Fever pitch: Football versus the culture wars, Opinion News & Top Stories

(FINANCIAL TIMES) Going to a football match in the middle of a pandemic feels like undergoing an endurance test for a reality TV show. A pre-match message instructs me to arrive at Hampden Park in Glasgow at 11am – three hours before Scotland kick off against the Czech Republic.

I must wear a mask at all times; No bags are allowed that are larger than a piece of A4 paper (why?); I must decant all food from my micro bag into a plastic bag provided by the stadium (why?). But I’d really better bring some food because I will be in the stadium for five hours – and all the catering outlets will be shut. So no rancid burgers or cartons of flat Pepsi to keep me going.