Could they void the PL due to the Coronavirus? | No | Resuming June 17th

TheReligion

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If the PL doesn't get going again by the start May it's finished. Despite the PL saying the end date is open ended European leagues all seemingly have a cut off of the 30th June and it seems clear the PL will follow suit. Absolutely no way it will go rogue on this in my opinion as it will want to mirror the rest of Europe.

The time scales are very tight and just can't see it happening myself. Especially when the players haven't trained properly, some are still ill and the UK in at the start of a lockdown.
 

Dancfc

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I wonder if and when football is being played again how many teams will be in tough economic position. Somewhere I hope that it will affect those abnormal prices for players and ticets and that football makes a turn towards working people once again.
When you see what, as exempel, players earn and compare to life-saving personal we should be ashamed. And it is shame that it needs something to happen for us to think about that.
I get the principle of that but there's only one reason footballers get more than doctors or nurses and that's the money they command by spectators and sponsors (which in fairness you have kind of touched up on). I have been explaining this to non football and even football freinds for years.

If a surgeon attracted 50,000 spectators per operation, was live on BT and sponsored by Gazprom, they would get small fortunes per week aswell.
 
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If fans were toklld to stay the feck away or no more football they would stay the feck away.
If West Ham fans, for example, tried to con a void season by showing up then Id relegate them there and then
I love your optimism. However people are currently being told to stay home, otherwise other people will DIE. YeT we still see gatherings, blatant flouting of the rules , I even know of pubs that are open etc - add in the fact that the demographic of football fans is 76% fecktard then there is zero chance it will be adhered to.

look at threats to close down stadiums due to racism, pitch invasions etc etc - still goes on because individuals think they know best and can get away with it.

the public cannot be trusted, so you accept olay games behind closed doors. Look at the idiots from PSG who were congregating outside the ground during their last match.
 

Dancfc

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I love your optimism. However people are currently being told to stay home, otherwise other people will DIE. YeT we still see gatherings, blatant flouting of the rules , I even know of pubs that are open etc - add in the fact that the demographic of football fans is 76% fecktard then there is zero chance it will be adhered to.

look at threats to close down stadiums due to racism, pitch invasions etc etc - still goes on because individuals think they know best and can get away with it.

the public cannot be trusted, so you accept olay games behind closed doors. Look at the idiots from PSG who were congregating outside the ground during their last match.
Maybe my town is an outliner but I've been out in the last few days a fair due to shopping for myself and family (I'm the only member of my family currently not needing to self isolate) and I've only twice seen groups of more than two and one of them was a group of three with the other being four people skating. I saw an interview with a Butcher also claiming this week in his town suddenly the amount of people about has plummeted. I've also seen a few snaps of various towns from Facebook and on the news effectively desolate.

There's going to be pisstakers but I feel it's been a lot less than what I've feared and seems Monday's announcement has had an effect.
 

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FootballHQ

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If the PL doesn't get going again by the start May it's finished. Despite the PL saying the end date is open ended European leagues all seemingly have a cut off of the 30th June and it seems clear the PL will follow suit. Absolutely no way it will go rogue on this in my opinion as it will want to mirror the rest of Europe.

The time scales are very tight and just can't see it happening myself. Especially when the players haven't trained properly, some are still ill and the UK in at the start of a lockdown.
Little chance anything will be complete by or even started by June 30th in any league so yes in those circumstances I agree void for all leagues. Wonder if EL and CL would also go that way.

Guess if that happens and we get to a point where it's safe to do so they might bring forward the start of next season by a few weeks to give them leeway for potential disruption in winter months.
 

FootballHQ

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I get the principle of that but there's only one reason footballers get more than doctors or nurses and that's the money they command by spectators and sponsors (which in fairness you have kind of touched up on). I have been explaining this to non football and even football freinds for years.

If a surgeon attracted 50,000 spectators per operation, was live on BT and sponsored by Gazprom, they would get small fortunes per week aswell.
As much as what the top players get is obscene they're the ones who bring in the big sponsors.

Big problem in last 10-15 years is how money has gone out of kilter filtering down the squad.

My reference point is twenty years ago and Roy Keane, captain of team who won the treble, was given 50k a week deal becoming highest paid player in the league and was massive outcry.

Now you have endless squad players making little differences to teams earning that amount. Dominic Solanke has achieved little in pro football so far, goes through seasons barely scoring any goals at all yet from the three teams he's played for so far he probably makes that amount if not more to show one example.
 

Redcy

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Maybe my town is an outliner but I've been out in the last few days a fair due to shopping for myself and family (I'm the only member of my family currently not needing to self isolate) and I've only twice seen groups of more than two and one of them was a group of three with the other being four people skating. I saw an interview with a Butcher also claiming this week in his town suddenly the amount of people about has plummeted. I've also seen a few snaps of various towns from Facebook and on the news effectively desolate.

There's going to be pisstakers but I feel it's been a lot less than what I've feared and seems Monday's announcement has had an effect.
Haven't been out myself but pics round where I live of the town centres are still full, people wandering around in parks, even football games going on all sorts of shit.

However if football was back on guarantee people would be out, its inevitable.
 

Redcy

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Yeah that's partly my feeling aswell for not wanting the season cancelled.

You decide straight away to void this one....and then next one after 9/10 games quickly goes the same way once winter hits and no chance you could reschedule that especially as would be in full lockdown again.

So you needlessly lose two seasons and can't play anything when we finally get in a position to be allowed to play live sport (believe it or not but it will probably happen in next 12 months).

Much more logical to have this season still in hand if a two month window eventually presents itself in some form.
There will come a point very shortly after 6 months where teams who would be in the various leagues no longer exist, and there will be no chance of restarting a league in any way. Maybe the PL, but many of the lower league clubs will be gone, making it impossible to play out.

Do people honestly think clubs will just say we won't bother having 20/21 season so long as we can play 9 games? The loss of revenue would be devastating for PL clubs, all the budgets for players, staff and upkeep will be fried completely.
 

Dante

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It's been so long since the PL was played, I can barely remember what happened. At this point, the season is like a lame racehorse. We need to put it out of its misery.

20-18
 

90 + 5min

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I get the principle of that but there's only one reason footballers get more than doctors or nurses and that's the money they command by spectators and sponsors (which in fairness you have kind of touched up on). I have been explaining this to non football and even football freinds for years.

If a surgeon attracted 50,000 spectators per operation, was live on BT and sponsored by Gazprom, they would get small fortunes per week aswell.
I really understand the market and how if works but deep down I hope that in all this bad, something good will happen.
 

Micky Targaryen

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I'm genuinely curious if other countries give this much of a feck about finishing the league season given the world is falling apart? I mean it's looking more and more like we wont see any football until 2021 IMO, are we really supposed to do a Kanye and tell Liverpool Swift that we are going to let them finish? It's crazy.
Exactly. I'm not really sure if it's even up for debate. What's the harm in not finishing the league? I don't get why they need to "try their best" to finish up the league, as if it's still top priority in this pandemic ridden period. If they really are to go through with it, it only takes one covid related case for the media to blow this up to an absolute shitshow.
 

Feed Me

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It's been so long since the PL was played, I can barely remember what happened. At this point, the season is like a lame racehorse. We need to put it out of its misery.

20-18
Bruno’s mint and Liverpool haven’t won in ages.
 

christinaa

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Latest News:


Bergamo mayor Giorgio Gori has labelled Atalanta's Champions League match with Valencia on 19 February in Milan as a 'biological bomb' and believes it caused the coronavirus to spread in Italy and Spain.
(Mail)

One third of the Bergamo population went to Milan for the game.

One third of the Valencia players got the virus after the match.

Atalanta scored 4 times which increased even more the spread between the people there.

Virus in Bergamo spread like wildfire.
 

LInkash

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Latest News:


Bergamo mayor Giorgio Gori has labelled Atalanta's Champions League match with Valencia on 19 February in Milan as a 'biological bomb' and believes it caused the coronavirus to spread in Italy and Spain. (Mail)

One third of the Bergamo population went to Milan for the game.

One third of the Valencia players got the virus after the match.

Atalanta scored 4 times which increased even more the spread between the people there.

Virus in Bergamo spread like wildfire.
This guy from a Liverpool fan channel got it, maybe it was from their Atlético game.

 

stevoc

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As much as what the top players get is obscene they're the ones who bring in the big sponsors.

Big problem in last 10-15 years is how money has gone out of kilter filtering down the squad.

My reference point is twenty years ago and Roy Keane, captain of team who won the treble, was given 50k a week deal becoming highest paid player in the league and was massive outcry.

Now you have endless squad players making little differences to teams earning that amount. Dominic Solanke has achieved little in pro football so far, goes through seasons barely scoring any goals at all yet from the three teams he's played for so far he probably makes that amount if not more to show one example.
Was there really a massive outcry?

I could be wrong but I don’t seem to remember one.

There shouldn’t have been in any case when you consider the likes of Ravenelli and Desailly were already getting £40-45k a week in the mid to late 90's?
 

Pep's Suit

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Even if somehow this season is finished and 20/21 is started I'd expect games to be played behind closed doors for several months and then maybe with lowered capacity.
 

Judge Red

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I can’t see 75,000 being allowed to turn up to Old Trafford until the vaccine is available, which is supposedly 18 months from now.
 
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Strelok

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I wonder if and when football is being played again how many teams will be in tough economic position. Somewhere I hope that it will affect those abnormal prices for players and ticets and that football makes a turn towards working people once again.
When you see what, as exempel, players earn and compare to life-saving personal we should be ashamed. And it is shame that it needs something to happen for us to think about that.
I understand your frustration however if you do the math you'd understand why their wages are that high. For example the PL, not counting the sponsorship, shirt sales, commercials, match revenues etc. only the broadcast money is already £3bn a season. Of course there are a lot people involved but basically, aren't the players the ones actually make that money here? It's them who attract the viewers, the spectators right?
Each team has like 20 players who feature regularly. 20 teams so 400 players or £3bn/400/48 = £156 250 a week. While:
The average pay for a first-team squad member is £61,024 a week
https://amp.theguardian.com/footbal...league-salaries-manchester-city-nba-barcelona

It's quite reasonable tbf. It's not their fault that football makes a lot of money now.
 
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redman5

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There will come a point very shortly after 6 months where teams who would be in the various leagues no longer exist, and there will be no chance of restarting a league in any way. Maybe the PL, but many of the lower league clubs will be gone, making it impossible to play out.

Do people honestly think clubs will just say we won't bother having 20/21 season so long as we can play 9 games? The loss of revenue would be devastating for PL clubs, all the budgets for players, staff and upkeep will be fried completely.
You make sound as if humanity has any say in when life gets back to some sort of normality. This virus determines not just the future of football, but also the way our lives will be changed when it's eventually brought under control. Given the uncertainty of exactly how long it's going to be around, or when it's going to return, on what universe does it make sense - given the opportunity - to not finish a season that is close to completion, but also to actually start planning a new season that could be scrapped too because of said virus ?
 

TheLord

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Anyone who doesn’t realise that football with the fans in the UK is a goner at least until the end of the year is quite frankly, delusional.
 

Tarrou

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This guy from a Liverpool fan channel got it, maybe it was from their Atlético game.

what the feck is wrong with him?

felt flu symptoms on the Saturday, had a nap and felt better so still went out socialising
 

FootballHQ

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Was there really a massive outcry?

I could be wrong but I don’t seem to remember one.

There shouldn’t have been in any case when you consider the likes of Ravenelli and Desailly were already getting £40-45k a week in the mid to late 90's?
I'm pretty sure it made front page of a few papers although was much more of a ABU agenda in the press in those days with Fergie banning loads of journalists and Piers Moron being editor of the Mirror.
 

Redcy

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You make sound as if humanity has any say in when life gets back to some sort of normality. This virus determines not just the future of football, but also the way our lives will be changed when it's eventually brought under control. Given the uncertainty of exactly how long it's going to be around, or when it's going to return, on what universe does it make sense - given the opportunity - to not finish a season that is close to completion, but also to actually start planning a new season that could be scrapped too because of said virus ?
I have always said we should finish the season, I think, the issue is that I don't think they will cancel the whole of next season to make it happen. If we assume we get six months down the line then there is every chance there won't be teams to complete every competition anyway, and I don't think any team is going to want to scrap next season just to finish this one. Despite what Liverpool or United may want. Most clubs simply could not, the loss of revenue from TV, sponsors, attendances, etc, would so badly impact clubs that there is no way I can see they would see it happen. If we don't restart until much later then the odds are that at least one premiership team doesn't survive, and more than that in the lower leagues. Are we going to play without those teams?

Like I have said if we can finish before September I can see it happening, maybe, and it would be the best option. The idea that lots of Liverpool fans is that we can start sooner, or we start at some point behind closed doors, and I don't think either of those is particularly viable.
 

GenZRed

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Anyone who doesn’t realise that football with the fans in the UK is a goner at least until the end of the year is quite frankly, delusional.
I've been thinking the same thing. I also think Spain and Italy could experience the same thing. Quite coincidental that those are the three traditional 'best leagues' in Europe.
 

UweBein

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Exactly. I'm not really sure if it's even up for debate. What's the harm in not finishing the league? I don't get why they need to "try their best" to finish up the league, as if it's still top priority in this pandemic ridden period. If they really are to go through with it, it only takes one covid related case for the media to blow this up to an absolute shitshow.
Less money, money, money.... that's all!
I think we will see a restart of the economy by mid April anyway - come hell or high water.

IMO, that's the max time they can halt it without the economy derailing in a post-communism fashion. So, I'm assuming they will look into continuing football from mid May on (PL, La Liga, Bundesliga, all of the big leagues that have chunky tv deals). Clubs will have said goodbye to gate receipts already for the entire 2020 - some of them will struggle seriously if some fraction of the tv money is not paid. It is too much at stake, that is why the show must go on.
 

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Less money, money, money.... that's all!
I think we will see a restart of the economy by mid April anyway - come hell or high water.

IMO, that's the max time they can halt it without the economy derailing in a post-communism fashion. So, I'm assuming they will look into continuing football from mid May on (PL, La Liga, Bundesliga, all of the big leagues that have chunky tv deals). Clubs will have said goodbye to gate receipts already for the entire 2020 - some of them will struggle seriously if some fraction of the tv money is not paid. It is too much at stake, that is why the show must go on.

April is optimistic for the restart, November after digital dollar, and other infrastructure has been tested. When the virus is gone, more helicopter money to boost then us elections..
 

TheLord

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I've been thinking the same thing. I also think Spain and Italy could experience the same thing. Quite coincidental that those are the three traditional 'best leagues' in Europe.
You could (almost) add Germany and France into the same mix - the top five leagues in football.
 

TheLord

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Addendum: Some of my South American friends might disagree, so I’d add, “at least money-wise”
 

Untd55

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The only way they could continue football is if they tested all staff and players for coronavirus before every training session and every game. I think this is unfeasible at the moment, though, as it depends on how early the testing method can detect coronavirus and on how long the test takes to give a result.

Most problematically, they still need to find an infallible way of testing for coronavirus that can be done on a massive scale.

Without this, it is impossible to continue the season.

Also, there will be a cut-off for when the season will continue. There is no way that they will allow it to go into next season. Once it reaches that point, it is inevitable that matches are going to be lost for BT and SKY. I do not think they will be supportive of disrupting another season, if it is possible to play normally.
 

Sylar

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A Brighton player tested positive.

Trying to do behind closed doors to finish the season would be irresponsible. It gets to a point where discussions need to take this thing seriously, and just realise that they need to probably cancel / void what has happened. Thus refund tickets based on games left, etc, get all that done for fans. Everything like that sorted out.
.
And not even think about starting until its safe and then plan based on that (either a shorter season or a bigger delay to hold Euros, during the season, and then go into another season)

But whatever is safer. especially with the lower leagues (non leagues) voiding.
 

Pagh Wraith

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I can’t see 75,000 being allowed to turn up to Old Trafford until the vaccine is available, which is supposedly 18 months from now.
Then you may never see a full Old Trafford again. There is no guarantee a vaccine will be available even five years from now.

It's not the deciding factor either. Games will resume when it is deemed safe to do so because they longer threaten to cause another exponential spreading of the virus or an overwhelming of the health care system because herd immunity has been developed. The Premier League has a clear desire to continue the season as soon as possible and if I had to guess, I'd say we'll be back to playing by June. Allowing fans back into the stadiums is another matter.

Japan will be interesting to follow over the coming weeks. Teams are already back to playing friendlies behind closed doors, baseball teams are already playing in stadiums again and the J-League will resume in May (the third tier J3 in April). As they were never in lockdown, they are clearly testing their immunity to the maximum. We will see how it goes.
 

McGrathsipan

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Its not going to happen this year unless by some miracle there is a vaccine created.
Health and Safety and actual reality has to take priority., and it will.
 

Dave Smith

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Precedent set. Wonder what mental gymnastics the Dippers will come up with next to say that this will not affect the leagues higher up.