Blackburn Rovers’ Bradley Johnson has told the club website that playing football without fans will take some time to get used to.
The Sky Bet Championship is set to return on the 20th June but it will be without the fans. While football is being allowed to come back, it may be some time before we see fans in the stands again meaning that we will be forced to watch from home while the players compete in front of empty terraces.
For players, this means that instead of playing in front of a loud crowd cheering them on, they’ll be facing each other in mostly quiet. Johnson has admitted that it will take a while to get used to what is the new normal. He has said that he thinks that adrenaline will play a big part in getting the teams ready for the battle.
Johnson said: “It will be very strange.
“Fans are a big part of football. Throughout my career, I’ve loved playing in full stadiums, where the fans get right behind you.
“Our fans have been with us throughout this season and it will be a shame to not have them there with us to hopefully see us over that line, because fans in any stadium, home or away, are a big help, but if it means that we can get our league finished and it’s safer for the fans not to be there then that’s how it’s got to be done.
“It will be weird playing in empty stadiums, it won’t have that same atmosphere as a normal matchday, warming up in front of the fans and walking out to a full stadium with the fans singing songs, it will be very weird, but it’s something that we’ll have to deal with when it comes along.
“Once the game gets started and the adrenaline kicks in, you just want to win,” he added.
“When you’re playing in big stadiums and you know the fans are there, you don’t really hear them when you’re playing anyway, you sort of block them out and concentrate on your own game.
“I just think the build-up will be weird and knowing in the back of your mind that there’s no fans there, but once the games get going and we have to do that, I’m sure we’ll get used to it.”
Blackburn aren’t used to life without fans yet after being beaten 6-0 by Liverpool in a pre-restart friendly.
