Today I'm going back just one year to 6th July 2020 and, in a change from all the international tournaments of recent days, it's a game that was part of the return of League football after the enforced break for the Covid lockdown in England. I didn't attend of course because it was a "Behind Closed Doors" fixture: fans were not allowed in.
Spare a thought for those diehard one club supporters who hadn't missed a game for years and years. Every club has one or two. People who have missed family weddings and funerals to follow their team. The longer the run goes on the harder it is for them to miss a game and lose that unbroken record. Then along comes Covid and changes everything. Now I'm sure that, on the scale of human tragedies, a few football supporters finally missing a match after decades of unbroken attendance doesn't really register on the scale but I'm also sure that the disappointment would have been immense for those concerned. I also wonder whether maybe their record had become something of a millstone and the end of the run was perhaps a weight lifted from their shoulders? Who knows, maybe it's led to a reassessment of priorities and a change in future behaviour? Okay I doubt it!
After Tottenham's Premier League game at Burnley on 7th March there was no further Premier League action for Spurs until their season resumed with the visit of Manchester United on 19th June. It was an unprecedented mid-season break and season 2019/20 would go on to be the longest top flight season on record and the one with the latest finish. This game against Everton was Tottenham's third home game back following the resumption.
I found it interesting to see how the lack of a crowd affected the individual clubs. There is evidence, for example, that home advantage was diminished with there being a higher proportion of away victories than normal. It can be argued that certain clubs who habitually felt the weight of expectation from home supporters were liberated by the absence of a crowd: I'm thinking of Leeds United who coasted to promotion without the anxiety of their own supporters. Similarly, the atmosphere at West Ham United's London Stadium had been "difficult" pre-lockdown with fan protests against the board leading to a poisonous atmosphere. With the fans gone, West Ham flourished! Some clubs used to a partisan home atmosphere seemed to suffer: Liverpool and Sheffield United in particular. Tottenham on the other hand suffer from the demands of needing to "play in the Tottenham way" in front of their own fans and the absence of a crowd probably allowed boss Jose Mourinho to get away with a much more robust and defensive style for longer than might have otherwise been tolerated.
The game? Well not a classic. The only goal came in the first half following a spell of pressure leading to a shot from Tottenham's Giovani Lo Celso which was cruelly defected off Michael Keane and past the diving Jordan Pickford into the net. In fact the match will be remembered more for a curious spat between Tottenham's Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son as the players left the field at half time. Apparently Lloris was unhappy with Son's efforts in defending and said as much. Needless to say, Mourinho was happy with the passion shown!
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