While restrictions are still in place for the foreseeable future, there will be no football being played behind closed doors. Social distancing has to be respected. This football season is over, deceased, no more. Until mass testing takes place no one will know for sure.
a) who has had the virus
b) who is carrying the virus
A refund for my season ticket? Not on your nelly. I'd rather my money is donated by the club to some just cause such as providing a few ventilators to those that need them the most. What about the most vulnerable in our communities?
Even the start of the next football season will be in doubt.
I've already said I paid for this season got enough of it for me. I don't want no refund no discounts for next season. I'll pay in full as I always do when season tickets for next season are on sale. Just needs somebody with the authority to do so to say this season is no more however they want to do that. Premiership players get to me. Who do they think they are. Government call shots don't they, not them. When this is all over football needs a total restructure. Caps on wages at the top level.
While restrictions are still in place for the foreseeable future, there will be no football being played behind closed doors. Social distancing has to be respected. This football season is over, deceased, no more. Until mass testing takes place no one will know for sure.
a) who has had the virus b) who is carrying the virus
A refund for my season ticket? Not on your nelly. I'd rather my money is donated by the club to some just cause such as providing a few ventilators to those that need them the most. What about the most vulnerable in our communities?
Even the start of the next football season will be in doubt.
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter to you mate and all on here ..
But for football behind closed doors, they would only need to test players and staff before attending games.
In the big picture, this is very few people.
Because of isolation, very few footballers or staff will have the virus, so apart from a few, games could be playable.
I don't see a problem (Virus wise) playing games without crowds.. (and financially better than scrapping the season for reasons mentioned earlier..)
Very simple for me no fans no football read about the proposal to play behind closed doors. All it seems to me is a vehicle for some very rich people to carry on printing money. That is the way I see it and the more I think about it us season ticket holders are the fall guys. Then they will want us to pay a tenner a game to watch it on a streaming channel. You will spot us walking around with a handle on our sides. There are a lot more important things happening than pandering to the whims of millionaires.
Watched the news this afternoon Peter Hook formerly of New Order putting a free streaming rave on for everyone. In the last week, he has lost his grandad to this virus. Norman Hunter has been taken to hospital with the same thing. I can remember him being our manager I wish him well.
-- Edited by TH MILLER on Friday 10th of April 2020 07:05:53 PM
Richard Bevin Chief Executive of the League Managers Association has criticized the EFL for not consulting his members for the letter sent out to all 71 EFL clubs yesterday with regards to completing the season. Says tests must be made available first but priority for tests are for care workers, patients, NHS & their families.
Football behind closed doors I don't want to know. Ask the question how are you going to sell season tickets for next season if you aren't certain they are going to let fans in every game. Only way to do that is to find a Vaccine for covid-19 ASAP.
-- Edited by gwru on Friday 10th of April 2020 06:29:48 PM
gwru says cap wages of top players. Let's put a bit of fact to the argument.
Lionel Messi earns 600k a week. That equates to £3571.43 per hour. In British football De Bruyne earns £350k a week.
A G.P in Britain averages £64477 a year, a junior doctor £32495 a year and a nurse on band 4 (6 yrs experience ) £24.157 a year.
That equates to Messi in 9 hours has earned what a junior doctor earns in a year, and in 7 hours he has earned (hardly) what a nurse gets in a year. We obviously do not rate a person who has the ability to save lives but reward a man who kicks a bag of wind about grotesquely.
Now i am sure people think Messi is an unbelievable talent. Well he probably is. However, some of his stats do not stack up too well. He has played all his career at Barcelona in Spain where it could be argued he has only around eight tough games a season. He has performed well in European cup competitions but has tended to struggle against tough Italian and at times British defenders. He also had two of the best midfielders ( Iniesta and xavi ) supplying him. However, there is one stat where he falls down. His record at international level and in particular at world cup finals. He has played 112 times for Argentina scoring 49 goals (not as good as Bobby Charlton who was mainly in midfield). He has played 19 times in world cup finals scoring only six times. Compare this to Pele 12 goals in 14 and Ronaldo (Brazil) 15 goals in 19 games and he falls well short. So Messi a great footballer ? Probably. Of more value than a doctor or a nurse. You must be joking. Stay safe everybody and a happy easter.
whiston01 I loved Bobby Charlton. Bout 66 when I 1st saw him. Remember this sure it was charity shield match at Old Trafford bout 67 Bobby scored two goals from distance he was jumping about waving his hand about for me real excitement, don't get it now watching so called world class players. Money they are on it's crazy. Henderson they making him out to be the saviour of the situation but he's not took a pay cut on about yesterday what he's got in terms of value of property. Government need to step in. Order Sky ect... to reduce their charges, get shut of all the hangers on like Carragher ect... as I've said cap wages especially at the top level. Keep safe, enjoy Easter at home. Some hope saying there could be a vaccine for covid-19 in September.
2nd goal by Bobby started by Dennis Law who invented swagger! what a left foot finish from distance.
-- Edited by gwru on Sunday 12th of April 2020 08:59:53 AM
-- Edited by gwru on Sunday 12th of April 2020 09:05:42 AM
-- Edited by gwru on Sunday 12th of April 2020 09:09:13 AM
I can remember that game Match of the Day was in its infancy maybe I am looking at that time with rose-tinted glasses football was a lot more fun than now. Big Business is well and truly in charge, Bobby Charlton is the best English footballer I have seen watching him on the tv scoring goals like that brilliant plus they had George Best and Dennis Law. Remember in those days if you met them in any cup matches you had a chance of causing an upset those days are long gone.
Read an article that reminded me that from the end of May onwards lots of players become out of contract. Then the transfer window opens. What are we going to do - see a quick scramble to get a new squad together for the last ten games or so? Some clubs have work planned on their grounds. Others have new shirt/commercial sponsorship deals kicking in over the summer. Doesn't that all add up to make it impossible to think about games for this season being played any time after mid-May? The extended lockdown rightly announced yesterday takes us to nearly then anyway. I think it is time to call it a day, decide what to do with promotion and relegation, draw a line and move on.
Glad to see you have joined in this debate Smiler. Make no mistake the decision on what to do next is very difficult and i have changed my mind several times. At first i thought pro football wouldn't return before end of June but i now believe there are signs that a relaxing of lockdown could come in the middle of May in line with other European countries. It will depend on what the next few weeks show in Spain and Italy imo.
So a return of pro football in mid May with matches played behind closed doors. i also believe other sports will do that and in particular horse racing. I think contracts will be extended, no transfer window and a completion of the games in five weeks, playing twice a week. Commercial and sponsorship deals extended for five weeks. The problem with this, is as you say the work on grounds ( might be going on now although not time to lay a new surface) and how it impinges on next season.
On 20th March the premier/EFL stated ' A commitment in finding ways of resuming 2019/20 season and ensuring all domestic and European club league matches are played as soon as it is safe and possible to do so ' The rules stated that the season terminates on no later than June 1st. However, The F.A board agreed for the limit to be extended indefinitely for the 2019/20 season.
No easy decision and again i am moving towards doing what you said Smiler, and that is to draw a line under the season and decide on promotion and relegation. The other option is to call the season null and void and start the new season with the same set up as in 2019.. I think that is the least likely option though.
Thinking it through Whiston, there is a complete lockdown now until the first week in May. If (and it is a big if) restrictions are relaxed then, those restrictions will not allow for games to be played in front of crowds - not for several more weeks as a minimum. So we are talking about whether to play games behind closed doors or not (or more likely live streamed).
A number of questions arise. Here are what I think are the most obvious: -
How long will clubs and players need to get up to speed once they get the green light to get going again?
Will it be safe for the players to train together, change together and play against each other? There are definitely going to be general social distancing requirements in place in society for months to come, not just weeks.
How quickly could they realistically get the games played?
What sort of season is it if the teams who have played 34 games (or whatever) have to field totally different squads for the last few games? All of our loan players are contracted until the end of May and we have a further six players who have contracts that run out in June. To ask clubs and players to extend contracts by a couple of months is not realistic. Clubs will want to be able to look beyond that and players will want more certainty than that before signing. It would b chaos.
It seems to me - being realistic - that the earliest that games could start to be played at all would be early June, and by then it just won't be practicable. I would rather they called it off now so that everyone knows where they stand, and clubs can realistically start planning for next season, getting squads sorted with certainty about which division they will be in net season, planning for a return to training in maybe mid-June (which looks the most likely time) and starting afresh in August at the earliest.
It is time to call it. Kicking the can down the road for another few weeks isn't going to do any good.
I said within the the first few days of this season matches being cancelled that this season is over. Get ready for the new season would be the better option for clubs in league 1&2 but the money that has been promised has been held back. The powers that be are going to use it to get what they want I do not want behind closed door football we will end up with that. As I keep saying all fans of any club will be walking around with a handle on the side of them.
Gary Neville who part owns Salford C he's got his doubts this season can end especially for EFL sides. People like him seem to have more of a say than most so hope the powers that be listen. Trouble is the premiership seem to be on another planet. Two well known former footballers have passed away this week from the results of being infected by covid-19 they get all the deserved tributes but their deaths seem to be in vain with whose calling the shots at the top level they played in. Over 800 people a day still not making it to see another day from this virus & same makes no difference football at the top level disregards this. Can't they grasp the situation.
Smiler says 'It is time to call it. Kicking the can down the road for another few weeks isn't going to do any good'.
This is what the Premier league said yesterday. 'In common with other businesses and industries,the premier league and our clubs are working through complex planning scenarios. We are actively engaging with stakeholders,including broadcast partners,and our aim is to ensure we are in a position to resume playing when it is safe to do so with the full support of the government. The health and well-being of players, managers, club staff and supporters are our priority and the league will only restart when medical guidance allows.
I think it is fair to say that is the premier league kicking the can down the road. However, what can they do? Call a halt to the season and promote and relegate teams who are currently in promotion and relegation positions. That's a bit like stopping a horse race at the two furlong pole and saying we will use these positions to pay out. As Gwru knows a lot can happen in the final two furlongs and i think it is fair to say a lot can happen in the last ten games of a season. Should they null and void the season and start 20/21 season with the same set up as we started in 2019. How would Liverpool, Coventry and any team who are in strong positions take that. How do we replicate now what the position was in early March>. Players contracts, different squads etc,etc.
The latest statement from the premier league was stating the obvious and towing the line imo. I still believe they are committed to finish this season in some way. However, time is running out to achieve that objective and that is their dilemma.
Gary Neville who part owns Salford C he's got his doubts this season can end especially for EFL sides. People like him seem to have more of a say than most so hope the powers that be listen. Trouble is the premiership seem to be on another planet. Two well known former footballers have passed away this week from the results of being infected by covid-19 they get all the deserved tributes but their deaths seem to be in vain with whose calling the shots at the top level they played in. Over 800 people a day still not making it to see another day from this virus & same makes no difference football at the top level disregards this. Can't they grasp the situation.
For once gwru I totally agree with you. I don't understand the 'need' to finish the season. Okay, to call it done now is an imperfect solution but it is no more imperfect than having some sort of manufactured, artificial programme played with totally different groups of players in front of no crowds and players and officials risking their own health to do it. I'm afraid as usual it is probably ££££££ getting put first - either the revenue from paying to view online or pressure from sponsors. If there is any slack in terms of time in the calendar they may well need it for the 20/21 season. According to the medical experts there may well be further waves of this virus to come even if we manage to get to some sort of partial relaxing of the lockdown this summer. Call this season off now (I couldn't care less whether we go up or not - it really isn't important) and come up with a provisional schedule for next season with some slack in it to cater for possible further interruptions, so that clubs, players, supporters and everyone concerned know where they stand and can plan accordingly.
As TH says whens this £125 million from the premiership to EFL ect... going to be released. Premiership need to realise we are all in this together. The UK do when it comes to covid-19.
I still argue the points I made earlier in the thread, and no-doubt some others, point to finishing the season being the least worst outcome...
I'm talking from a football, financial and legal point of view..
Obviously the most important thing is beating the Virus - but this thread asks the question relating to football not society as a whole.
If the Gov allows sport to re-start behind closed doors in May or Early June, and with testing for participants and surrounding staff, I don't see any problems that can't be overcome - versus the many problems not finishing the season will cause...
All in it together !!. Not sure about that Gwru. A government advisor said at the start,herd immunity is the way to manage it, so a few o.a.p.'s get done by it so what. The queen leaves a 735 roomed house in central London to go to her second home. Why not open up the rooms for testing or whatever would help the people. Johnson gets it, is tested positive then leaves hospital after a test shows he is clear. Compare this to elderly care home residents who leave hospital to go back to their homes without knowing if they are clear or not. A shortage of PPE to front line staff who are the real heroes who are saving lives and putting their lives at risk. .... Please also remember in 2017 when a motion to give public workers an above 1% wage increase it was voted down by these ba****ds in power who then cheered the result in. So no i am not sure we are all in it together. I hope we all get out of it together and society is better for it. With the Eton boys running the country i very much doubt that. Sorry administrator for the rant but i am a bit sick of this all in it together.
whiston01 meant in it together generally. Obviously Bojo is going to get the best NH treatment, if it was me I'd have just have got the bog standard treatment kill or cure. Football those at the top have got to remember where they came from. Without the smaller clubs where do most players get a start. Need a full quota of sides in all of the EFL when next season starts.
