Come Friday night, 220 days will have passed between league matches for Dundee – an incredible length of time to wait.
We are in incredible times right now, however.
Days that will be looked back on over the next few decades as defining ones for a generation, I’d expect.
For Dundee fans, it’s been a time of patience – and that patience isn’t even over yet.
Yes, they were able to tune in to hear the unique, shall we say, commentary of their match at Brora Rangers last weekend.
But that was the Betfred Cup and against Highland League opposition.
Friday night against Hearts at Tynecastle is where the real stuff starts for the Dark Blues.
It’s just such a shame there won’t be any Dundee fans in the ground to see their team return after so long.
All supporters have been through the mill this year.
Dees, though, went through the mill and then landed on a rollercoaster, jumped from the frying pan into the fire and any other cliche you want to throw in.
Since football stopped in March, at Dens Park the lows have been deep but the highs have, in turn, been massive.
So many stepped up when their club was struggling and still are through the 1893 Foundation.
And they all got their reward when Charlie Adam turned up.
I can’t pretend it’s been anything other than a difficult summer for me in this job.
I’m a man who likes writing about football matches, the rest of the off-pitch stuff I can take or leave.
So it was a plod like I’ve never experienced before, writing feature after feature with very little happening in the way of news.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of them – chatting to former pros about their playing days isn’t really a job, let’s be honest.
Now, though, I can’t tell you how happy I am games are back.
I’m just so gutted I’m having to sit there watching watches with nobody else in the stands.
I’m lucky I can still go watch matches, of course, but it’s pretty soul-less without fans there, too.
I’ve also been lucky enough to be able to chat to the manager, players and even John Nelms, a little to my surprise, over the summer.
And I’ve found it amazing how quickly they’ve all adapted to the ‘new normal’.
Nelms and the board cut costs, some pretty harshly, but the club seems to be in a good place after all the goings-on in the summer.
As for James McPake and his players, it’s been pretty much back to business as usual – with a few face masks and precautions thrown in, however.
Clubs can’t last forever without bums on seats but I’m delighted the lower leagues are back – even if we can’t all go watch just yet, having our teams back in action returns a bit of that normality from before the pandemic.
And what a clash to kick off the Championship season. Hearts may be big favourites but I’ve got a sneaky feeling about Dundee on Friday night . . .
It’s back to the bread and butter for Dundee United this weekend with old rivals Aberdeen arriving at Tannadice on Saturday on league business.
Always a cracking match to look forward to – as with any at the moment, it’s a real shame the stands will be silent.
Last night was my first experience of United’s home post-Covid when covering the Kelty Hearts Betfred Cup match.
Even if I am now usually found covering the team across the road, it was good to be back at Tannadice.
I was really interested to see what had changed between the end of last season and now, to see what Micky Mellon’s United team looked like in the flesh.
As much as Kelty Hearts are well set-up and have some tidy players, it wasn’t really the opposition to let me see what this United side are made of, however.
It’s a bit of a hiding to nothing for the players in a match like that – the only expectation is you get a win and move on. They did that even if it was far from pretty.
And they move on now to face the Dons at the weekend. I’ve been impressed with Aberdeen this season, particularly with their striking injury problems – United will have to play well to get anything from that one.
Being the underdog, however, might just suit them after the Betfred matches.
Look at the three after that, though – St Johnstone, Ross County then St Mirren.
Big, big games to come.
I’m going to admit something not every columnist does – I’ve been proved wrong.
And I have to say I’m delighted to have been put in my place.
I’m talking about Scotland’s new star striker Lyndon Dykes and how well he’s done at both QPR and international level.
From seeing him miss sitters every other week for Queen of the South not so long ago, I just didn’t think he had it in him to shine at that level. Wrong!
He’s got four in eight for club and country – I’m certainly hoping he adds another tonight at Hampden against the Czech Republic.
Come on Lyndon!
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.