It’s a pretty selfless act when you think about it.
And the words that he uses do draw attention to the bigger picture, but at the same time he recognises just how important it is that football can come back to help people get through this.
Speaking in a recent interview, Blades midfielder George Baldock spoke about the kind of sacrifice that he would be willing to make in order to get football up and running again, and hopefully that message gets extended through to other players around the league:
“I’m up for anything to finish the season. Whatever sacrifices we’ve got to make, they’re being made ten times by key workers and frontline people who are risking their lives. So any footballer who has to stay in a hotel or whatever, just get on with it. There’s a bigger picture and if we get the chance to play football, we should grab it with both hands. The good thing about football is, when it does return, it will put a smile back on people’s faces.”
His last sentence is a very pertinent one for me, I’ve talked before about the advantages that bringing football and sport in general back can do to the nation’s psyche, so it’s good to see that he very much shares that message, and hopefully more players around the league start to realise that.
Will the 2019/20 season be completed?
Yes
No
But I think on a personal level, the fact that his words could and should act as a bit of a spark if you will to try and get things up and running. And whilst you have the likes of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero recently saying (translated on ITV.com) about players being scared to come back, which is understandable, if there are enough players that are willing to make the sacrifices, then the chances of us seeing some form of football in the 2019/20 season is going to increase all the more.
And then the nation can get the boost that it has been waiting for.