8,000 singing fans help lift the blues

LONDON • It almost felt like old times at Wembley on Sunday as a crowd of 8,000 watched Manchester City beat Tottenham in the League Cup final - the biggest attendance at a British sporting event since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last March.

As part of the British government's events research programme, the final was being used as a pilot event to test the safe return of supporters.

While the 2,000 fans permitted from each club, plus 4,000 local residents and National Health Service (NHS) front-line workers, looked a little lost given that Wembley can hold 90,000, the sound of them making their voices heard was an uplifting one.

For more than a year, England's stadiums have fallen silent, apart from a brief window late last year when small crowds were allowed before a resurgence of Covid-19 put an end to that experiment.

It has been a dispiriting time, with fans forced to watch at home from their sofas and artificial crowd effects pumped in to create a sense of normality.

But the sound of fans singing their songs at Wembley offered hope of better times ahead as Britain's vaccine roll-out continues to drive down deaths and infections from the virus.

All those present had to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test, and outside the stadium before kick-off, the atmosphere was good-natured, with some rival fans joining to protest the now-doomed European Super League.

Mounted police ensured social distancing was also adhered to.

Once inside, the old rituals began after a poignant rendition of the national anthem from 92 NHS workers played out on the giant video screens.

Football is nothing without fans and both sets of supporters were quickly back in the old groove. The announcement of the respective starting line-ups was booed by the opposing fans, while there was plenty of industrial language hurled towards players and match officials once the showpiece kicked off.

Aymeric Laporte's header sealed victory for City and their fans serenaded the players in the corner after the trophy was presented to captain Fernandinho - an outpouring of pent-up joy after the dark times of the past 14 months.

It was clear what the support meant to City's players as they joined in singing the club's anthem Blue Moon and winger Riyad Mahrez summed up the mood.

"They made a massive difference, 8,000 was amazing and we look forward to having more of them back," he said.

Next month's FA Cup final is expected to have 21,000 fans present while Wembley hopes to have at least 22,500 in the stands at the eight Euro 2020 games it will stage in the summer.

REUTERS