Return of English football provides timely opportunity to spread some positivity in a troubled land.

English football returns at just the right time. Amidst this bleak period of heightened national tension, the resumption of a beloved pastime and obsession, the traditional occasion for escapism, camaraderie and joy, provides a vital opportunity to spread positivity. The return of football is always welcome and particularly so this Friday night.

It seems strange to claim that football had ever actually gone away, when really it is the sport that never sleeps. Even in the 26 days between the Euro 2024 final and the EFL kicking off this Friday, there have been European club qualifiers, the Olympics, Scottish games and all manner of non-competitive tour and friendly matches. But these are now competitive English games back in action, back on the screens, at a time when there is such unrest on the streets.

Let’s not tiptoe around a sensitive subject: some of those going to games are probably also those going to riots. Only a minority, of course, but still those of a malevolent mindset that football does not need. The majority of match-going fans are decent, law-abiding people.

Of course, there will be concerns about any chants that could embarrass clubs. But the return of English football certainly offers a platform for clubs and fanbases individually, and English football collectively, to show the country in a better light, and also celebrate the diversity of the nation’s dressing-rooms and how people of different communities and faiths can live and work together.