David Woods

Fri 1 May 2020 8:25, UK

The Times has said that the government has hatched a plan to keep the location of behind-closed-doors games secret. 

One of the key concerns across the football landscape is the action of fans if games are played behind closed doors.

If games do go ahead then they will be behind closed doors – at least for the remainder of this season.

However, there is concern that fans would still congregate wherever games were played, but especially if games were played at home stadiums.

These fears were echoed by first minister Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland who said fans’ actions would pose a risk even if games were played behind closed doors.

To counteract this, the Times has reported: “It is believed that the government has suggested exploring the idea of keeping the location of specific matches out of the public domain for as long as possible to avoid supporters gathering outside the stadiums.”

We’ve heard a minority of Leeds United fans talk about getting together outside stadiums if the Whites get the chance to re-start their season.

While we can understand the sentiment, we really hope these fans think again.

If it does happen, it’s something that could see the season cancelled on safety grounds. For the rest of this season, it’s club above fans.

However, we’re not sure in this day and age that it’s going to be possible to keep the location of games a secret.

Worse, fans might actually see it as a challenge and be encouraged to actively find out where games are being played.

We think games should be played at neutral locations and it made extremely clear that there will be no-go areas around the ground for all but residents.

It shouldn’t really need to be said but there are some fans who will do anything to celebrate the return of football.

In other Leeds United news, ‘Encouraging development’ – Kinnear delivers major boost to Leeds fans after Ligue 1 bombshell