The 7 Things We're Most Looking Forward to About Football Returning

Even if you don't agree with top-level football returning in the current climate, even if closed-doors football doesn't appeal to you in the slightest, even though we might not even be allowed to attend matches again til 2021...you have to admit that you're looking forward to the restored normality of regular football.

It's the little things we've missed; the structure, the butterflies and the anticipation (or dread) of the final whistle going at 16.45.

We'll have to wait a little bit longer by the looks of things, but for the time being, come on a journey with 90min, as we remind you of what we're all missing, and why it will be worth the wait.

The Buzz of Your Team Scoring a Goal

The world's top scientists are yet to find a way to bottle this up, and that's probably for the best; within a week we'd have an addiction crisis that makes coronavirus look like the common cold.

Whether you're watching the game live and seeing the ripple in back of the opposing net; whether you're met with the familiar sight of one of your team's players pop up on the SSN live-ticker; or whether you find out via a hotly-anticipated notification on your phone; there is no feeling that comes close to the uncontainable, air-punching, heart-skipping, ecstasy that dawns when you realise that your team has scored.

Well, unless you're 4-0 down at the time.

Having Stuff to Talk About

'You see the Vitebsk score last night? What a game.'

It's maybe just as well we can't go to the pub with our mates while football is on pause; some of the conversations that would occur don't even bear thinking about.

Obsessing Over Fantasy Football

Be honest; how many times have you instinctively opened the Premier League app and scrolled to the fantasy tab, only to be hit with a sobering reminder that there are no fixtures scheduled?

It hurts the same every time; the sooner we can once again meaningfully agonise over who to start out of Adama Traore or Wilfred Zaha, the better.

I've still got all three of my chips to use, ffs.

Mindlessly Checking the Scores for Leagues We Don't Care About

Whether it be for your weekend acca or just because you have a soft spot for a random Swedish second division side thanks to a Football Manager save you had with them in 2013, opening your chosen scores app and delving into the obscure reaches was always a good way to kill ten minutes.

It's the little things you miss most.

No More Classic Match Replays

Club twitter accounts giving us 'as live' coverage of cup ties from a decade ago? Had its place for a couple of weeks.

BBC Scotland replaying the entirety of the 1991 Scottish Cup final between Motherwell and Dundee United? Alright, now it's getting old.

Please give us some actual new football to watch and dissect so this can stop; the UK apparently cannot operate without it.

'Check What Football's On'

Rolling out of bed at mid-day on a Saturday and sticking an hour of Nottingham Forest vs Middlesbrough on before heading out to your match of choice.

Collapsing onto the couch after work on Monday evening, flicking over to Premier Sports and finding out, to your delight, that Inter's routine 2-0 win over Sassuolo is kicking off in five minutes.

Watching the 1996/97 episode of Premier League Years for the eighth time this week isn't quite the same as stumbling upon those random matches you would forget about two minutes after leaving the living room.

Planning Our Weekends Around Football

No matter what type of football fan you are, having a full card on a Saturday and a decent selection on a Sunday gave your weekend structure.

You might be ritualistically attending one of the standard 3pm kick-offs, you might be building your Saturday around the televised 17.30 between Liverpool and Tottenham, or your entire weekend might be building to a Super Sunday triple header in which two fairly terrible Premier League games precede one moderately good Premier League game. No matter what, you always had something to plan your couple of days around.

Without that anchor, we've all been off-centre to the point that even keeping track of the day of the week has been an enduring challenge.

...it's Wednesday, right?

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