WE'RE JUST NOT READY FOR FANS

Chester or Leicester, Bromley or Burnley, Hartlepool or Liverpool: you can all have 2,000 fans in.

- Steve HILL

What? When I mentioned this breaking legislation to my son while walking home from school, he immediately suggested that a sensible percentage of each club’s respective capacity might be a more prudent measure. Not his exact words, but a salient point all the same.

As far back as the ID card fiasco of the 80s, this Government has a long history of tarring all football supporters with the same brush. But surely even they must know that clubs play in wildly different sized stadiums, from Barca to Barnet, Old Trafford to Trafford. Maybe not, but if in doubt ask a nine-year-old.

Either way, I had a chance to experience these new measures up close on Boxing Day at AFC Telford United’s New Bucks Head for the visit of The Mighty Chester.

The traditional Boxing Day fixture is of course the pressure valve of the festive period, something to cling to while sitting through the preceding football-free vacuum. Obviously it was different this year as there were fewer people to avoid, but still a rare joy to get up and get out with nothing but a turkey sandwich for company.