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Back on the 21st of December amid the announcement of restricted number at indoor and outdoor events from the Scottish Government, the Clyde insider asked for people’s thoughts and feelings on potentially missing out on concerts and football games.
Since then all 42 SPFL clubs have been running at a 500 capacity crowd and in some cases, clubs have been playing in empty stadiums. For example, Hearts, came out with a statement that they would refuse to ballot supporters for any home game.
As for avid concert goers, this news comes as a big blow. Just as normality was rearing its head, there was a cruel sucker punch blow for the music industry.
UK number 1 album winning band and Whitburn natives The Snuts announced last week that due to the uncertainty around crowd numbers and their desperation to perform their biggest show and biggest tour yet, they had to cancel the whole thing.
However, the stark contrast was clear to see near the border between Scotland and English between fans attending Queen Of The South Vs Kilmarnock and fans attending Carlisle Vs Bradford.
Where there was an attendance of 457 in Dumfries, 4,996 watched on 38 miles away on the same day at the exact same time.
Football fans up and down the country in Scotland have felt let down by governing bodies and even including that of the SFA and SPFL, as fans vent nightly frustrations on popular evening football phones in Clyde 1 SuperScoreBoard.
So what did some of our followers have to say?
Facebook follower Lorraine Campbell said: “It’s the months of excitement and the build-up to a great night out with friends cancelled last minute. The events that have already been cancelled so many times that now you just think to get a refund should have happened in 2020 now moved to 2023.
“It’s people your age not getting to experience live events and nights out regularly. We have a generation of people who have turned 18 and not had the chance to go on holiday with mates, go to these live events, to just live life and have the experience.
“People need to have fun doing the things they love, nothing beats sitting in the crowd enjoying the atmosphere be it football or a gig.”
Instagram follower and photographer Emma Drysdale said: “For me, the only really big live events I’ve been to are music gigs. I miss seeing the big stars perform live and be amazed at their talent.”
We also interviewed hospitality worker Kiamha Gibb on her feelings on the matter she said: “For me, it’s not just one thing (concerts or football), it’s having our New Year street party, it’s going to pals houses, it’s going dancing. It has been emphasized that young people, have lost a lot throughout lockdown. But I don’t think it has been stressed enough.
“For me, I’ve lost the best part of my teenage years throughout all of this. Including completely losing the social aspect of my life, to the point where I just don’t have a social life anymore. To the point where it breaks my heart. And that’s the thing that might actually push people’s mental health to breaking point because they’re going to be missing out on so much.”
However as of 2 PM today post First Minister Nicola Sturgeons statement on the latest announcement of restrictions. It is expected that all 42 SPFL clubs will be able to return to unrestricted capacities.
