Football in a time of Corona : A Union Saint-Gilloise Story
Supporting Union Saint-Gilloise from a social distance
The fan is standing 10 metres in front of me on the terrace. Clearly a regular, he’s the one who leads the chants every week and probably travels the length and breadth of the country following his team.
He seems slightly inebriated, but in no way threatening. He is, however, determined to voice his support, pulling down his face mask at certain intervals to ensure his voice carries far and wide.
But this will not pass. The stewards know him well; like him, they are here every week. But this week is different. As was last week. And next week too.
Like alcohol, singing is now prohibited at matches, since it is thought to facilitate the spread of the disease. Slowly and warily, the stewards move towards him until they are standing either side. He knows what’s coming, he’s been expecting it. With a subconscious flail of the arm, he gesticulates in despair and then trudges down the steps, accompanied by the stewards.
This incurs the wrath of his fellow supporters, who take up his lost cause and follow him out of the exits. Those who stay are first implored to join the mass evacuation, and then remonstrated with when they insist on staying.
At halftime, people ask each other why the fan was asked to leave since it wasn’t immediately clear, and he seemed to be obeying every other rule – the wearing of the facemask, the social distancing, remaining in his place, no alcohol. But it was the singing that did for him.
Strict rules
I am at my local team in Brussels, Union Saint-Gilloise, who are currently plying their trade in the second tier. A club which prides itself on its sense of local identity and inclusivity, with a large number of ex-pat supporters.
Brussels has been one of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic in the whole of Europe. In this context, we are perhaps lucky to be able to attend football at all. Some say fans should be banned altogether, but in the meantime what we have is an imperfect halfway house – yes, you can come, but stick to the rules, or else.
And make no mistake, the rules are implemented. On entry I had paused to take a picture of the beautiful old terrace that adorns one side of the Stade Joseph Marien, only to be brusquely told to hurry to my seat and to remain there.
Not surprisingly, fans aren’t so bothered about going anymore. As one fan on our WhatsApp group says, watching football is “not much fun if you have to sit alone”.
The lack of beer – a staple in Belgian football culture – is also a blow.
Individuals can’t be bothered, and some ultra groups are boycotting. The club had previously criticised fans who had flouted the rules at an earlier home game, resulting in an Instagram post by the supporter’s group deploring the “tone of intimidation”. If they cannot live out their passion for the team on the terraces, then they won’t attend matches. Simple as.
The new abnormal
This may all seem very much like a first-world problem as we live through the worst pandemic in 100 years.
Yet football fans can be forgiven for asking when it will end. Since March fans have been shut out of attending matches across most of Europe, and although the new season has seen them return in some countries piecemeal, this is not so much the “new normal” as a “new abnormal.”
It is a difficult balance to strike. On the one hand – hurray, we can go to football. On the other, the limitations described above. Would you go?
Football, as with most other sports, is still muddling through the pandemic. The calendar for a team competing in national and international competition this year is more packed than ever, but television companies have never had it so good. They can now chop and change fixtures at even shorter notice than before to suit themselves, and England has now introduced a pay per view package for games which would otherwise not be broadcast – this on top of the subscriptions already being paid by fans to TV companies.
Winter is coming to the Stade Jospeh Marien - home of USG. Will supporters keep going?
The mood on the terraces though is restless. The next home game at Union saw the number of fans limited to 400, with only season ticket holders able to reserve a place. Those who didn’t reserve in time, or just didn’t fancy it (and this may number quite a few) will get a discount on their season ticket next season.
Yet until a vaccine is found, next season could be similar to this season, and so on. They may boast about following their club up and down through country through thick and thin, but Covid could be the straw that breaks match-going supporters’ backs.
We have not yet reached the end of this tunnel, but what lies there when we finally emerge might well be considerably different than before – and not all for the better.
