Plunge

So I took the plunge and headed back into the environment of a big football stadium.

As I expected, the crowd for a mid-week fixture was a bit lower, just shy of 15,000 in a stadium with a capacity of 25,000, which gave a little bit of elbow room. I arrived in plenty of time and hung around at the end so didn’t find myself in any sort of crush or squash or queue getting in or out. There was someone seated immediately next to my seat but I was able to budge along one, so had an empty seat either side of me. The tiering in the main stand is pretty steep so I didn’t feel enclosed by people in front or behind, and it was mostly older folk and family groups near me, a demographic where I have a bit more confidence about vaccine uptake and common sense. If I’d wanted to I could have moved up to the back rows of the stand which were a lot emptier. 

Alongside that the football was not without note. It was generally agreed that Bradford City played their best game for four or five years, against a team in Stevenage who were the early (after two games) league leaders. A first half hat-trick from Andy Cook put City well on the way to a deserved 4-1 victory. After a few seasons in the doldrums there may be fairer weather ahead for the Bantams.