Que sera sera, whatever will be will be – I wore a face mask at Wembley – Simon Carter

Back in May 1996 I covered a Carlsberg Pub Cup final between Dawlish Town and the evocatively-named Grimethorpe Colliery Miners Welfare (‘Give us a G’ etc ...).

There were less than 1,000 fans in the whole ground but, to the teams involved, it meant every bit as much as the previous day’s FA Cup final where Eric Cantona’s goal gave Manchester United victory over Liverpool. Actually, no doubt it meant a lot more – unlike the FA Cup teams, Dawlish and Grimethorpe had never graced the hallowed turf before. They haven’t since either.

Last week I made my latest trip to Wembley, a venue I now know very well as my club, Exeter, were making their fifth play-off final appearance since 2007. But this time it was a totally different experience (apart from the dismal result, our third loss in four years and our fourth in five finals).

I am no doubt one of the very few football supporters in England to have been in the ground to see their team play since lockdown restrictions were eased, certainly one who has no official connection to their club such as director or social media official.

That’s because I was ‘lucky’ enough to get a press pass for the League 2 play-off final, though I certainly didn’t feel lucky when we went a goal down after 10 minutes, had a man sent off at 2-0 down for a crude foul, and conceded two more late on to suffer a humiliating 4-0 drubbing against a team we had finished above in the table.

No, it’s fair to say I didn’t feel particularly lucky.

In order to enter the near deserted 90,000 capacity stadium, I had to visit a medical testing centre set up just outside a turnstile. Asked to use a hand sanitiser positioned outside the tent, I then had to wash my hands again after advancing five yards into it. My temperature and heart rate were checked before I was given my mask. I was sternly told I was not allowed to take it off anywhere inside the stadium. I was hoping it would have a Wembley logo embossed on it – something to show the grandchildren! ‘Guess what this is kids!’ – but sadly not.

There was social distancing in the press box – needless, as most of the seats were two metres apart anyway and the national press weren’t there in their droves – and the paranoia which has gripped vast chunks of the population was clearly on show when I went to check the Wifi code pinned up on the back wall. ‘Don’t stand too close – social distancing,’ one guy told me as I was writing it down. ‘If you’re that concerned mate, why bother coming? Just stay indoors for the rest of your life, you’ll be fine then.’ Is what I really wanted to say, but didn’t. I’m guessing he is the sort of person who wants a second spike so he can sneer ‘I told you so’.

Anyway, if Mr Paranoia really wanted somewhere where there wasn’t anybody in sight, he could have stood in our penalty area all game - he certainly wouldn’t have seen many of our defenders as they regularly went AWOL.

The national anthem was played before kick-off, but only on the giant video screens at either end - the woman who sang it having been pre-recorded standing outside the ground. Welcome to football UK 2020 style. Who would ever have imagined it would come to this?

Including players, staff and officials from both clubs, plus stewards and media, I would say there were fewer than 150 people inside the ground. The sight of 90,000 extra seats is a surreal one when a major match is taking place. It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t right.

Of course, Pompey will be making another Wembley appearance this year, to face Salford in the delayed Leasing.com Trophy final (a showpiece occasion Exeter’s reserves were very close to making at Pompey’s expense). Indeed, the Blues will be making two visits if they can beat Oxford tonight.

But while the League 1 play-off final will be behind closed doors, supporters will hopefully be allowed in when the Salford game eventually takes place. If they aren’t, there’s not much point playing it.

‘Football without fans is nothing,’ – an oft-repeated phrase since games restarted last month. While not 100 per cent accurate – Liverpool won the league with no fans present and that still seemed to matter, on Merseyside anyway – I obviously agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment. I understand why the 2019/20 season had to finish, if it was safe to do so.

I don’t understand, though, why the subs at Wembley last week were all sat relatively close together with no face masks while up in the press box we were muzzled while sitting 10ft or more away from anyone else. We weren’t in a bus, we were in the open air.

But I suppose that sums up lockdown really, mixed messages, confusion, people complaining that some businesses or sports are starting too soon, others furious that some businesses and sports haven’t been allowed to restart at all. Some still shielding, others acting as if the coronavirus never happened.

The state of UK 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. And I have no idea, no idea at all, when this is going to end… but when it does, Exeter will probably lose at Wembley again.