As a proud Royalist, I say forced grieving is a mistake and football should have carried on

I was a huge fan of the way Queen Elizabeth II conducted a life of loyal service and she deserves respectful mourning at a length of time of an individual’s choosing.

But it shouldn’t be forced on everyone which is pretty much what the Football Association, the Premier League and the EFL have chosen to do to the football world.

Life is pretty grim for many people in these days of hopeless politicians, war-mongering dictators, Covid and vile people on social media.

For many, football on a Saturday is an escape from drudgery and from worry about more important matters.

And I don’t just mean fans of professional clubs. Those in power have decided child footballers as young as seven, teenagers, amateurs who pay to play, semi-professionals who supplement meagre wages in a cost of living crisis and all the volunteers and coaches involved in their favourite sport will be stopped from partaking in what they probably look forward to the most at the end of a tough week.

It’s the first weekend of the season for junior players in the Peterborough area as well. They’d have been looking forward to this weekend for months. It would have been the perfect antidote to returning to school.

Now they will have to wait because football authorities would prefer us all to grieve.

Do they not realise we could easily do both? Did they not see/hear the West Ham United fans signing the National Anthem at their European match at the London Stadium on Thursday? That was a touchingly spectacular moment which I dare say would have been replicated at grounds all over the country on Saturday.

But no, football authorities would rather we showed respect and love in private and never mind anyone who might have forked out for travel and tickets.

I’m sure the motives are well-intentioned, and it pains me to be on the same side as irritating windbags Piers Morgan and Gary Neville, but it’s a poor decision to shut down football.

Would the Queen have wanted it so? Who really knows? She was no football fan, but surely she would have wanted the country to carry on doing what they enjoy?

Still the football authorities know best.

Well played cricket, rugby union and ice hockey, and any other sport determined to carry on as normal this weekend.

Does it make them any less respectful than those of us forced to seek alternative entertainment?

Of course not.

They will all deliver emotional tributes to a great lady in public and I’m tempted to go and join them.