If or when the season re-start's

what will be our next game.

 

Won't it be the first game postponed? If they do restart surely the games have to be in the same order as originally scheduled?

 

so that's Forest I think

 

QPR away surely? May as well forfeit that game already though to be fair.

 

Whoever we are due to play in first game in August ( discounting pre-season friendliest).

 

Just a matter of time I think before the season is declared over with final positions taken at the time the leagues were stopped.
As soon as the Premier votes for this then the EFL will file into place.
Honestly can't see football restarting any time soon - unless it's behind closed doors.

 

Even if the lockdown is lifted in a few weeks there is no way that mass public gatherings will be allowed again for months - at least until we have a vaccine available.

The only way this season can be finished will be behind closed doors which in itself has risks and is unsatisfactory for a sporting event like football in my opinion.

Sadly football is run by money and this will be the primary, possibly only, consideration when a decision is made.

 

Wouldn't you prefer to watch Barnsley on TV than be denied it for possibly a year?

 

It would be a small consolation but it's not the only consideration. What about teams like Leeds, WBA, Liverpool, etc. What are the chances that thousands of fans won't show up or congregate in the town centres? It isn't my decision but whoever makes it has to consider everything.

 

Thats why they were considering neutral grounds but frankly anyone who is stupid enough to go and stand in a town centre unable to see the game instead of sitting at home watching it is completely bonkers.

Another consideration is can clubs afford the refunds that they will have to give out to thousands of people for tickets sold but not fulfilled? If it was on ifollow with a free ticket I may consider that adequate. If it's simply cancelled that's about £60 they owe me surely? Can they afford that when they're all complaining how close to going under they are?

 

Forgetting for a minute that football on TV in front of empty stadia is boring, and that a significant percentage of players will be in their home countries with travel restrictions in place, unable to return, how do the EFL propose to allow 22 sweaty blokes to play a contact sport for 90 minutes when the rest of society is still practicing social distancing? And then a few days later play aginst another team. For the majority of players, if they contract Covid-19, it will be mild, but not for them all. For managers and coaches the stakes get a lot higher. For the kit team, the club doctor, the physios, it's dangerous. It's a nonsense.

 

They aren't proposing that. They're proposing to do so when the government deems it safe. There's a good chance big crowds will not be allowed for 18 months. You're a smart man, you know society cannot be closed down for that long. We have to be allowed back to work in close contact long before a vaccine is found.

 

On the risk vs reward scale, it's not in a good place, is it? Even if the risk is low, the reward is non-existent.

It's just all around a stupid idea.

 

What do you propose? Bankrupt the majority of clubs and start a new seaso next autumn with 10 professional clubs and penistone church in the championship?

 

I'm sure they are considering whether refunds will be necessary and how to finance them however I'm just not sure if restarting is going to be practical.

It seems that if the lockdown is lifted there is still going to be an element of social distancing being enforced and I don't see how football can get around it, unless they get some kind of exemption which I'd think was unlikely.

All speculation and conjecture on my part but this is how I imagine things will play out.

 

My opinion is and always has been that the current season should be scrapped and next season be played behind closed doors, until it is safe for fans to attend. Trying to fit this season and next season in will cause havoc with players out of contract, lack of training time, too many games in a short amount of time, players being out of the country.

 

The thing is though that everyone is assuming that they want to play when it's not safe. I think that's extremely unfair as both the premier league and EFL have said that they will only restart when it's safe to do so.

Nobody slags off formula one for planning to restart when they can, Tesco for letting people crowd into their shops to buy photo frames etc but the EFL voluntarily suspended the league and have stated they intend to reopen when safe and yet they get dogs abuse for it

 

Surely on a risk reward scale that makes even less sense?
Clubs have already been paid for the games unfulfilled this season. They haven't for next season. If this season isn't finished Barnsley owe me £60 if next season isn't started they owe me nothing. They've also already got the TV money up front for this year but not next etc.

 

There is no doubt that football will restart, the key question is whether this season will restart or will it be voided with focus on planning to start next season when it is safe to do so.

 

I'm more bothered about the risk to peoples lives than the football club bank accounts.

I guarantee the clubs will make more money scrapping this season and starting the next, so that's a moot point anyway. TV money will increase next season if games are behind closed doors, due to so many more people watching, they will be able to charge ~£100 for a season pass for iFollow.