Opinion: Light at the end of tunnel is growing for a great sporting summer

Simona Halep should defend her Wimbledon 2019 title during a great sporting summer. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

For most of the past twelve months, it has felt like we’ve been in the middle of a very long, dark tunnel with only a speck of light flickering in the distance.

Since the start of the New Year however, that speck has been getting gradually bigger and at the time of writing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is releasing his roadmap out of lockdown.

It’s been difficult to find anything to look forward to, as any events planned have always been likely to be cancelled due to the pandemic, but with more and more people getting vaccinated and lockdown easing, we might be able to finally look forward and start to plan for the rest of 2021.

Which is a good thing if you’re a sports fan as 2021 looks almost full to the brim with major sporting events.

The first of those is the football European Championships which start in June with England, Scotland and Wales having all qualified.

England and Scotland actually play each other in the group stages whilst the semi-finals and final will all be held at Wembley.

Then it’s the Olympic Games which will be held in Tokyo. Though the organisers are facing criticism and scepticism, the latest is that the games will still take place in July.

Let’s hope that is the case and we can enjoy what will no doubt be an entertaining, exciting festival of sport.

Wimbledon is set to return this year after being cancelled last year. A quintessential part of British summer, the final of Wimbledon actually takes place on the 11th July which is also the date of the Euro 2020 final at Wembley! Definitely a date for the diary.

July also sees the British & Irish Lions take on South Africa in what will no doubt be a fiercely competitive three-test series.

Later in the year, golf fans can look forward to the Ryder Cup whilst end of the year sees the return of the Ashes with England travelling down under.

If all of this hasn’t whet your appetite enough, there’s also the small matter of Anthony Joshua’s fight with Tyson Fury which is set to take place sometime this year.

With so much top quality sport, the rest of 2021 looks set to be a terrific year. Let’s hope we can also see some fans at these events to enjoy them as they were intended.