I mentioned on another thread yesterday that the season would be ended. And that there was a conference call. I got this info straight from the source. Despite the announced April 3rd end of the postponments, the real plan is to simply end the season and my source says there is almost no chance of it re-starting. Foreign players want to go back home to be with families and they doubt they will accept being called back until at least the summer. Apparently on the EFL conference call today, many clubs stated they will go into administration in the next three months if they are not financially supported in coming weeks. In addition, the virus could cause long-term (and even permanent) drop offs in attendances from now on, shifting turnover even more to TV money, further hurting small clubs. The debate among owners is whether smaller clubs should be financially helped by the Premier League, by government, or if some (many?) clubs going into liquidation simply exposes a situation that has been inevitable for some time and the process should not be interfered with. There is talk about expanding the PL and consolidating leagues after a culling of 10-33% of EFL clubs, which is the estimate, in-house, in coming months. Some PL owners want to end promotion and relegation altogether (also eliminate the FA and League Cups) as a price for expanding their league to 24 clubs, and may not give assistance (or any future solidarity money) to the EFL without ending those things. Some PL owners apparently feel that this is the time to make their move to solidify the league along the lines of the NFL, and that with other clubs failing, no one can really stop them. The ending of relegation was tabled the last few years but never had the necessary votes. However with relegation perhaps meaning oblivion in the new reality for mid-level clubs, they may have the necessary votes to do this, now. I hear that Leeds will be in the PL next season no matter what other decision is taken, even if no one else is relegated from the PL and that if the PL does expand, it might be by "invite only," from now on, rather than being determined by League position. Nothing set in stone, just some clubs wanting to be opportunistic and use the distress to their own advantage. Just reporting what I am told, again. Good luck!
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Well, if the season doesn’t restart it will just have to be null and void as if it never existed. They can’t have promotion/relegation for various reasons ie some teams have games in hand and if they try and get round that by awarding points it will be challenged. I don’t think it will come to that as I think it will restart at some point. No reason that during the 20/21 season can’t have a midweek game every week if necessary to catch up, scrap the CL, FA Cup etc for a season if necessary.
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Knowing our luck they will use the table as it is for the final one & we'll get relegated.......and then come August we go into administration, get docked points and get relegated into league 2 !!
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Knowing our luck they will use the table as it is for the final one & we'll get relegated.......and then come August we go into administration, get docked points and get relegated into league 2 !!
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Knowing our luck they will use the table as it is for the final one & we'll get relegated.......and then come August we go into administration, get docked points and get relegated into league 2 !!
You always did look on the bright side, Golfie.
Stability and consistency. Reassuring in these uncertain times.
I mentioned on another thread yesterday that the season would be ended. And that there was a conference call. I got this info straight from the source. Despite the announced April 3rd end of the postponments, the real plan is to simply end the season and my source says there is almost no chance of it re-starting. Foreign players want to go back home to be with families and they doubt they will accept being called back until at least the summer. Apparently on the EFL conference call today, many clubs stated they will go into administration in the next three months if they are not financially supported in coming weeks. In addition, the virus could cause long-term (and even permanent) drop offs in attendances from now on, shifting turnover even more to TV money, further hurting small clubs. The debate among owners is whether smaller clubs should be financially helped by the Premier League, by government, or if some (many?) clubs going into liquidation simply exposes a situation that has been inevitable for some time and the process should not be interfered with. There is talk about expanding the PL and consolidating leagues after a culling of 10-33% of EFL clubs, which is the estimate, in-house, in coming months. Some PL owners want to end promotion and relegation altogether (also eliminate the FA and League Cups) as a price for expanding their league to 24 clubs, and may not give assistance (or any future solidarity money) to the EFL without ending those things. Some PL owners apparently feel that this is the time to make their move to solidify the league along the lines of the NFL, and that with other clubs failing, no one can really stop them. The ending of relegation was tabled the last few years but never had the necessary votes. However with relegation perhaps meaning oblivion in the new reality for mid-level clubs, they may have the necessary votes to do this, now. I hear that Leeds will be in the PL next season no matter what other decision is taken, even if no one else is relegated from the PL and that if the PL does expand, it might be by "invite only," from now on, rather than being determined by League position. Nothing set in stone, just some clubs wanting to be opportunistic and use the distress to their own advantage. Just reporting what I am told, again. Good luck!
It all lines up with what the Prem has wanted for a long time. It would be absolutely disgusting if they used this to hold lower leagues and smaller clubs at ransome. But morally, it tracks.
There will need to be a lot, and I mean a lot, of both targeted and general aid packages before this is all done and dusted. I could easily see football being one. That's not to say it will work, or that everyone will survive. But losing out three months of the season in gates and concessions will hit a lot of clubs hard.
That said, I also think this could be Premier League clubs trying to overplay their hand. If in nine months we still haven't had any football and clubs have gone under while others are on their knees they might have a play. But mid-April, for example? I think they'll struggle.
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Cancel it.
That will be the only solution, Everton fans will be ecstatic.
A lot of journalists and people within the game seem convinced that the season won't restart. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision about how the leagues finish. Administrative nightmare and you won't be able to please everyone
Well, if the season doesn’t restart it will just have to be null and void as if it never existed. They can’t have promotion/relegation for various reasons ie some teams have games in hand and if they try and get round that by awarding points it will be challenged. I don’t think it will come to that as I think it will restart at some point. No reason that during the 20/21 season can’t have a midweek game every week if necessary to catch up, scrap the CL, FA Cup etc for a season if necessary.
I haven't checked the leagues but could games in hand have any material difference to top two places (top three in League two)? It still feels to me that you can't promote or relegate clubs if the season isn't completed though.
If you are going to do anything other than void the league, Martin CAFC's post earlier made the most sense as it provided a mechanism to promote the top two and not relegate anybody and sort it out the next season.
I mentioned on another thread yesterday that the season would be ended. And that there was a conference call. I got this info straight from the source. Despite the announced April 3rd end of the postponments, the real plan is to simply end the season and my source says there is almost no chance of it re-starting. Foreign players want to go back home to be with families and they doubt they will accept being called back until at least the summer. Apparently on the EFL conference call today, many clubs stated they will go into administration in the next three months if they are not financially supported in coming weeks. In addition, the virus could cause long-term (and even permanent) drop offs in attendances from now on, shifting turnover even more to TV money, further hurting small clubs. The debate among owners is whether smaller clubs should be financially helped by the Premier League, by government, or if some (many?) clubs going into liquidation simply exposes a situation that has been inevitable for some time and the process should not be interfered with. There is talk about expanding the PL and consolidating leagues after a culling of 10-33% of EFL clubs, which is the estimate, in-house, in coming months. Some PL owners want to end promotion and relegation altogether (also eliminate the FA and League Cups) as a price for expanding their league to 24 clubs, and may not give assistance (or any future solidarity money) to the EFL without ending those things. Some PL owners apparently feel that this is the time to make their move to solidify the league along the lines of the NFL, and that with other clubs failing, no one can really stop them. The ending of relegation was tabled the last few years but never had the necessary votes. However with relegation perhaps meaning oblivion in the new reality for mid-level clubs, they may have the necessary votes to do this, now. I hear that Leeds will be in the PL next season no matter what other decision is taken, even if no one else is relegated from the PL and that if the PL does expand, it might be by "invite only," from now on, rather than being determined by League position. Nothing set in stone, just some clubs wanting to be opportunistic and use the distress to their own advantage. Just reporting what I am told, again. Good luck!
I don’t really think any of those things are going to happen.
There’s also the problem which TV companies might be looking at the clauses in their contracts and ask not to pay. Happened in France when PSG were moved to deal with Yellow Vest protests in Paris, and broadcasters sued the league for losses caused by games moving from weekends to midweek
For me just end the season now , start again in august where we left , play out the remaining fixutres at the beginning of next season , then once that is over , starr the new season at Christmas but with reduced fixtures for example you only play each other once.
For me just end the season now , start again in august where we left , play out the remaining fixutres at the beginning of next season , then once that is over , starr the new season at Christmas but with reduced fixtures for example you only play each other once.
That's never going to work because clubs will have players out of contract in June.
Sides would have to sign players to extended 6 month deals just to complete a season. Would Taylor sign a 6 month deal with us, or would his contract status mean he could go and sign for anyone else? Unless the FA introduced a ruling whereby players could only play for the same team then it wouldn't work. But is that legal?
Some clubs would be ruined financially if a season had reduced fixtures and only played each side once. What would happen to tv money for that season? And season tickets that clubs had sold?
Whatever the FA decide next week they must include a cut off day. Make it clear we’ve got to this date to have it resolved, if not this will happen.
Stopping all cup competitions is an obvious one (Will FA & Uefa have the bottle to do this, as they are admitting the league is more in important).
Totally depends what’s more important finishing this season or completely changing next years competitions, I.e no play offs, league cup being gone, knock outs instead of group stage in champion league.
Probably all depends on how weekends they can free up in next years calendar, and when season can resume.
That excludes how smaller clubs can survive without punters, determine whether supporters should get refunds. We’ve still got 4 games left with one of them biggest the biggest of the season.
Unprecedented times. I just dont see how the season gets finished.
Clubs will have players out of contract. Clubs have already got summer post/pre season commercial commitments. Some clubs have already got other commercial commitments (eg Spurs have got 2 sold out nights of GnR rocking WHL then Lady Gaga, Man City are hosting Metallica & Muse, West Ham have got the MLB... thats just off the top of my head).
With 9 PL games remaining, you cant give Liverpool the title, no matter how good they have been and how close they are, you cant relegate the current bottom three as they all could possibly get out of it. You cant award the European places on current positions as they all could change in 9 games.
I'm fairly certain the European Championships gets postponed for 12 months which gives a little window of opportunity.
How you unpick it all, some team somewhere will be disadvantaged and will take legal action through the courts and you wont get a resolution.
I can see the FA/PL will want to minimise damage to next season as much as they can. Clubs will need to give players time off post season for rest and then pre-season etc. If the European's are moved back 12 months, there's little room for movement in next season anyway.
(If the season does restart, Kane, Sonny and Sissoko should be back by then, that will make a huge difference to Spurs!)
Obviously lower down the pyramid, it will be felt a lot more as clubs are more reliant on gate receipts and ST income.
If the league is cancelled now the club would probably need to refund season tickets partially. As all our money has been soent on cars, flats, expenses and consultancy fees then where would this come from?
If the season continues on past the end of June then unless a new short term deal is agreed then a player is quite within his rights to say 'i'm not playing'.
But if he does sign then on what terms? Say for example the season resumes and on 1 July we still have 3-4 games left to play. We'd have a whole host of players out of contract and another 6 loan players whose deals will have ended. If we're still fighting relegation and those players are crucial to our survival hopes then they could turn round and say 'ok i'll sign a short term contract, but i want 10k a week more, because you need me'. Then what?
You have some clubs who've agreed pre-contract deals for other players. Ziyech of Ajax signs for Chelsea on 1 July, so if Ajax are still playing for the title in July, he won't be able to finish the season for them.
Seeing as everyone else have been coming up with some mad ideas and no one really knows, I’ll throw in what my Dad said to me yesterday that he wants to happen...
Liverpool get handed the title, they’ve won it let’s be honest and fair.
Leeds and West Brom get promoted, whilst Barnsley and Luton get relegated. The teams in the play offs currently get a points advantage at the start of next season, something like 4 points. The teams who currently occupy the last relegation space start on a minus points, something like -4. This filters the same all the way down the leagues.
Therefore, next season the Premier League, and the Championship, will have 22 teams as no relegation from the Premier League. We would be in the Championship still, but start on a minus due to our current position and being the fortunate one to stay up.
Coventry and Rotherham would take the place of Barnsley and Luton, whilst the 3rd-6th in League One start on plus 4 next season.
Bolton and Southend would get relegated, whilst Crewe, Swindon, and Plymouth get promoted. This would put League One back to 24 teams. Tranmere would start on minus 4 points. Teams in League Two of currently 4th-7th start on plus 4.
Stevenage get relegated from League Two, whilst Barrow and Harrogate get promoted from the National League. This keeps League Two at 24 teams, making the EFL back to its original 92. The teams currently 3rd-5th in the National League get a plus 4 points advantage at the start of next season.
If you look at the all of the league tables as things stand, that actually isn’t such a bad idea and way of making it as fair as possible. The current points gap between such positions is about right to make these assumptions and ideas.
People might argue saying why should we start on -4 whilst X starts on +4 for a new season. Well, if they’re to cancel this season, we need some form of conclusion in order to make this season worth something.
People might think it’s crazy and you can pull it apart if you want, I’m just putting across my Dad’s suggestion and after thinking about it, taking away the crazy part slightly, it’s not a bad idea.
Comments
😉
There will need to be a lot, and I mean a lot, of both targeted and general aid packages before this is all done and dusted. I could easily see football being one. That's not to say it will work, or that everyone will survive. But losing out three months of the season in gates and concessions will hit a lot of clubs hard.
That said, I also think this could be Premier League clubs trying to overplay their hand. If in nine months we still haven't had any football and clubs have gone under while others are on their knees they might have a play. But mid-April, for example? I think they'll struggle.
That will be the only solution, Everton fans will be ecstatic.
If you are going to do anything other than void the league, Martin CAFC's post earlier made the most sense as it provided a mechanism to promote the top two and not relegate anybody and sort it out the next season.
Charlton v Millwall .
Home win.
However if for some that is the case then it's surely just tough luck and their own fault.
Calls for the premier league to drop some money down to fund smaller clubs doesn't work for me.
Is anyone funding airlines, or hotels or event companies or bars/restaurants whose income have all been devastated by this virus?
Will they just start 20/21 with the same teams in the CL/Europa as this season?
Extremely harsh on sides like Leicester and Lazio who were nailed on to qualify for next years CL but what else can UEFA do?
Sides would have to sign players to extended 6 month deals just to complete a season. Would Taylor sign a 6 month deal with us, or would his contract status mean he could go and sign for anyone else?
Unless the FA introduced a ruling whereby players could only play for the same team then it wouldn't work. But is that legal?
Some clubs would be ruined financially if a season had reduced fixtures and only played each side once. What would happen to tv money for that season? And season tickets that clubs had sold?
Stopping all cup competitions is an obvious one (Will FA & Uefa have the bottle to do this, as they are admitting the league is more in important).
Totally depends what’s more important finishing this season or completely changing next years competitions, I.e no play offs, league cup being gone, knock outs instead of group stage in champion league.
Clubs will have players out of contract.
Clubs have already got summer post/pre season commercial commitments.
Some clubs have already got other commercial commitments (eg Spurs have got 2 sold out nights of GnR rocking WHL then Lady Gaga, Man City are hosting Metallica & Muse, West Ham have got the MLB... thats just off the top of my head).
With 9 PL games remaining, you cant give Liverpool the title, no matter how good they have been and how close they are, you cant relegate the current bottom three as they all could possibly get out of it. You cant award the European places on current positions as they all could change in 9 games.
I'm fairly certain the European Championships gets postponed for 12 months which gives a little window of opportunity.
How you unpick it all, some team somewhere will be disadvantaged and will take legal action through the courts and you wont get a resolution.
I can see the FA/PL will want to minimise damage to next season as much as they can. Clubs will need to give players time off post season for rest and then pre-season etc. If the European's are moved back 12 months, there's little room for movement in next season anyway.
(If the season does restart, Kane, Sonny and Sissoko should be back by then, that will make a huge difference to Spurs!)
Obviously lower down the pyramid, it will be felt a lot more as clubs are more reliant on gate receipts and ST income.
If the season continues on past the end of June then unless a new short term deal is agreed then a player is quite within his rights to say 'i'm not playing'.
But if he does sign then on what terms? Say for example the season resumes and on 1 July we still have 3-4 games left to play. We'd have a whole host of players out of contract and another 6 loan players whose deals will have ended. If we're still fighting relegation and those players are crucial to our survival hopes then they could turn round and say 'ok i'll sign a short term contract, but i want 10k a week more, because you need me'. Then what?
You have some clubs who've agreed pre-contract deals for other players. Ziyech of Ajax signs for Chelsea on 1 July, so if Ajax are still playing for the title in July, he won't be able to finish the season for them.
It's going to be a complete mess.
Liverpool get handed the title, they’ve won it let’s be honest and fair.
Leeds and West Brom get promoted, whilst Barnsley and Luton get relegated. The teams in the play offs currently get a points advantage at the start of next season, something like 4 points. The teams who currently occupy the last relegation space start on a minus points, something like -4. This filters the same all the way down the leagues.
Therefore, next season the Premier League, and the Championship, will have 22 teams as no relegation from the Premier League. We would be in the Championship still, but start on a minus due to our current position and being the fortunate one to stay up.
Coventry and Rotherham would take the place of Barnsley and Luton, whilst the 3rd-6th in League One start on plus 4 next season.
Bolton and Southend would get relegated, whilst Crewe, Swindon, and Plymouth get promoted. This would put League One back to 24 teams. Tranmere would start on minus 4 points. Teams in League Two of currently 4th-7th start on plus 4.
Stevenage get relegated from League Two, whilst Barrow and Harrogate get promoted from the National League. This keeps League Two at 24 teams, making the EFL back to its original 92. The teams currently 3rd-5th in the National League get a plus 4 points advantage at the start of next season.
If you look at the all of the league tables as things stand, that actually isn’t such a bad idea and way of making it as fair as possible. The current points gap between such positions is about right to make these assumptions and ideas.
People might argue saying why should we start on -4 whilst X starts on +4 for a new season. Well, if they’re to cancel this season, we need some form of conclusion in order to make this season worth something.
People might think it’s crazy and you can pull it apart if you want, I’m just putting across my Dad’s suggestion and after thinking about it, taking away the crazy part slightly, it’s not a bad idea.