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Football remains temporarily absent from our daily lives, and for millions who love the beautiful game, its return is a day that will signal that life may just be beginning to head towards a semblance of normality again.

Sally Freedman, who is Online Promotion Manager at UEFA and a Brighton & Hove Albion supporter, wrote a blog about how she is managing without her weekly fix of football.

With Sally's permission, we are reproducing her article, which first appeared on LinkedIn, in full here:

Life without football is tough. However, I'm still finding ways to engage with the beautiful game...read on to find out how!

Football has momentarily vanished, but life must go on. 

Like many, football is a huge part of my life. I am an avid player, a massive fan, a passionate coach, an enthusiastic writer and I am also fortunate to currently be employed within marketing for the European governing body for the sport – UEFA.

How are you still getting your football fix through the crisis?

I think like many others, at first, I was in denial. Surely all world football could not completely vanish. Or even if football stopped, there will be some other sport to watch on television. I couldn’t get my head around the possibility that all world sport would come to a halt. However, the stark reality soon caught up with me. As the constant cancelled notifications appeared on my phone, it was clear - no longer could I watch my beloved Brighton and Hove Albion FC every weekend, no longer could I play football twice per week at lunch time, no longer could I write about football, no longer would UEFA EURO 2020 take place this summer and so on. I felt angry, I felt frustrated. I felt sad. But eventually, after the denial and the annoyance, came acceptance.

To make the most out of this crazy, unprecedented situation, I am staying engaged with the beautiful game in many ways….

I keep playing

I am lucky that I have a small front garden which has a wall! What’s so important about a wall I hear you say?! It means I can kick the ball against the wall…. right foot, left foot, different distances, different angles and so on. I have never appreciated a football and a wall so much! I am also lucky that I live 1km away from Prangins football field which is still open. It’s a beautifully kept field on the lake with goals. With the stunning spring sunshine, I go there a couple of times per week and practice all by myself. It’s good for the soul, good for the mind and good for the touch…I guess!

Talking of touch, I have always been useless at keep ups, so I’ve set myself a goal to keep me motivated - by the end the corona madness I want to be able to do 50 keep ups. A little ambitious as I’m only at 20 now, but with so much time, I thought I may as well aim high!   

I keep reading

I make sure I keep engaged with all the positive news stories from the football world as so many clubs are doing some remarkable things. Reading positive news and smiling right now is so important as our news feeds are often dominated by negative, scare-mongering headlines which are not good for our mental health. Football clubs and federations around the world are showing us more than ever that we are a community. We are in this together. They are putting aside money. Forgetting about their often-selfish agendas. Whether it is raising money to purchase medical equipment, producing training videos about staying fit at home, donating tickets for health workers, freezing payments for fans, delivering food to the elderly and vulnerable or using the sport’s enormous reach to deliver vital health messages. The football community is clearly coming together as one.

I keep writing

Although I cannot write about live football, I am still writing. I am writing a daily diary about living through the madness. I am also co-ordinating a couple of e-newsletters for the UEFA Women’s football team and the UEFA ticketing team. I am writing some feature blogs for an online football magazine - normally I write about current football, but now I need to be creative and innovative about content ideas. Sport commentators are in the same position – Nick Heath has made me smile a lot over the last week - without sport to commentate on, he is commentating on daily life or the lack of! If you want a laugh, follow @NickHeathSport on twitter…and have a watch here …

I keep watching

Aren’t we lucky that we have technology?! Thank you You Tube! I’ve watched the highlights of Brighton in the FA Cup Final. Don’t believe me?! Google the 1983 FA Cup final! I’ve watched the highlights of Brighton securing promotion to the Premier League. I’ve looked back at photos of when I went to my first Brighton Premier League game – the game when Brighton beat Manchester United 1-0 to secure their Premier League status. Yes, underdogs really do beat the giants sometimes!

And I think I’ve re-watched every camera angle of the recent spectacular bicycle kick scored by Brighton’s Alireza Jahanbaksh at least 10 times! I was lucky enough to be in the stadium to see the goal live and it sent shivers down my spine – I’ve never seen a goal that good in real time. Re-living it via You Tube doesn’t give me goose bumps, but it makes me smile and it reminds me of why so many of us love the beautiful game. There are few topics in the world that are universal – but I think football and food are two right now that are helping keep so many of us sane!

My Instagram feed is littered with so many happy recent football memories. Watching England v Czech Republic on my 39th birthday in March 2019 at Wembley was wonderful and a stark contrast to my recent 40th very ‘football free’ birthday just last week! Taking my best friends daughter to her first ever game at the Etihad stadium in Manchester and seeing her face light up with joy as we entered – all of these memories are almost fairy-tale like and I’m grateful technology has made it so easy for all of us to remember and look back at happy times. Thank you, Instagram! 

What other things are you doing to keep busy?

I’m cooking, I’m cleaning, I’m reading, I’m doing jigsaw puzzles! I’m running. I’m cycling.  I’m studying French… or trying to! I’m volunteering to help the elderly in Nyon. I’m checking in daily with my neighbours to see if they are ok. It’s a question of whatever you can do, however you can help, whatever difference you can make, now’s the time to do it. 

I’m spending a lot of time on google hangout, zoom, teams, skype, whats app and houseparty talking to my friends and family around the world. Who knew there were so many options for a video call?!  Most importantly, despite the abundance of free time, I am trying to stay positive.

What do you miss most about football?

I miss so many things. I think number one - I miss watching Brighton – before the corona madness we weren’t doing too well – in fact Brighton were yet to win a game in 2020, but still safe in 15th place in the Premier League. I miss the emotional roller coaster - the wins, the losses, the feeling of a 91st minute winner. I miss watching Match of the Day. I miss watching the wonder goals. I miss watching the howlers. I miss debating the pundit’s analysis. I miss the weekly banter with fellow Seagull fans (yes, there are a few of us)! I miss reading match reports. I miss reading transfer news.

I miss playing Premier League Fantasy and screaming at the television when the striker I had as my captain misses a sitter. I miss playing with my teammates. I miss the socialisation. I miss the feeling of scoring a goal. I miss the changing room banter. I miss feeling exhausted after a tough session.

I miss working at the UEFA office. I miss working on ticket promotion for UEFA EURO 2020.  I moved to Switzerland from Australia in 2018 to work in what I considered my dream role at a dream organisation for a dream competition.  Fortunately, that dream has been a reality for the past 18 months. But now my dream has shifted; I dream that I can be part of the postponed tournament in 2021. And maybe we will have another one year to go party – it’s my silver lining for now!  

I miss the passionate football themed, Monday morning coffee machine chats with my colleagues. I miss the fervent debates, the laughter, the sharing of delight from re-living a Brighton win to anyone that is half interested!

If you can’t already tell, I cannot wait for the beautiful game to be back. One thing I know for certain; the return will be an occasion to cherish.  It’s hard to imagine it now, but I think when football comes back it will be a huge emotional release for so many of us. Right now, football and many things in life are paused, but when we get to press the play button on football, we will undoubtedly be jumping for joy for a very long time.

And lastly, my injury time mantra….

One of the reasons we all love football is because of its unpredictability. Ironically and frustratingly right now, we cannot predict exactly when it will be back. But believe me, football will be back and when it is, football will unite us and bring us together in a more powerful, commanding way than ever before.

I am thinking of football as a bright, shining light at the end of the dark tunnel.  I promise we will all meet again soon at the glowing light – and it will be the most magnificent, memorable, magical beautiful round ball game themed party we’ll ever have been to. Stay strong, stay safe and stay home. I’ll see you on the other side…. at the shining light. 

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