ALBION 0 BIRMINGHAM CITY 0 

20 JUNE 2020 

Some 109 days after hosting Newcastle United in the FA Cup, football returned to The Hawthorns after the Covid hiatus.  

Well, football, yes, but not as we knew it.  

With all the various Covid protocols still very much in place across the country, with much of it still locked down in all but name, the authorities concluded that bringing football back from its own shutdown was not only vital for the health of the game, but for the morale of the nation.  

The only problem with that was that in a world of social distancing, Covid testing and all of that, there was simply no way that the games could be played in front of crowds. The only option was to play behind closed doors, the players performing in front of empty stands (no real change for some clubs not too far from here…).  

And so, on June 20 2020, we stepped into a brave new footballing world. At least, the players and the officials did. The rest of us were still stuck in the house, watching the games as they were streamed live to our computers and TV sets.  

Albion against Birmingham City was the first game at The Hawthorns, a 0-0 draw somehow appropriate in those bizarre new surroundings, a game also notable for being the first time Albion used five substitutes in a competitive fixture. 

Little did we know how long it was all going to last.