Football is back but due to Covid-19 the landscape is far removed to anything previously experienced in the long and illustrious history of the beautiful game.
Played against a backdrop of empty stadium because of lockdown restrictions, it is, quite literally, a whole new ball game.
In more than 40 years writing about the nation’s number one sport, there is little that comes as a surprise, but not anymore.
Since global coronavirus pandemic struck and brought the game to a halt worldwide, these have been unprecedented times for football as well as all our lives.
After initial fears the 2019-20 season would not be completed – it was abandoned in many other countries – the campaign here is back underway after a three-month break.
And access to games is the hottest ticket in town with numbers restricted to a maximum of 300 per game – and that includes the players, management and coaching teams, stadium staff and a limited number of media.
My first foray into post-lockdown football came at the Championship clash between Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic, a surreal experience.
Beforehand I had received a 1,200-word document ‘EFL Media Protocols’ guidelines to ensure the risks that coronavirus presents to media, staff and players are kept to an absolute minimum by ensuring appropriate social distancing measures are in place.
That was supplemented by Huddersfield’s own document disclosing how they interpreted the protocols and detailing how press operations would work on matchday.
Writers and photographers from the same publication were instructed not to travel to the game together unless they lived in the same household. And they were recommended to travel by public transport only when absolutely essential.
There was also stadium zoning – red, amber and green. The pitch and immediate surrounds were red while media areas were amber which necessitated a health questionnaire being completed and temperature check on arrival.
The two documents covered every eventuality and it was a job in itself getting to grips with the new guidelines before leaving for the game.
Matchday, especially the traditional 3pm on Saturday, provides a buzz of excitement and expectancy on the journey to the game.
But on the approaches to the John Smiths Stadium you would never have envisaged a second-tier match was taking place as it was eerily quiet.
The only hint something was happening were the stewards in fluorescent jackets manning the approach roads to monitor vehicles.
To prevent the merest hint of congestion, hardly an issue with only 300 present, everybody was provided with an arrival time.
For the 20 written press permitted at EFL games – it is 25 for the Premier League and a maximum of one journalist per publication – we were asked to arrive at Huddersfield between 1.45pm and 2pm.
Due to heavy traffic en route and difficulty locating the correct car park, it was 2.15pm before I collected my accreditation.
Town had done a great job marking out the approaches to the ticket office with footstep signs to show the two-metre social distancing guidelines.
I need not have had any fears as there was nobody else near the ticket office.
The next part of the process was getting into the stadium which was again uncharted territory.
Never have I ever had a temperature check by a paramedic with a gun pointed at my forehead. Having successfully negotiated that, I was offered a face mask and plastic gloves and asked to use hand sanitiser.
Face coverings are mandatory inside the stadium, though they were lowered by radio commentators.
There was one final piece of protocol to adhere to before admission was finally granted. I had been sent a health survey with my accreditation to fill in so the club could determine I was not a risk.
The press box had been reconfigured to enable social distancing with a hospitality lounge to the rear utilised while I was in the back row of the directors’ box.
The match – Wigan won to ease their relegation fears and leave the Terriers in trouble – reminded me of a training match or watching reserve-team football yesteryear in near empty stadiums.
This time the difference was Championship points were at stake in a clash of two teams battling to remain in the division.
The virtual post-match press conference, known as VPMPC, also took a different format to prevent contact with managers and players.
The manager fielded questions through the Zoom platform as we remained in our seats in the stand, something which worked well and was similar to ones routinely staged.
But this will be the norm for the foreseeable future as football continues gets to grips with returning in as safe an environment as possible.