How Many Grounds Will It Take?

As of 11:30 am on the 10th of May, at least 31,587 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the United Kingdom, the average capacity of Barclays Premier League clubs from the smallest, which is Bournemouth, to the largest which is Old Trafford, is 39,380. Ten grounds hold fewer than the tragic amount of people who have already died, perhaps a salient point for the accountants to bare in mind when they sit down to debate the terms of 'project re-start'.

It is difficult to not seem hypocritical when calling for the season to be finished as it stands due to Hammers' precarious league position, just above the drop zone on goal difference, but as talk of playing behind closed doors to empty stadiums gathers pace it should be remembered that the equivalent to a full crowd's match day attendance have already been lost to the virus, is there really any justification in risking more lives before a practical inoculation can be produced?

Surely the authorities will have learned their lessons as a result of allowing the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead as well as the Liverpool and Wolves Champions League and Europa League matches, it is estimated that as many as 5000 deaths could have been avoided had lock down been sanctioned just one week earlier, on the other hand if lock down had been postponed by a further week, the exponential losses could have crept up at a rate of 10,000 per week.

Given all the information available, it would seem rather unwise to rush through a solution that might create a second wave of infection, we are supposed to be a West Ham United fans site and as such normally try to avoid contentious matters, but this is such an important issue that needs to be addressed.

Anyone who has lost a relative or friend to Covid-19 will tell you that they didn't think it would happen so close to home, well it has! Football is our nation's game, and one day it will return, but that return must be metered correctly, it might take a while, but time is a great healer, one day people will look back at what happened and question the sanity of trying to rush football back too quickly just to please the accountants.

How much is a life worth, and how many more empty grounds could be filled by the lost before life takes preference to finance? - Ed