Neutral venue option assumes that football fans are inherently disorderly

The Premier League is set to resume the 2019‑20 season on 17 June, but all the remaining games will be played without fans. It will look and sound like nothing we have seen before. Of course, that’s the way it has to be in order to resume the national game in the middle of a pandemic.

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I am sure fans understand this is how it has to be. They have lost friends and loved ones to the virus, some of them are frontline NHS or care workers. All have made sacrifices in adhering to the lockdown, all know the seriousness of this virus and the measures needed to tackle it. They, and the football “industry”, know things have changed dramatically.

In con…