ON WEDNESDAY evening, I travelled to what might have been my last match of the year — depending on what happens with Covid restrictions, and whether Boxing Day fixtures end up going ahead as planned.

Despite the current circumstances, people seemed in good spirits, and there wasn’t an overwhelming absence of fans as I was expecting, which was positive to see.

This year has been an amazing one for sport, but a tough one for humanity. Like a good film or a book, sport can be an escape from the harsh realities that the majority of us have faced over the past couple of years.

I often find myself lost in the excitement and theatrics of what is taking place, and some of my favourite moments this year include witnessing Emma Raducanu’s journey to US Open victory, fans returning to stadiums, the Euros, the tense rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and of course, being appointed as the sports editor of the Star.

My goals for the new year involve bringing on more female sports reporters, expanding the coverage of women’s sports in the back pages, and establishing a stronger social media presence for Morning Star sport.

During the festive period, I have been reflecting on what sport means to me, our readers, and the wider community.

When I was younger, I was always enthralled by the famous story of the Christmas Truces that took place during the first world war. If you aren’t familiar, late on Christmas eve in 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force heard German troops in the trenches singing carols and noticed lanterns and fir trees lining the edges of their trenches. This prompted messages to be shouted across the trenches between the men.

There are multiple accounts of football matches that took place on Christmas day among the British and German troops in no-man’s land, which is completely extraordinary when you think about it. The image of people — who were supposed to be enemies — laying down their guns to engage in the beautiful game, is one that is very powerful.

The reason I am highlighting this particular moment in time is because to this day the moral of the story is as important as ever. Sport is something that holds great importance in people’s lives, and can be used as a mechanism to bring people together.

I was once sitting on a train from Manhattan to New Jersey with my partner discussing the goings-on in the Premier League, and ended up chatting to a local man who had been a fan of Arsenal since he was a boy. This encounter proved to me that sport is a universal language.

Just this year, the sporting community has shown its true strength, with fans engaging in social movements such as taking the knee, the overwhelming support for Marcus Rashford’s activism, and protests against injustice, like the European Super League proposals.

I wanted to remind you that as a supporter, your voice matters. There’s strength in numbers and the fight for equality for fans and players is far from over.