All hail the ale! The pubs will be open in two months.
Sort of. The reports are that, if Covid cases continue to fall, you’ll be able to stand outside your beloved but beleaguered battle-cruiser, cradling a Carling in spring showers.
But, if this is no joke come April Fool’s Day, then football needs the same return roadmap.
Pubs and the hospitality industry spent millions upgrading their facilities, changing their ways to become Covid safe, adhering to unscientific curfews and having a substantial meal made of how they could trade, only to be thrown under a ‘rona-riddled bus.
Yet, Public Health England (PHE) figures showed that between August and October, 5.4% of Covid-19 outbreaks were recorded in food and drink businesses, compared to education (26.4%), care homes (29.6%) and workplaces (21%).
The indoor effects are well-known, but PHE researchers also say that chances of infection outdoors are greatly reduced.
As chairman David Wilkinson reported in his Huddersfield programme notes, to the club’s knowledge there were no new cases reported as a result of the 3,000 that got to watch resounding victories over Norwich and Preston North End in December.
Last night’s 2-0 defeat to Cardiff marked the first of three home games in the next four. If you weren’t one of the lucky few to get an early Christmas present, then the third of these, against Sheffield Wednesday, will kick-off two days short of a full year since Luton’s glorious old ground was last full.
Football needs fans. As someone that’s lucky enough to still sit in the Kenny pressbox, I can tell you the empty ground novelty never made it out of the tunnel for the post-lockdown Preston draw.
I’m not suggesting the end of Lockdown Season Two is the cue for 10,000 Hatters back at HQ, but Sunday’s success of 15 million vaccinations, is cause for hope that the era of the glorified practice match is on its last legs.
And, if this jab programme is a marker that means pubs can open their doors – or at least pass pints through them to punters outside – then there really needs to be solid evidence to show why a few thousand Hatters, under the lights for the visit of Barnsley on Monday April 5, wouldn’t be hunky dory.
Theoretically, Town could even have secured another season in the second tier by then. I reckon 55 points should do it, which would be just deserts for a side that, statistics showed last week, had achieved the biggest Championship points swing (16) from this time last term.
They’ve built on the Great Escape heroics that weren’t afforded the final whistle fandemonium they deserved in July. So, another unsung season finale is saddening, particularly if there’s already postulation over pubs.
Football must not be forgotten. If anything, the healthier intoxication would be your cheers for a fine mid-table finish (or better). I’d drink to that.
