As the UK comes to term with a new mutant strain of the coronavirus, Rangers fans and every other supporter in Scotland will be well aware of the precarious nature of football.
Last season’s campaign was ground to a halt in March with the season controversially awarded to Celtic via a Zoom call as top flights across Europe restarted after the lockdown.
But as the UK faces yet another strict March-style lockdown – and with Nicola Sturgeon claiming tier 4 rules could be tightened – football is once again holding its breath.
There may be limited to no supporters watching the beautiful game up north but elite level contact sport has every chance of being halted if it’s deemed a public health risk.
Down south, Ipswich Town physio Matt Byard called for a “circuit breaker” lockdown of the national sport as a mix of seven players and staff test positive for the new mutant strain [Ipswich Town].
It includes Tractor Boys manager Paul Lambert, who claims that his EFL testing must be improved with his side only being tested “six or seven times” since July [Sky Sports].
This follows outbreaks at Peterborough, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Millwall and Rotherham down south, even if there are currently “no plans” to suspend the English Football League [EAT].
That’s despite a host of matches being rearranged or postponed amid the madness as clubs come to terms with a more potent threat during an already difficult to manage pandemic.
Scotland might be better placed than England to endure this current Covid storm but it doesn’t mean football is safe.
If anything, the recent news coming out of parliament and football clubs down south only serve to highlight the precarious nature of football amid Covid even without fans in grounds.
Not that this stopped Celtic fans attending Hampden prior to the Scottish Cup Final from last season, effectively putting the rest of the league season at risk due to their stupidity.
