How Covid-19 Has Affected Football

From having no spectators in stadiums to having seasons being curtailed, the Coronavirus pandemic has had a massive effect on the world of football both domestically and internationally. All over the world, different football associations have taken various measures in order to halt the spread of Covid-19 and ensure that football can be continued safely.

The first sign of Covid-19 affecting football came in China which was the epicentre of the virus, with the start of the Chinese Super League being postponed at the end of January as cases began to escalate within the country. This was a sign of things to come for European football as in March; the majority of European football had to be shut down with 4 of the 5 major leagues, which include England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, decided to restart their seasons over the months of May and June. Countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands decided to not resume their seasons at all with PSG and Club Bruges being declared champions in France and Belgium respectively.

The Netherlands declared their football season null and void as the league was too close to call between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, separated only by goal difference. What happened in France and Belgium also occurred in Scotland with Celtic being crowned champions after all the Scottish Premiership clubs agreed to end the season early and prepare for the new season to start. This didn’t come without controversy as Hearts were relegated despite only being 6 points from safety with 8 games to go, along with Partick Thistle being relegated from the Scottish Championship despite being 2 points behind 9th placed Queen of the South with a game in hand. The majority of leagues in Europe managed to finish out their seasons which have allowed a transition into the 2020/21 season, allowing most leagues to start up again in August and September.

The Champions League and Europa League had to take a break along with all the leagues in Europe as football all over the world came to a halt. However, European football was allowed to be completed over the month of August with games being played almost every day. This could happen due to the removal of two ties in a knock out round and all the teams having to play in the same country, with Champions League teams playing in Portugal while Europa League teams played in Germany. This allowed for more exciting and attacking games, along with getting rid of home and away Photograph / Pixabay advantage, with an example being Bayern Munich’s 8-2 victory over FC Barcelona in the Champions League Quarter Final. This trend of having one-off ties continued into the new season with the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers. This allows the qualifiers to be completed in a quicker way and also ensuring less travel between countries has to be made. The only round that will be a two legged playoff is the 4th Champions League qualifying round, the step before the group stages. The strange thing about these seasons’ qualifiers is that they started before the Champions League final from last year had even been played. It is unknown if the one leg knock out ties will continue after this seasons group stages, but it would be a breath of fresh air with the chaotic and exciting football it produces.

International football also suffered the same fate as the rest of football as Euro 2020 had to be postponed till 2021, still keeping the same name despite getting played a year later. The Nations League playoffs also had to be postponed till October which

will see extra teams qualify for the Euros, including Scotland which has a slim chance of qualifying through this route. Despite the problems so far, the second instalment of Nations League groups have managed to go ahead as planned in September even though most of the games are behind closed doors.

The resumption of the Nations League and international football as a whole has caused fans and pundits alike to worry about the risk of infection through so much travelling. This was particularly concerning in the French squad as Kylian Mbappe tested positive for Coronavirus after he played against Sweden resulting in him having to go into isolation from the rest of the squad.

Games being played behind closed doors have probably had the biggest impact on how football is played and watched throughout the world. Many fans and pundits in football have questioned the integrity of winning a title or cup if there are no supporters, especially without a home support as they are able to put massive pressure on an away team’s performance. With no supporters, fans and players alike have missed out on memorable and historic moments with each other, whether it is celebrating a league title or avoiding relegation. The most famous case is that of Liverpool who waited a massive 30 years to win the league and had to celebrate in front of an empty stadium with no open top bus parade through the city.

This was also seen at Leeds United who celebrated promotion into the Premier League for the first time in 16 years, again not being able to celebrate with their die hard supporters. Empty stadiums have remained a theme at the start of the new season however some countries such as Poland, Hungary and Russia have allowed fans back into the stadiums with the majority of other countries staging test events over the summer and through September. NonLeague football in England was given the go ahead to have 15 percent of stadium capacity filled with fans in August however this may have to be reviewed as Covid-19 cases in the UK have shown a sharp increase. Following successful test events in France through the use of a pre-season tournament which included Lyon, Nice, Celtic and Rangers, France has been able to welcome 5,000 supporters into grounds. This was seen at the opening fixture of Lens vs PSG which saw the newly promoted Lens take a shock 1-0 victory against Champions League finalists PSG. This victory could be credited to having a home support pressurising the opposition constantly and giving the home side a passionate backing to go on and win the game.

Another issue that Coronavirus has brought to football is money issues, whether it is through the transfer market or the survival of clubs. Many clubs throughout the UK that were outside the Premier League had to use the governments furlough scheme in order to pay staff and players as they simply couldn’t afford to without fans paying to go to games. Top Premier League clubs such as Tottenham and Liverpool also tried to use the furlough scheme but after wide spread criticism they had to ditch it as it was clear they were trying to exploit the system and save as much as money as possible. Arsenal also came under heavy criticism in August as they made 55 staff redundant despite some players being paid around £350,000 a week. This also frustrated the players as the majority of them had taken a pay cut to ensure this didn’t happen. Sadly, for a few non-league teams the financial burdens of Coronavirus were too much to handle and had to take the decision to fold or pull out of leagues, with teams including FC Oswestry Town and Droylsden FC. In order to allow clubs to gather funds that can be used to purchase players, the transfer window has been extended to October in most countries. It will be interesting to see if clubs will still try to break the bank when making transfers despite such an uncertain financial climate within football.

For now, many well off clubs now view the footballing world as almost business as usual with a couple of rule changes and potentially missing a few players from time to time due to Coronavirus infections. However, for lots of other lower clubs the future remains uncertain and struggles over finances will continue until fans can safely return to stadiums which at this rate seems to likely be next year with a predicted second wave of Coronavirus set to sweep over the world throughout winter. The UK governments furlough scheme also ends in October, meaning without an extension plenty of lower clubs will be left struggling for a couple of months. Connor Ryan