Emmanuel Adebayor being helped by unidentified team member following a deadly attack by gunmen in Cabinda, Angola.

There have been some silly debates about whether the English Football Association (FA) should have postponed most of last weekend’s matches due to safety concerns over travelling fans. But I think the deadly machine gun attack on the Togo national team’s bus (which included Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor) puts things into perspective.

Police feared that fans could get injured slipping and sliding in the thousands through England’s icy streets. Taking their advice, the FA postponed seven Premier League matches and many more through the lower divisions; a decision that has been roundly criticised by the media.

Soccernet.com writer Jon Carter wrote a piece on the website with the headline, “Safety first attitude a real bore”; while football TV pundit Richard Keys mocked the decision on First Edition, saying proudly that back in the day slipping and falling on the way to a winter game was part of the fun of football, and that people were being too safe now.

Well, Richard, it’s only fun until someone gets seriously hurt. The police don’t get a kick out of postponing matches – they’re probably fans themselves who can’t wait for the season to roll on. You’re not the only football fan in the world. And as we were reminded by the tragic bus shooting which killed three people – football isn’t really that important when compared to lives. I say safety first, football second, no matter how boring that makes our weekends.