74 2GM Thursday December 3 2020 | the times
SportFootball
‘There are
enough of us
here to make
it feel normal’
Tom Roddy speaks
to the lucky few at
Wycombe on the
night that fans
finally returned
to the stands
It was ten minutes before kick-off at
Adams Park, as the Wycombe Wander-
ers players jogged towards the tunnel to
make their final preparations, that an
old familiar feeling surfaced. The sound
of football fans, not computer-
generated or delayed, 2D or cardboard,
but authentic and present, back in a
stadium to cheer on their team rising to
a roar. Here was a view of normality on
the horizon.
“That was good!” said Andy
Dickinson, a Wycombe supporter since
1985 and one of the fortunate few
invited in. “It’s very difficult to resist the
temptation to lean in and chat but
there’s enough fans here to make it
seem a bit more normal.”
After 266 days away, the Football
League had allowed fans to return and
Wycombe, a Tier 2 area, was one of six
clubs opening their doors last night.
Only 1,000 fans were allowed to this
pilot event, selected in order of their
season ticket application, but the noise
suggested so many more. They rose as
one, applauding as their rock star
manager Gareth Ainsworth, wearing
his leather jacket, walked the perimeter
of the pitch to welcome them back.
They roared with approval when
Jason McCarthy struck the post early
on and booed as Nick Powell celebrated
Stoke City’s winning goal midway
through the second half. The result
wasn’t what they wanted but they were
finally home. Wycombe’s fans had
missed more than most. In the
intervening months, their club had
been promoted to the second flight of
English football for the first time in
their 133-year history.
Instead of witnessing their greatest
day first-hand at Wembley Stadium in
July, fans were forced to watch the play-
off final win from the sofa.
Andy FaceTimed two friends, one in
Reading, the other in New Zealand,
with his phone propped up against the
television. “When you think about it in
the cold light of day, it seems silly,” he
says through his face mask. “Grown
men jumping about on a video call
watching a football match — but you
wanted to be together.”
The fans were together last night,
and Ainsworth described the impact on
his side. “We saw eight months of frus-
trations and desires come out tonight in
songs,” the Wycombe manager said.
“July seems like an age ago. I was emo-
tional before the game because we had
wanted to celebrate promotion to the
Championship with fans for so long.”
Now, they could but it was an odd
sight to see supporters symmetrically
lined throughout the stands. We are
used to the sparse midweek winter
crowds grouped in clusters, but not this.
“It’s strange because normally there
would be a big beer tent over there and
a procession of fans walking towards
the ground and tonight you’d barely
know an event was on,” Andy said.
This was a night he had been looking
forward to for more than football. On
the wall outside the main entrance of
Adams Park, he points to the name of
Peter Dickinson, his father, who died in
2006 and who used to travel with him
to Wycombe games. The club had built
the Wanderers Wall through lockdown
— an instalment that honoured those
at the heart of the club — and this was
Andy’s first chance to see it.
“Dad would have been here tonight,there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Also on the wall are the names of
Stanley and Jake Lavender. The two
boys, aged eight and 11, known as the
“Sweetie Kids” at Wycombe. They
became fans four years ago when the
Lavender family moved to town.
After every game, home and away,
they are found leaning over the barriers
of the players’ entrance handing out
Haribo as the players board the bus.
There was no lucky dip last night,
though. The usual hot dog counters
were closed so Stanley and Jake clasped
flasks of hot chocolate.
“We’ve been getting ready for the
game ever since they got in from
school,” said their mum, Amy. “We feelso sorry for the fans who can’t be
here.”
The hope is that more will be allowed.
David Ross, chairman of the Sports
Technology Innovation Group, the
team trying to get more numbers into
grounds, warned yesterday that success
hinged on fan behaviour.
On last night’s evidence, that should
be no problem. As the lucky few filtered
out there was a sense of relief in the air.
They had been masked and separated,
diminished in numbers and their
sweets banned, but here was the start of
a return. “Life has been so damn
boring,” Andy said. “I stay at home and
work all day, might go out for a walk, but
coming back here has been so good.”Manchester City have hit back at Porto
after they launched an extraordinary
attack on Bernardo Silva and Pep
Guardiola in an official club newsletter.
The Dragões Diário newsletter,
which was sent to Porto fans after
Tuesday’s 0-0 draw, said that City were
“lucky” to have avoided defeat in the
Champions League group-stage game
and commented on Guardiola’s “bad
disposition” after the match.
The newsletter also said that Silva,
who used to play for Porto’s rivals
Benfica, was “known internationally
for having been convicted of racism” —
a reference to his one-match ban for a
Twitter post about his team-mate
Benjamin Mendy last season. This
The returning
Wycombe fans
are given a warm
welcome back by
Ainsworth, the
club’s manager,
right, on a
watershed day
for the English
game. Left, the
“Sweetie Kids”,
Stanley and Jake
Lavender, savour
their return after
a 266-day wait
for live footballTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLANDCity condemn Porto for
‘ill-judged’ attack on stars
Paul Hirst claim prompted fury at City, who
pointed out that Porto were fined for
racism by Uefa in 2012, when fans
directed monkey chants at City’s former
players Mario Balotelli and Yaya Touré.
“This is not the first time that Porto
have reacted badly in circumstances
like this,” a City spokesman said. “On
this occasion it is the ill-judged and
targeted criticism of our players and our
manager, which we wholly reject.”
In its judgment at the time, the FA
acknowledged that Silva “did not
intend” his tweet to be racist.
Sérgio Conceição, the Porto
manager, also remarked on Guardiola’s
demeanour after the draw, saying in the
newsletter: “I would also be upset if I
couldn’t win with the team he has and
the budget he has.”
Marine ‘ready to host Spurs’
Marine are confident that their
ground will be Covid-19 compliant for
their FA Cup third-round tie with
Tottenham Hotspur
Paul Leary, the chairman of the
Northern Premier League Division
One North West club, said that the
club were talking to the authorities
but any concerns were unfounded.
Tier 2 restrictions would allow up to
2,000 in the 3,185-capacity ground.Newcastle adapt to Covid
Newcastle United’s players have been
given individual training programmes,
as they were during lockdown, in an
attempt to keep them fit for their
Premier League game against West
Bromwich Albion next Saturday.
It is thought seven players at the
club have now tested positive for
Covid-19, with Friday night’s game
with Aston Villa already postponed.Fondly remembered The funeral of England and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper
Ray Clemence took place yesterday with a private service for family and friends.
Beforehand his grandsons lined up wearing shirts that honoured his memoryTWITTEREverton fans must be tested
Everton fans wanting to attend their
game against Chelsea at Goodison
Park on Saturday week will need to
prove they don’t have Covid-19 to
get in. The club have been given the
go-ahead for 2,000 fans to attend
the game but after consulting
Liverpool City Council have agreed
fans must make use of the city’s
mass-testing programme and get
tested on the day of, or the day
before, the match. Only fans able to
provide confirmation of a negative
test will be allowed into the ground.