Time for Government to put their trust in sports fans - Nick Westby

When that audience is inside a theatre, though, in the middle of a pandemic-enforced lockdown, and when the sport he graced is played to a backdrop of empty stands, it feels like a slug to the gut of every sport that is desperately crying out for spectators to be let back in.

Teams, clubs and associations across every sport from football to badminton, rugby to hockey are in urgent need of being allowed to perform in front of paying customers again.

The hope was fans would start coming back to sporting events from October 1 but Government vetoed that as coronavirus cases began to rise across the land.

But they didn’t just put it back a month, they came out with a sweeping statement of no fans allowed for six months.

The damage that has caused could be catastrophic.

Even a few weeks later, there is still no return date in sight.

Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, said in parliament on Wednesday: “I desperately wanted socially-distanced fans in stadiums from the start of October but we had to pause that because of the rapidly rising rates of infection.

“It’s not just the stadium, it is the journey to and from the stadium both on public transport and people being likely to want something to eat or drink on the way.

“When we get to the point that we have confidence we have the disease under control so that it is not on a rapid upward curve I would rapidly return to this decision.”

How rapidly is that going to be, though? And how rapidly will it climb back to the top of your agenda?

Sports need to know, need to start planning for when their member clubs can sell tickets again, when their furloughed employees can come back to work again, when their bills can be paid again.