to give them the best possible start which we can!

I definitely don’t miss conceding an early goal, however I do miss a crowd-fuelled spirited fight-back and victory. I miss watching the likes of Bright Osayi-Samuel accelerating down the wing towards the opponents goal. I miss watching the technical talent, experience and application of Angel Rangel, who is our oldest player at the moment, not that you would know at all by watching his displays for the team on the pitch. I also miss it when some of our youth-players, such as Olamide Shodipo, Masterson, Chair and Smyth, are provided with a brilliant opportunity to showcase all of their abilities on the home turf.

I miss the journey home and analysing, dissecting and talking about the events of the match, whilst hopefully celebrating a victory and then straight away thinking about the best type of way to approach the next match!

I do miss going to watch live football.

I also think that football could well be missing all of us as its supporters, It seems kind of obvious to me that the matches in all nations, competitions and leagues without its fans to be right there in the stadium and support their teams are just not quite the same. They aren’t quite the same for us and perhaps also aren’t quite the same for the players on the pitch and quite possibly not even for the sport itself.