IT WAS arguably the most dispiriting line on Twitter this week – and there is always plenty of competition.

Rochdale had commendably published a question-and-answer section to their update on season-ticket plans for the new campaign.

And there it was near the bottom ….

Question: What will the matchday experience look like?

Answer: There will be no music played throughout the day. Supporters, under the current guidance, will not be allowed to sing, chant or shout.

Just let that sink in.

Yes, it’s bad enough that anyone going to Spotland will be deprived of the “Madchester” mega tunes spun by club DJ Dave Sweetmore, a pre-match legend in the lower divisions.

But fans being told that any singing or chanting – you know, the thing that fans are supposed to do – is now outlawed!

You might as well go and watch the snooker.

To be fair, I can’t see how clubs would police such a draconian approach. Will humming “Everywhere we go” become an offence that can see the noisy culprit kicked out the ground?

And what about a good old grumble, as one long-standing Bantams fan commented?

The government are still looking at a phased return for spectators in sport from October 1.

But the socially-distanced “new normal” appears to be anything but.

As it stands, what is the point of attending a game to sit there mutely with such little interaction?

It obviously helps the club’s coffers to get what bums on seats they can but how much enjoyment can be gained from such a passive presence? You might as well keep the cardboard cut-outs.

We’ve all been at games when the atmosphere can resemble a library

I remember Geoffrey Richmond once moaning about an afternoon at Valley Parade that was so quiet “you could clearly hear a mobile phone ringing from the Midland Road Stand”!

But to be instructed to keep any noise and emotion in check is completely alien to everything that following football means.

Every week will carry the intensity of an EFL Trophy group game – and, joy of joys, the governing body have confirmed that will be up and running again this season.

The imminent release of the new fixture list on Friday will generate little buzz.

A packed programme, now including 11 midweek league dates not to mention Tuesday nights in the cup competitions, will be played out for at least the first month behind closed doors.

Then when the shutters are allowed to be lifted for limited numbers of the football public, it promises to be a sterile experience because of the strict guidelines.

Safety precautions must obviously be adhered to in the world we currently live in.

The effects of the pandemic and the crackdown on our general lifestyle means that everything everywhere will involve rules. Public health, rightly, should always be the priority until this present danger has eased.

I can understand the concerns about the virus being spread through saliva particles and all that.

But without sounding glib, is watching a game from a soulless stand where any hint of emotion is frowned upon really worth the effort?

Armchair supporters will never “get it” in the same way as those who physically follow their club up and down the country. But at least you can still shout, leap around and curse at the TV screen.

City are waiting to put season-tickets back on sale until there is more detail about streaming games and how that might work.

It is understood the club have come up with a system they are happy with but it hinges on some clarity from the EFL. They will be hoping for news on that front in the next week or so.

The Bantams are still working towards the hope that they will be able to welcome back a percentage of supporters to Valley Parade in October.

But, like everything, that remains a moving picture.

The recent shelving of the pilot scheme to drip-feed crowds back into a few selected sporting events highlights how quickly the scenario can change with another government edict.

At least there was better news from Thursday night's announcement and 300 will be allowed in to watch the world snooker final in Sheffield this weekend.

But nothing at this time seems set in stone. Unless you have to be, like one of the first “guinea pigs” to test out the match-day experience by the sound of it.

Carlisle’s chief executive Nigel Clibbens came away from an online seminar on how to manage the return of spectators with a sobering warning. “So much of what we are used to will need to change,” he said.

This changed way of watching football doesn’t sound much fun.