Why football is facing bigger challenges than ever before

Leicester City 4-0 Aston Villa on March 9th.

It now seems like a totally different world, but this was the last top flight match played in the country before Covid caused the sport's suspension. Three months has passed, thousands have died, people have lost their jobs and been unable to see and hug loved ones. Football quite rightly took a backseat.

This week, though, it returns but the debate about the decision still rages on social media. Of course, it won't be football as we know it - no fans, specific zones, controlled numbers of people, disinfected balls, stadium deep cleans and many more protocols form part of the action plan designed to help football complete its season and perhaps, it can be argued, bring about some normality.

There will, however, be many mixed feelings about its return. Like most things in life at the moment, it depends on your own personal circumstances.

For Villa, Wolves, West Brom and Forest in particular, there are important issues that need resolving; Relegation, Promotion and Europe are three big subjects that many argue cannot simply be decided by averages or voided.

There is much support for football's return and for many reasons it will be celebrated but it would be naive to think that those who say 'it is too soon' have no attachment to the game.

Former Forest favourite, Dexter Blackstock, has seen first hand how devastating Covid can be - his company helped to provide PPE to care homes. Undoubtedly, it has given him an insight into the disease that few former or current players have. He maintains risks are still there and, even though regular testing has taken place, he is aware of players who have tested negative on the Friday, gone home and been back on Monday and tested positive. He doesn't want football voided, but merely a resumption when he believes it's fully safe.

Some sports starts are also concerned about the impact of the virus on ethnic minorities. Ex Aston Villa and Wolves player, Tony Daley, shared that initial concern but is now happy with the protocols in place. Villa will feature in the first game as they did in the last.

But when football does return, there won't just be attention on how it copes with covid.

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought the issue of racism back into sharp focus. Speaking to Dexter and Tony, they both told me of their experiences of being racially abused.

It was absolutely shocking to hear that, not only was Dexter abused playing for England under 21's, but also whilst playing in the Championship. For Tony, one incident sticks in his mind and that was being abused away at Leeds United at the start of his career where he says thousands of fans were 'monkey chanting' him.

Leeds United this week apologised to Tony and anybody who has been the victim of racism at Elland Road, saying the ground is a different place to what it was 35 years ago. To both Tony and Dexter's credit, they didn't let racist incidents define them- they let their feet to do the talking. Both also maintain they were never racially abused by their own fans or members of their own clubs.

Football is different to how it was in the 80's and even early 00's when Dexter was breaking through. But in 2020 it is still shocking to hear their stories of what it was like growing up as a black footballer. In open and honest interviews, Dexter talked about racial profiling within the game and how a black and white player may be described differently. For Tony it was about the Policeman who didn't believe he lived in Sutton Coldfield because of his skin colour.

Both say that despite their own positive experiences after retirement, they know of black players who have struggled to get jobs in the game after they hang up their boots- putting it down to discrimination based on skin colour.

The Premier League announced that for the first 12 matches of the restart, player's names will be replaced with 'Black Lives Matter'. For all football continues to do, to try to address racial injustice, there will be many players like Dexter or Tony who won't have had any recognition or indeed closure and many incidents will have never have been reported.

It is a sobering fact that racism still exists in football at grassroots and in a professional sense and both players say changes still have to be made in society and within the game.

Football is restarting with a vow to deal with covid issues and make it a safe place for players- but now is also the opportunity to make sure this is also the case when it comes to racism.