No pre-match pints in the Glassworks or drumming from the Kop end: Football is back...but it won't be the same for Chesterfield fans

That is 17,539,200 seconds, or 292,320 minutes, or 4,872 hours, or 29 weeks. In simple terms, more than half a year has passed since we trundled out of Dover Athletic’s Crabble Stadium in mid-March. ‘Let’s go to the Winchester and have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over’ was the attitude of many that day. If that had been the case, it would have been one hell of a bar bill and one almighty hangover after seven long months.

So here we go, then. It is back! Well, we think. At the time of writing, there are still some doubts whether it will definitely go ahead as the National League is yet to confirm whether a financial package has been secured from the government. But all signs point towards the campaign finally getting underway this weekend as a lot of clubs, including Chesterfield, have announced that matches will be streamed online and the National League has said they hope to announce the bailout deal “very soon.”

So it really is back then? Well...kind of. I mean, it is, but not as we know it. Because while it is great that supporters will be able to watch online, they won’t be allowed into stadiums, which is what football is all about. There is not going to be the same anticipation that is for sure. No pre-match pints in the Glassworks, no smell of fried onions wafting from your favourite burger van, no banging of the drum from the Kop end, no nudging your pal on the first home game and saying ‘pitch looks well doesn’t it’ and no shouts of ‘programmes three quid!’ Most people will probably log into the live stream about 2.55pm and sign out on the full-time whistle. That’s not a matchday experience is it? But I suppose it is better than nothing.

I still can’t get my head around how drinking in a pub can be deemed safer than watching a football match outside with social distancing in place, face masks and one-way systems. The government might not trust football supporters to stick to the rules, but they will if there’s any chance they could be banned from watching their team. One bloke told me that if it meant wearing a boiler suit and riot gear he would do it just so he could watch the Blues. Over the weekend I saw one fan of a Premier League team say he would rather his club be playing in League Two than the top flight if it meant he could go and watch.

I feel very lucky doing the job I do at the moment as a lot of fans would give their right arm to be sat in a football ground at 3pm on a Saturday. Over the next seven months and beyond I will do my best to keep you informed about what is going on at the Spireites. As always with Town, expect more ups and down and twists and turns than Blackpool’s Big Dipper. Football is back, but it won’t be the same.