Scottish football got a glimpse of what a post-coronavirus Premiership might look like as the new season of South Korea’s K-League started on Friday.
Champions Jeonbuk Motors defeated Suwon Bluewings 1-0 in the season opener that kicked off at 11am UK time.
No fans were allowed into the World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, anyone not on the pitch was forced to wear a face mask, and players were prohibited from shaking hands, while discouraged from excessive spitting, nose blowing, and even talking.
The atmosphere was flat in the first half as player shouts echoed around the grand stadium - bettered only by Hampden, Ibrox and Celtic Park in terms of capacity from this country.
But as Suwon went a man down thanks to Australian Terry Antonis’ sending off, the home team tried to create atmosphere of their own as fake crowd noise was played through the tannoy.
It seemed to work - Lee Dong-Gook, aged 41, headed home the winner in 84 minutes and the Jeonbuk players celebrated with a special salute to South Korea’s health workers.
Managers didn’t shake hands at full-time and bumped elbows instead.
The season opener was broadcast live on the BBC website as Scottish fans were given a unique insight into how our game might look when it returns.
There remains little appetite north of the border for a ‘Project Restart’ as is being planned for the English Premier League, who aim to finish the current campaign.
But when season 2020/21 gets underway there is a strong chance that it may have to begin behind closed doors.
The K-League have tested over 1,000 players and that approach is typical of the way South Korea has managed to stave off the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a dense population and close proximity to the starting point of the outbreak, China.
With fewer than 11,000 confirmed cases and 256 deaths, authorities in South Korea deemed it safe to start the 2020 season, albeit with a reduced schedule after the original February restart was delayed.
