In rare moments of national unity, a sports stadium can often be the best place for many to pay respects amid a shared experience, which makes the call to postpone ⚽ matches—while other sports play on—following the queen’s death puzzling, jonawils writes
I was at The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, southwest London, on Thursday, hoping to watch the third and decisive cricket Test match between England and South Africa. Persistent showers meant the game was repeatedly delayed and, by lunchtime, it had become apparent that something very serious was happening with the Queen. By 2:30 p.m., it was clear we were in the final hours, perhaps minutes, of her reign.
There was a strange sense that this was history, a day I would always remember, in the way I remember where I was when I heard Diana had died in 1997 or when Margaret Thatcher resigned in ’90 . I kept looking across at the pavilion thinking what a poignant sight it would be when the flags were lowered to half-mast, and wondering how the drenched remnants of the crowd might react if an official announcement were made over the loudspeaker.
There were plenty of other people in the café, most on laptops or phones. Everybody must have known, but nobody reacted, nobody said anything—which was when it occurred to me that a sports stadium is probably the best place to experience one of those rare moments of national unity. In fact, most moments of national unity, when there is a sense of almost everybody focused on the same event, are sporting fixtures.
A moment of silence was observed at Old Trafford following the news of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s death.Later in the evening, West Ham fans spontaneously sang the national anthem during the silence for the Queen before the Europa Conference League game against Romania’s FCSB; it was a hugely respectful outpouring of emotion. Manchester United honored her memory before its Europa League match vs. Real Sociedad at Old Trafford as well.
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