So sport is coming back. Football is coming home (the German Bundesliga kicks off tomorrow). Golfers are teeing up their tournaments and anglers are preparing to cast off. The world is tiptoeing back towards normality, sportsmen are taking their socks off to dip a toe in the water and check whether it is safe to get back in. Of course it won’t be completely normal.

With typical Teutonic efficiency the Germans already have a name for crowdless games; ‘geisterspiele’ or ‘ghost games’ which perfectly sums up the dead atmosphere. However, it is a case of ‘any sport in a storm’ for the game starved masses and the high octane entertainment of televised angling is not going to sustain Sky’s subscriber base for long.

With German football the only game in town, I now have to pick a Bundesliga team to support. This is a novel opportunity since sports fans usually have a team or player to back. You aren’t sure of why or where or how but you find yourself with a player or team and you back them, through thick or thin (usually thin for Tottenham Hotspur). It might be you grew up nearby, or you just like a personality or they have a decade of success in your formative years or it might just be your Dad’s team you inherit like his old garden spade.

The psychology of my choice is much like stock picking; the enticement of high octane high-flyers delivering strong growth to justify their high PEs and early-stage concept stocks promising even higher growth trajectories on even higher PEs. Or the mid-table comfort of a steady track record, solid cash flow and a good dividend to bolster RoI. Those who fancy the battle for trophies will be attracted by the quality in companies like D4t4, Ideagen, dotdigital and Tracsis, all regular winners of metaphorical silverware, and qualifying for the cross-sector finnCap Ambition Nation Listed 50. Those who favour security could look to Quartix, with its huge subscriber base and impressive cashflow, or Redcentric with 90+% recurring revenue. Then there are the future cup winners moving into the big leagues: the future stocks to watch – looking into our Next50 index these are companies looking to clear the magical £100m barrier and gain a following and broader recognition: a whole league division of excitement too long to list, which we’d be happy to declaim to you now (give us a ring!) as the upsides possible are near-mythical. As with sport COVID has forced us to look afresh; security is not what it was just a few months ago and profit is suddenly fragile. The table is reset and fresh choices can be made.

Now as I settle down with my German beer to watch a first live game in a month I think I have decided my Bundesliga team will be Borussia Monchengladbach. They are a bit like Tottenham; a golden period back in the days when hair was long and shorts were short but a recent revival has brought them back to just below the top but never quite getting there; aspirations of greatness seemingly out of reach and I love the pathos. Also, I just like the name.

Happy Friday