At kick-off time every week, The Tig feels a gnawing pain at not being able to be there and play a part, however small it may be, for the team.
It’s seven months since we’ve been on the inside; seven months since fans could sit in their seats and take part in their matchday routine.
Yes, it’s nice to have commentary at your chosen volume in your ears and the comfort of your own armchair, with your own food and drink at hand in a temperature-controlled environment. There’s no hunt for parking spaces, no queues at the bars, no bouncing from foot to foot outside the toilets, and no one pushing past your seat because they took even longer to find their way through the traffic than you did.
But that’s not what The Tig wants from matchday.
It has been bad every matchday since the restart in August, but the game in Toulon last Saturday hit even harder.
Seeing 5,000 French fans following their team, cheering them into a European Final and having that sense of eager anticipation about the next game in seven days’ time, it rammed home just how much we are missing from our seat at home.
Four days later, we were back on the settee for the next game. Four days after that, it’ll be the same. Then there’s a seven-week close season. And after that, who knows?
Seven months down the line, and with new variations to restrictions on a regular basis, if ever there was a time those of us on the outside wanted to be back on the inside, it is now.
Restaurants and pubs, cafés and coffee bars in enclosed indoor spaces with nowhere near the space or the flexibility of a rugby stadium have been able to open their doors, but it’s still not our turn.
And now it’s not just about an emotional investment. It’s not just about giving the referee sage advice from your unbiased position 100 metres away, or clapping out of time to Smoke On The Water or celebrating with arms in the air while juggling crisps and a plastic glass.
In their 140-year history, Tigers have never needed us as much as they need us now.
And support is now needed from outside. It's not just for the 15 men on the pitch, but for the whole club around them.
The future of the professional game in its current format rests in the hands of those who make decisions on our everyday lives.
We don’t want permission to out-stay our welcome and we certainly don’t want to party outside after closing time. What we want is a chance to show those who could make a material difference exactly what our clubs and our game mean to us, how they matter to our communities and how a club's work outside their own four walls has a positive effect on the people they encounter.
And we want to find a way to come through this together.
Click here to see how you can make a difference.
