Money before reason for quick Premier League return

Although talks have been taking place behind closed doors about when the Premier League could return, according to The Sun newspaper, I can't see there being anything but big risks if it does return as soon as 8 June, as has been proposed. Playing behind closed doors is still going to mean some 250 people being tested each game, and the safety of players, the police and ball boys etc is still going to be at risk.

It will be a long time before we see handshakes for sure.

To me it talks of money being put before the lives of many. We all want football back, but like Georgie Bingham on TalkSport, I don't really think it can be done safely while social distancing is in place. What choice to the players have in this matter? I suspect none at all. It will be down to the Premier League and Chief Executives or Chairman if each club to say of they can play or not, and there will be pressure put on everybody to go along with it.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -£7.99!

However this season is completed it will always be a season that has been disrupted and for that reason is not going to be a totally true reflection of what might have happened, if games had bot been postponed. We can pretend that playing behind closed-doors makes little difference, but we all know it will take some teams more time than others to get a good feeling about that situation. The winners will be those who adapt quickest to this new non-atmosphere football. But there will be a bitter taste for the losers.

Advertisement

Of course, if the Premier League goes ahead there will be mounting pressure from the English football league to play out their remaining games. How easy will it be to allow all clubs to complete their fixtures? If it is difficult for the Premier League it is going to be even harder for the lower leagues, who just don' have big operating budgets. Will their safety be as tight as the barriers that will be put in place by the Premier League?

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

My big worry in all this is that the fans will just have to lump it, whatever is decided. Fans won't be able to travel to games, or cheer on their team. Perhaps they will be able to see it on terrestrial TV, but what happens for those TV companies that have exclusive rights? The whole thing is quite a mess and with players contracts running out on 30 June, I wonder how much of the general chatter is more desperation knowing that the time has pretty much run out to get football back. The Dutch league has already abandoned the season and if more leagues go that way, questions will be asked over the safety of any attempt to try and resurrect the game before social distancing has been removed.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes  – Is Howe right to play Adam Smith on the left ahead of Rico?