[Football] Premier League / Football League attempts to finish the season

[beorhthelm]

I just don’t understand the problem with just completing this season however long that takes, if it’s Christmas then so what, so what if some teams will have lost/acquired players? It will be the same for all. It is called a season not a year. For sporting fairness and spirit it has to be finished, if it were less than 15 games in then sure abandon it but it’s 75% done.
Sadly cricket I fear might just lose the entire season as it hasn’t started yet and is far more reliant on a limited window.

so what happens to next season, and the one after? how long before the season returns to the regular pattern?

i believe the Premier League is waiting for clear view on when we come out of restrictions, before end of April and its managable to restart and complete. if not, they'll look to UEFA for direction covering the other nations and all important UEFA cups. FL will be looking for the same lead.

 

[Milano]

so what happens to next season, and the one after? how long before the season returns to the regular pattern?

As long as it takes. Freeze transfers if necessary. With some of the incredible efforts and agility being shown in other industries I’m sure the up its own arse elite football world can work it out.

 

[drew]

As long as it takes. Freeze transfers if necessary. With some of the incredible efforts and agility being shown in other industries I’m sure the up its own arse elite football world can work it out.

Freeze transfers!

I'm guessing you don't go and watch elite football out of principle?

 

[GT49er]

Suggest you read the whole thread then because there a plenty of posts putting up reasonable arguments as to the problems of trying to complete the season beyond the summer!

As long as it takes. Freeze transfers if necessary. With some of the incredible efforts and agility being shown in other industries I’m sure the up its own arse elite football world can work it out.

Not keen on accepting suggestions then?

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I just don’t understand the problem with just completing this season however long that takes, if it’s Christmas then so what, so what if some teams will have lost/acquired players? It will be the same for all. It is called a season not a year. For sporting fairness and spirit it has to be finished, if it were less than 15 games in then sure abandon it but it’s 75% done.
Sadly cricket I fear might just lose the entire season as it hasn’t started yet and is far more reliant on a limited window.

Cricket, shame for it's fans like any sport. But it's just a game and losing a season is not the end of the world.
Premier League, I totally disagree with you. Faffing about with restart dates is just an insult to the dead and the dying. The season is over, finished, forgotten already. Let everyone involved in football concentrate on themselves and family and friends and get fit for a fresh start in August if god willing, enough of us are here to participate and enjoy it without fear.

 

[warmleyseagull]

I just don’t understand the problem with just completing this season however long that takes,

Try these:

PL cannot work in isolation from UEFA due to scheduling and qualification of CL and EL;
Knock on effect to subsequent season(s) with ditto effect on CL and EL;
Probably losing even more TV revenue than cancelling or condensing this season as next season cannot be 38 games long;
Players' contracts, especially those that end 30 June;
Coronavirus spread quite likely to have more than one lockdown at unpredictable times;
Minor leagues already cancelled season so knock on effect to promo to NL and therefore League 2 and therefore onwards through divisions;
Arranging transfer windows to coordinate with Europe

There are probably more but if there is one solution that is definitely wrong, it is continuing this season for however long it takes.

 

[beorhthelm]

As long as it takes. Freeze transfers if necessary. With some of the incredible efforts and agility being shown in other industries I’m sure the up its own arse elite football world can work it out.

what about business and industries currently on hold and sacking off at least the first half year? entire industries are going to the wall, why worry about completing the season?

 

[GT49er]

I just don’t understand the problem

Clearly. Sorry to be so blunt, but ...................................

 

[Easy 10]

As it currently stands, I'm afraid that quite frankly I'll be surprised if we are back at the Amex this calendar year - the days of large gatherings (in terms of tens of thousands for sporting events) returning within 6 months are looking cloud cuckoo. IF we manage to flatten the curve over the next 3 months and then find ourselves on the downward slope come July/August, then we'll still be in an incredibly fragile situation. The idea that football will return in late summer / Autumn is IMO wishful thinking.

The current indications are that we're in this for the long haul. We'll be lucky if season 20/21 starts before the end of the year IMO, so the notion of finishing off this current season first looks to me like a busted flush already. The football authorities will string the possibility of finishing the season out for as long as they can. But eventually, reality is going to bite.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

As it currently stands, I'm afraid that quite frankly I'll be surprised if we are back at the Amex this calendar year - the days of large gatherings (in terms of tens of thousands for sporting events) returning within 6 months are looking cloud cuckoo. IF we manage to flatten the curve over the next 3 months and then find ourselves on the downward slope come July/August, then we'll still be in an incredibly fragile situation. The idea that football will return in late summer / Autumn is IMO wishful thinking.

The current indications are that we're in this for the long haul. We'll be lucky if season 20/21 starts before the end of the year IMO, so the notion of finishing off this current season first looks to me like a busted flush already. The football authorities will string the possibility of finishing the season out for as long as they can. But eventually, reality is going to bite.

Which says to me, write of the 20/21 season, and use that time to finish off the 19/20 season

 

[Hampster Gull]

Which says to me, write of the 20/21 season, and use that time to finish off the 19/20 season

Do people really care about the 19/20 season anymore

 

[Simster]

Do people really care about the 19/20 season anymore

Liverpool and Leeds fans.

Reason enough to write it off, imo.

 

[southstandandy]

Which says to me, write of the 20/21 season, and use that time to finish off the 19/20 season

But football is more than just the Premier League. Potentially writing off the whole of next season, as you suggest, in order to finish this one (however long that takes) will kill many of the clubs in Leagues 1 & 2 who cannot afford to lose a whole season's income. Seems to me that many people don't seem to understand the impact that would have on clubs outside of the Prem.

Remember we were in leagues 1 & 2 not so many years ago.

 

[sparkie]

Do people really care about the 19/20 season anymore

No.

Couldn't care less about it.

Time to start planning for when 20/21 can realistically start.

Of course, they'll need to do a deal with Sky to give them bonus games next season as compensation.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

But football is more than just the Premier League. Potentially writing off the whole of next season, as you suggest, in order to finish this one (however long that takes) will kill many of the clubs in Leagues 1 & 2 who cannot afford to lose a whole season's income. Seems to me that many people don't seem to understand the impact that would have on clubs outside of the Prem.

Remember we were in leagues 1 & 2 not so many years ago.

I was responding to the point that the 20/21 season won´t start until 2021 - in which case next season is a write-off. So why write off two seasons?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Which says to me, write of the 20/21 season, and use that time to finish off the 19/20 season

I’ve been saying this for at least two weeks. There’s a good chance football will be locked down or heavily restricted for many months, so might end up finishing this season at broadly the time of year it was scheduled for.

In many respects, skipping an entire season is the cleanest solution. There are almost no sporting impacts on anyone, only financial - that can be fixed with imagination and compassion.

 

[Gwylan]

In many respects, skipping an entire season is the cleanest solution. There are almost no sporting impacts on anyone, only financial - that can be fixed with imagination and compassion.

You make that sound like something really trivial. There are very, very few football clubs who could survive the loss of a football season - including the Albion. I can't see Tony Bloom paying footballer wages for a year with no income coming in.

In the past few weeks, there has been club after club lining up to say how much financial trouble they're in and wondering whether the loss of a quarter of a season could ruin them - just two days ago, Derby got a loan of £30 to counter the loss of eight weeks worth of games. If clubs are struggling to survive over that short period, how on earth could they survive one four times longer?

The only way football could survive the loss of a season is with a massive government bailout - and the political fallout from that would be huge. At a time when the NHS is running short of crucial equipment, I can't see any government say "There's no money for the NHS but we have several billion for millionaire footballers" - they're just not going to do it.

 

[atomised]

You make that sound like something really trivial. There are very, very few football clubs who could survive the loss of a football season - including the Albion. I can't see Tony Bloom paying footballer wages for a year with no income coming in.

In the past few weeks, there has been club after club lining up to say how much financial trouble they're in and wondering whether the loss of a quarter of a season could ruin them - just two days ago, Derby got a loan of £30 to counter the loss of eight weeks worth of games. If clubs are struggling to survive over that short period, how on earth could they survive one four times longer?

The only way football could survive the loss of a season is with a massive government bailout - and the political fallout from that would be huge. At a time when the NHS is running short of crucial equipment, I can't see any government say "There's no money for the NHS but we have several billion for millionaire footballers" - they're just not going to do it.

I always thought Derby were a fairly low budget outfit but a loan of 30 quid to keep them going for 8 weeks takes It to a whole new level

 

[Arthritic Toe]

I always thought Derby were a fairly low budget outfit but a loan of 30 quid to keep them going for 8 weeks takes It to a whole new level

And I bet £29 of that goes to Rooney.

 

[Gwylan]

I always thought Derby were a fairly low budget outfit but a loan of 30 quid to keep them going for 8 weeks takes It to a whole new level