Returning to football in a way unlike before - the Citizen's first game back in the press box

It's a walk I've done a thousand times - from the car park at Stadium MK into the reception of the hotel. This time it was a bit different though.

In the decade I've filled the Citizen's sports pages, I've been to the stadium for press conferences, world cup announcements, player interviews, training sessions, a few rollickings, catch-ups, elections, photoshoots, and of course the odd game of football. In ten years it has been my second office, sometimes there three or four times a week. Little did I know though, when I left on Saturday March 7 at around 7.30pm, I would not be returning for 168 days. And I imagine it's the same for many of you, the Dons fans reading now. The place we are all eager to get to on a Saturday has been off-limits to us all.

Truth be told, for a while there, I didn't miss football. I didn't miss sitting in the cold watching scrappy 1-0s, terrible 2-0s, lifeless 0-0s. I was totally fine with not having to cover those last few motorway miles last season. I needed a rest. My Saturdays had become about putting cycling miles into my legs before crashing out at around what would have been kick-off time in the time before. But FIVE MONTHS was too much!

Being able to go back to the stadium for a pre-season friendly was a genuine buzz again. It felt strange though. There wasn't a buzz around the ground like there usually is. There weren't people popping to the bar for a pre-match pint, there weren't autograph hunters outside the hotel waiting to snag their favourite players, there was... nothing. It's like there wasn't a game at all.

I've watched training games before, been to U23s games where there are no fans too, but this one was different. Sat in a seat set socially distant from the three others in the press box - though we still chatted our usual brand of inane gibberish, albeit behind the safety of our masks - we spoke of how much we had missed it.

Of course it was different. I had my temperate checked as I walked into the hotel, had to sign in, give contact details, sanitised my hands a few times. I was directed straight to the press box, no deviations, and elbow bumps rather than hugs and handshakes for the people who I hadn't spoken to face-to-face for five months.

There will be a lot of new protocols for the foreseeable future, it feels like. Fans might be allowed back in October, but it won't be as we all remember it. You might need to sit further from your mates, might not be in your official seat for a bit, might not be able to grab a beer at half time, might have to be more patient getting in and out of the ground. My duties will change from interviewing the manager face-to-face to doing it over a video conference, as well as defogging my glasses regularly around my mask. But these are small bumps in the road to what we all want - to watch the football together again. Today was another one of those bumps in the road for me.

Without you loud rabble, football isn't quite the same. As much as I enjoyed getting back to what I love to do, it still felt a bit odd without you lot. So for these next few months, until you can come back and enjoy it with me, you will have to put up with me feeding you the info as best I can. It's getting closer though - football for all is nearly back. I, for one, cannot wait to see you all again.