Is the dressing room door opening?
What was once a sacrosanct place now open to the public?
Once upon a time, only a few people were allowed inside the dressing room. Players, managers, coaches, backroom staff, and occasionally invited dignitaries (on rare occasions) would cross the threshold into the inner sanctum of a changing room.
However, in the main, the door to the dressing room remained shut to outsiders.
The traditional media have done their best to pry it open for supporters to get a glimpse into life behind that door. The odd question in a post-match interview about the mood of the dressing room or what the feeling in camp was like would be put to managers and sometimes senior players after a disappointing defeat or an unexpected cup loss where the team was favourites to progress. However, the interviewee would usually remain tight lipped about what was going on behind closed doors.
That always made the dressing room feel sacrosanct and certainly be off-limits to all but the privileged few.
After all, it is the place for managers and coaches to tell the players the path to glory, away from the eyes of the world, a place where a message would be passed on without the world seeing that message being delivered.
However, the development of media and, in particular, the video media we now have behind-the-scenes documentaries that shine a light on all areas of a football club, including opening the dressing room door.
The Excellent production company Bunch of Amateurs publishes on Youtube a warts-and-all view of life at several non-league clubs, including National League South side Dorking Wanderers. No area of the football club is off limits to the cameras, and that includes the dressing room.
On BOA, we get to see the colourful Marc White attempting to take Dorking from the depths of non-league football up to the National League, which they achieved before relegation to National League South last season.
By taking us over that threshold, we get to see what a victory really means to the players of Dorking and how much every defeat hurts more than what any post-match interview- be it with the local radio station, newspaper or even club media, could ever achieve to show.
Of course, they are not the first documentary to get access to all areas of a football club. You can find videos on YouTube of life at Sheffield United under Neil Warnock. One clip of him in the dressing room arguing with a player about who should be marking who at a corner makes for interesting viewing. Other clubs, including Peterborough United under Barry Fry in 1997 have appeared under the microscope of the camera, while Amazon and Netflix have their various series of Access All Areas documentaries.
The most famous mainstream Television behind-the-scenes documentaries is of course the Class of 92 Out of Our League, aired first on BBC and then Sky Sports, as they followed non-league side Salford City following their take over by the Class of 92 comprising of Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and then eventually David Beckham.
They covered every corner of the football club, from the volunteers working hard to get the game on, the players and their personal lives and of course, inside the dressing room.
We see player bust-ups, managers losing it with underperforming players, as well as the highs of promotions and the lows of not going up.
Now, it is not just documentaries that have sent a camera into the dressing room; we have seen it on matches covered live on television.
Granted, we have not seen them going inside the dressing room at Anfield, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge etc but more likely at Mill Farm, Cressing Road and the Lamb. That is because they have been used during non-league matches.
Satanta Sport used to have a camera inside the dressing rooms, and I am sure TNT Sport (formerly BT Sport) did as well. While these cameras were muted, we would often get an insight into what went on during a team talk or when a player was sent off. At that point, the director would often cut to inside the dressing room to see a frustrated player kick the water bottles over or send a boot flying across the room.
Now, I have not subscribed to the latest viewing platform for the National League, but one suspects that DAZN will have placed cameras there from time to time.
With prices for the Premier League on Sky and TNT Sport getting increasingly expensive each passing season, viewers are going to want more for their money. Does that mean we will see shots from the dressing rooms becoming the norm ahead of the build-up to Premier League or even European games?
If that happens, then the last place that was firmly off limits to the public will be well and truly opened, meaning that the dressing room is not as sacred as it once was.