Ways To End The Season Fairly

I liked her on 'What's My Line?' !

 

As they're saying there may not be a vaccine until late this year at the earliest it may be a case of picking up where we left of in a year.
Football may be off for quite a long time.
We really don't know

 

Hmmm, a tricky one this. Has anyone got any ideas on how they could end the season fairly ? What do others think ?

 

As an aside, where is the legal agreement that forces a distinct organisation (Premier League) to accept membership from another distinct organisation (the Football League). In the form of promotion/relegation? I understand it is convention, but are there legally enforceable contracts?

Didn't the Football League refuse to admit a team from the Conference because its ground failed its standards?

So surely The Premier League can decide if it wants to void a season or not. Or indeed how to distribute finance, say between 22 instead of 20 members. I assume you become a member of the Premier League when admitted as a promoted club, not before. So the current twenty clubs can decide what they want. Leeds, WBA, etc would have to lump it.

 

As expected, the FA wants to get the season completed by 30th June. That means all competitions, including FA Cup. Obviously there are the Europa and Champions League matches involving English clubs to consider also.

Working back from that 30th June date, you have to allow 5 weeks for clubs to complete 9 or 10 league matches. That takes us back to May 30th as the last possible starting point to be able to end on 30th June.

This is just for league matches, as clubs will have a heavy schedule of 2 games per week. If you include FA Cup and European fixtures, you're going to need even more time. So you'll probably have to take it back to 23rd or even 16th May as the final cut-off date.

I think if teams are allowed to play starting at any point in May, we'll get the season completed. Albeit it, a couple of fixtures may go over 30th June. If we get to mid-June, and we're still in complete lock-down then they will have to scrap the season completely. This is my feeling on it.

Let's be honest, if we're still in complete lock-down by mid-June, we'll all have far more things to worry about than football.

 

It’s in the PL rules.
At the end of the season, all clubs affected swap their shares. So the 3 relegated clubs transfer their equal shares in the PL to the promoted teams and are mandated to do so.

The legal challenge would come if clubs were promoted and the PL refused to allow those shares to be transferred over for whatever reason.

But no mathematical guarantee of promotion, no legal challenge would be my guess. Not one with a chance of success anyway.

 

It’s the training aspect some clubs may struggle with. As I understand it, some clubs are back at training today on a non-contact basis and undertaking social-distancing protocols. If they can at least start that again before games, then it’s workable with the rough dates you’ve mentioned.

But they won’t be able to just start playing as soon as the lockdown is over and that could be an issue.

 

Defending corners will be an issue with social distancing, but we've been practising that for years.

 

It will be a level playing field though. All teams are having issues with training, so there will be an element of easing back into the swing of things. Just like the first game of a new season.

Quite a few teams are still training even now, and a few more plan to go back to full training next week. I don't really see that being a big problem, a concern yes, but not a showstopper.

 

Haven't you see the slope at the Vic?

 

Supposedly the PL have drawn up a back-up/emergency plan to play all the remaining games behind closed doors, at 2 or 3 neutral venues, at separate times, to minimise risks and usage of police and medical resources. The venues might be in the Midlands. Games could be scheduled as closely as once every 3 days for each club. All games would be broadcast live:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/s...ining-games-closed-doors-neutral-grounds.html

Doesn't seem too unreasonable, although wouldn't be great for us as we're terrible away and a lot of our better remaining fixtures are at home.

But if it happens, then Villa to stay up?

 

Theoretically this could be done at St Georges Park I guess.

 

Nothing will be perfect sadly. Not totally against the plan but it still raises questions of ‘sporting integrity’ and the fact that some teams will have had the benefit of playing ‘Team X’ at their genuine home earlier in the season whereas another side has to play them at ‘home’ elsewhere now.

 

Of course it will be in the Midlands, probably the neutral venue will be Villa Park!!

I hope this particular plan is not acted upon. It would be a serious disadvantage to us. Watford have 5 of the remaining 9 games at home. Playing in the Midlands will be an advantage to teams like Villa, as their travelling would be minimal.

This proposal just puts a tick in the box that the fixture has been fulfilled. This will not help clubs needing match-day revenue. It will not give any club a home advantage which makes it a disadvantage to those having more home games to play.

You have to restart the season, as normal as possible, with crowded stadiums in home and away fixtures or scrap the entire thing.

 

I think this is a viable and dare I say it sensible option. Takes my suggestion one step further by reducing travelling and staffing.

 

I've acknowledged it would be a disadvantage to us (though at least we'd have to travel a bit less than clubs such as Bournemouth or Newcastle).

However, I'd guess that if in a month's time the only options on the table are either this one, or voiding the season and losing millions in TV revenue, then most clubs would probably accept it.

 

Each team should pick three players to minimise risk.

Matches should be played in a shipping container, in the middle of the ocean, to be sure that the players are self isolating.

First goal wins. Winner takes the title.

Season would be sorted by tea time.

 

Really can’t see how the season can be completed. They could try and play behind closed doors. The only way I can see that happening is by testing players regularly. But given we don’t have sufficient testing for NHS staff and other people at risk, it is unlikely that footballers will be given priority. The other issue is what then happens when/if teams have several players out of action do they postpone. I think they are better off calling the season off now.

 

True. Don't want it to eat into the cricket season.

 

As much as they are human like the rest of us, no player should be tested just as a means to get the football season under way. There are many more people who will need those tests far more.

As much as I engage about it on here and enjoy it, I find it quite distasteful just how high football is up people’s (the media) agenda right now.

 

At first I thought the "two year - double season" was the best solution, then I moved to the void camp, now I think we should freeze the season and resume early next year.

I get the feeling that schools may not return until September and thinking that we are going to complete 9 rounds of PL games in the next 3 months is crazy. Assuming it was possible to have crowds at sporting events from, say, October. I would use the last 3 months of the year to complete the 19/20 FA Cup, run a condensed League Cup, plus friendlies, regional mini-leagues, etc.. Then have the 3rd round of the 20/21 FA Cup on Boxing Day, 4th and 5th rounds in January 2021, followed by a winter break and friendlies with a restart on the first weekend in March. Fixtures can be run in the exact order originally planned for this season. There are no perfect solutions, but this one maintains sporting integrity as far as possible. It avoids any club being "appointed" to the PL or BCD games taking place and Liverpool will still be the next Champions.

 

If we end up pausing the season and resuming next year half the clubs won't exist anymore and half the ones that do won't have any players or staff left. There won't be anything to resume.

 

There's more chance of Boris getting pregnant with a litter of little piccaninnies.

 

Where are these players and staff going to go? This could be the "reset" that football has needed for a long time. Football clubs will have to become sustainable businesses and stop spending a huge percentage of their turnover on grossly inflated wages for their players. The stadia will be there, the fans will be desperate for football - it will happen - but it will not be the same as before if there is a long delay.

The Government will also be keen to get sport back once it is possible to do so safely. It will represent a return to normality and a positive distraction from the other problems we could be facing.

 

Ok thanks. Without prolonging it - so the legal challenge would be from non members of the Premier League saying an organisation they wished to join was not following its internal rules? Not sure how that is likely to succeed in court. Surely, if the Premier League members changed the rules because the season had not been completed, only the members of the premier league - not EFL members could challenge.

 

Talk of legal challenges are piffle. As has been said several times we are in "force majeure" territory.

 

Quite right.

So why bother trying to finish this season if it has to go past June 30th? It makes no sense. Can’t finish it by then? Can it.

 

One possible solution for the TV companies, in the UK anyway, would be to have more matches live in the remaining seasons of the contract so the number of matches shown covers those lost this season.

Therefore the contract can be honoured over all.

 

Yep. Just postering from Championship clubs worried that the PL will just let Leeds in.

 

I work at a football club and we all have no idea. We're using this time to plan our ST campaigns etc, but we have no idea if next season is happening. All very strange.

 

Exactly.
An explanation of what this means - no liability for not fulfilling contractual obligations while the conditions of the force majeure are in place: