Football without fans has hurt clubs throughout the footballing pyramid, but the pandemic has hit non-league sides especially hard. These clubs depend on ticket sales as a primary source of revenue, and with empty stadiums across England, many local teams have been pushed to the brink financially.
These semi-pro and amateur sides also provide a helpful reminder of what true football fandom entails.
The past 24 hours have been somber and harrowing for Ligue 1 club FC Lorient after one of the team's groundskeepers was killed in a freak accident on Sunday night.
Following Lorient's 3-0 home defeat to Rennes at the Stade du Moustoir, the grounds crew came out to do their post-game duties. One of those jobs includes tending to the field with a grow light. The contraption emulates sunlight, warms the field and keeps the grass healthy.
Spotify Wrapped dropped this month, showing listeners what songs and artists they looked up and listened to the most (my number one artist was Don Toliver if you’re curious). If Google had a similar wrapped project, I guarantee you that “crazy soccer flares” would’ve been in my top 100 searches for all of the past five years.
There’s something about a wall of fire that is exceptionally intimidating to look at. Any time — prior to 2020 that is — I see fans of South American or European clubs ignite their flares and sing rapturous chants I get envious.
Multiple Premier League clubs welcomed back fans into the stands over the weekend, a move that helped some home teams earn impressive results.
The Football Association on Monday said it is investigating crowd-related incidents at Millwall and Colchester United that involved supporters booing players taking a knee during their games on Saturday.
The Columbus Crew put an end to New England’s fairy tale run to advance to the 2020 MLS Cup Final on Sunday, winning 1-0 behind Artur’s composed finish following a terrific team move.
The victory ensured a third and final MLS Cup contested at MAPFRE Stadium — Columbus moves into a new stadium next summer — regardless of who wins Monday’s Western Conference final between Seattle and Minnesota. Columbus finished fourth in the overall table, whereas Seattle finished sixth and Minnesota ninth.
Sunday’s Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Wolves featured the return of supporters to Anfield for the first time since March. The ground has a normal capacity of nearly 54,000, but 2,000 lucky fans got to be in attendance today in accordance with COVID-19 security measures.
While 500 of those fans were sat in the Main Stand, the Kop End housed 1,500 spectators, and it was that section that belted out Liverpool’s anthem of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the team took to the pitch.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Flamengo beat Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday but the derby match was overshadowed by a controversy over Flamengo’s threat to take the home side to court over a banner on display at their Rio de Janeiro stadium.
With the stands empty because of the coronavirus pandemic, Botafogo draped banners around the seats with one reading: “We Care About Lives Here.”
Italian side Napoli's San Paolo stadium has been officially renamed the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium after the late Argentina striker who led them to their only two Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup, the city's council said on Friday.
Maradona died last week after suffering a heart attack at his home in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, less than a month after his 60th birthday.