Blackburn Rovers’ Ryan Nyambe has told the club website that it will be strange to play without fans.
The Sky Bet Championship season has been suspended since March due to the Coronavirus pandemic but it appears we are closing in on a return. While Hull City are opposing a return, and some other teams are more quietly against the move, it is expected that we will be seeing second-tier football once again by the middle of June.
The major change will be the fact all games will be played behind closed doors, meaning the odd sight of playing in front of an empty stadium. Nyambe has been asked about playing in front of empty stadiums and while he knows it is the right thing to do due to the current circumstances, he admits he is going to find it strange and will have to adapt to what will become the new normal.
Nyambe said: “I watched the Dortmund game last weekend and it’s strange seeing the stadium empty and how far the subs were sitting away from each other with masks on. I don’t know how to describe it, it didn’t seem normal to be fair, but it’s got to be done.
“It’s probably going to be like back in the day, when you were an Under-16, and there’s no atmosphere and you’re just playing.
“Sometimes, if you’re playing a game and you’re losing, you need a boost from the fans, but they’re not going to be there and that’s something we’ll have to adapt to.
“Like a lot of people have said, and it’s a fact to be fair, a football club is nothing without its fanbase.
“You need support around you and the fans make the games more of a buzz.
“I miss the adrenaline before a game, that little nervous feeling in your belly as you’re walking out onto the pitch, and it might not be like that anymore.
“You sometimes need that adrenaline and nerves to get you going before a game and I don’t know how it’s going to be when I go back.
“The fans are definitely important.”
