'I bitterly miss the fans and the banter' - Sheffield United's stadium announcer on broadcasting to empty Bramall Lane

But how does it feel as a stadium announcer, reading out the team sheets and broadcasting the goals – and VAR decisions – which would usually be greeted by cheers or groans from 30,000 fans?

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Gary Sinclair, who performs the honours for the Blades, admits the absence of crowds takes some getting used to but insists it has been largely business as usual for him.

“The manager wants things as close to a normal matchday as they can possibly be so everything has to be as per usual,” he says.

“The players choose the music which comes on as they’re warming up, and I still announce the goals with the same excitement as if there was a packed stadium, which has led to one or two comments on TV that the announcer seems to be having a good time.

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“The only real change we’ve made is playing the crowd version of the Greasy Chip Butty song just before kick-off, which seems to have gone down well with supporters.”

Gary, who also runs the city centre bar Maggie May’s, says one of the strangest things is being able to hear almost every word from Chris Wilder and his assistant Alan Knill during games, when their voices would usually be drowned out by the crowd.

“It’s quite entertaining and it gives you an insight into the manager’s motivational techniques and his expectations,” he says.

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“Chris can certainly dish it out if required but the encouragement he and Alan give the players when they need a bit of a gee up is amazing to hear.

“I bitterly miss the fans and all the banter and cheering. The FA Cup match was weird because that was the first game back but the Tottenham match was great.

“When the Spurs ‘goal’ went to VAR I cheekily said to the away bench that we were due a decision, especially after what happened at their place with John Lundstram’s big toe.

“It was just a bit of banter, but I took great pleasure in announcing that had been disallowed.”