Football has taken match-going supporters for granted for too long, according to one of the most recognised voices in the televised game, Clive Tyldesley.
The ITV commentator hopes the enforced absence of supporters from venues due to the coronavirus pandemic has helped football clubs reassess the importance of fans.
“You would hope there is a wider appreciation of how important those supporters are to the look and the feel and the sound of football that will never be forgotten in the months and years ahead,” he told the PA news agency.
“I think football has taken its public for granted for too long. Football can get a bit set in its ways from time to time and you would hope the events of the last six months will shake us all out of any complacency about the way we were living our lives.”
While Tyldesley cannot wait for fans to return to create an atmosphere, he admits there is something he enjoys about matches behind closed doors.
“I quite like the raw, bare, Marie Celeste sound of millionaires shouting at each other,” he admitted.
Tyldesley provided some lighter moments on social media during the national lockdown by commentating on routine aspects of home life, including his wife making a lasagne.
He will now turn his attentions to commentating on the takeaway choices of the general public as part of Just Eat’s ‘Commentate My Plate’ campaign this Saturday.
“It’s important we’re prepared to laugh at ourselves,” he said of the lockdown videos.
“Every football fan has a bit of a football commentary soundtrack going in their head most of the time.
“There is something slightly bizarre about football commentary so since the rest of the world is going to take the Mickey out of us, we’re probably best getting in there first.
“The lasagne video was watched by over a million people so somebody got the joke, so we decided this might be quite a good joke to play out and give people the opportunity to make some content.
“On Sunday I’ll be commentating from Ibrox on Rangers, on Saturday I’ll be commentating from a studio on your delivery food from Just Eat.”
:: To be in with a chance of having your plate commentated by Clive Tyldesley, simply film a 15-30 second video of your order and send it along with your Twitter username to commentate@just-eat.co.uk. Clive commentates your plate, the official Just Eat Twitter account will tweet out your video.
