Premier League decision removes Leeds United chance to pay Queen unique Elland Road tribute

The Elland Road roar rarely sounds better than it does after a moment of silence.

There's something incredibly powerful and often extremely moving when football puts its tribalism to one side in the name of decency, whichever life is being honoured.

That is what would have happened on Monday night, had Leeds United's game against Nottingham Forest been allowed to go ahead by the Premier League.

A hush would have descended over two sets of fans known for their noise levels, because football has proven, particularly in recent years, that it can bring people together to pay respect in appropriate ways.

The sport's power to gather and unite people is important here because if the nation is to mourn, then it should do so together and where better than stood shoulder to shoulder with tens of thousands of others at a spiritual home.

Jesse Marsch and his players joined members of staff at Thorp Arch to do just that on Friday to pay tribute in a quiet moment, international stars standing next to security guards in a united front.

Rugby league supporters will get that chance this weekend, so too will cricket fans and those whose weekend sporting destination of choice is one of the country's ice hockey rinks. Race goers will be welcome at The St Leger Festival on Sunday.

But Leeds fans won't congregate now until October due to football's collective decision to stop this weekend and, as seems likely, next weekend too, ahead of the international break.

Many have expressed their bitter disappointment that, in the absence of direct government instruction, the Premier League decided to eschew the game's traditional means of showing reverence and denied fans a chance to mourn, if they so wished, together.

Others, including the Football Supporters Association, are keen to ensure those supporters who will be hit in the pocket are not forgotten, or indeed those who make a living from matchdays, amid a cost of living crisis.

If, as reports have suggested, the collective Premier League and EFL decision to postpone this round of fixtures was nothing to do with policing and logistics but solely due to a desire to pay respect to The Queen, then it can hardly be viewed as inappropriate.

Football is a national sport. She was the reigning monarch of this nation for more than 70 years and for the vast majority of the population represented a constant in decades of ever-accelerating change.

It was a rock and a hard place scenario for the game's authorities. Had they pressed ahead with games then it would have been to someone's distaste and criticism would have duly followed from various quarters.

What is much harder to fathom is why the FA felt that this weekend's entire programme of grassroots games, taking place away from the worldwide scrutiny under which the professional game operates, also had to stop.

Countless Leeds fans will be impacted either as players, coaches, volunteers or parents involved in the sport at local levels, knowing not only how precious the weekends either side of the winter weather can be in a season, but how important the game is as a release, an outlet and a community experience.

Showing children how to conduct themselves in a moment of solemnity and how to pay respect, alongside their opponents, would surely be far more appropriate than telling them that school work must carry on but sporting enjoyment must stop.

You can no more expect youngsters to spend an hour this Sunday in reflection and mourning than you can adults, who planned to attend Elland Road, to do the same for two hours on Monday night.

A point made by so many is that The Queen herself loved sport. She was also, as the Daniel Craig and Paddington Bear skits suggested, a good sport herself. Calling time on leisure pursuits that encourage children into the outdoors for exercise and healthy competition does not appear at ease with the memory of the one whose name the decision seeks to respect.

Junior football, however, has had to fall in line with its senior counterparts and football has, ultimately, chosen to stand together by not actually standing together.

In February 1952, three days after the death of King George VI, Leeds United hosted Rotherham United in front of nearly 50,000 at Elland Road.

It was decided at the time that renditions of the National Anthem and Abide With Me were a tribute fit for a king.

This is a sad time for the Royal Family and anyone holding affections for them and respect and kindness are important. But life must and will go on. It would have been entirely appropriate for football to do so as well.