At last! This actually felt like going to a football match.

A proper football match.

I've been fortunate enough to attend Albion games home and away for the last 14 months while fans have been locked out due to Covid-19.

No traffic. Empty trains. The best parking spaces. Arrive late and leave early.

Sounds great but it isn't.

It's not so much that it's bad. It's just flat.

You turn up, you do your work in an empty and windswept stand, you listen to the radio commentary for a bit of company and then you go home.

I enjoy it - but it's not the true Premier League.

This one was. For the first time this season. With the season just five days from finishing.

Albion’s home game with Manchester City meant nothing of major importance in terms of the Premier League table. 

In many respects it meant everything to those who attended.

Or those they cheered on out in the middle.

Or those watching from home hoping all would go well so they can return when the stadia are full.

Only 8,000 fans attended Albion’s home date with the new champions.

(Only? That's still a lot of people to shift to and from the same small location with a pandemic lingering).

They did so with every expectation of enjoying themselves.

That was obvious from the singing at the start and even after City scored an early goal.

But no one could have expected their team’s reaction to a moment of brilliance by Phil Foden to make it 2-0.

Would Albion have come back from that deficit to win, even against ten men, in an empty stadium?

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I would not want to cast doubts on their spirit and resilience. They have often shown those qualities this season.

But the union between team and support was undeniable and, ultimately for City, irresistible.

Did the crowd have another influence?

There were those among City’s support watching from home who seemingly felt that was the case in terms of refereeing decisions.

They certainly brought excitement, noise, passion and urgency to the occasion.

In return, their favourite team gave them endeavour, no little skill and a buzz you can’t get from watching at home.

Where I now sit, high in the West Upper, it seemed harder to keep up with events and get the pages done by deadline.

It was no longer like working in a library.

The mind was racing. The minutes flew by.

And then the scenes of jubilation at the end.

Moments that it felt like this football season owed us.

Of course, we have had seemingly breakthrough moments before.

Albion led the way when 2,500 attended their friendly versus Chelsea nine months ago.

They had crowds of 2,000 for two games in December.

But this feels more sustainable.

In the meantime, almost 8,000 fans have sounds and images to dig out of the memory banks over the weeks ahead.

From the night they went to a proper football match.