Premier Football to restart?

[Weston Saint]

Premier league is back in June. I am told from someone (I wont say where he works or what he does but has contact with Spurs, City, Wolves, Newcastle, to name a few) to organise for 8 weeks event starting mid May.

 

All premier league teams will play their remaining games at St Georges Park behind closed doors and for TV only. The complex will host 2/3 games a day that will be streamed live.

 

The players will go into isolation mid May at select hotels in the vicinity of St Georges and will train at local clubs grounds. They will not be able to see family and friends during the period of games. Each player will be tested regulary to ensure safety and hotels will be locked down for players only.

 

Could be a hoax but seems plausible. I do not know the above informant personally.

[Matthew Le God]

They haven't decided yet, that is why they are meeting on Friday...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52443200

[Lighthouse]

I think a lot of people are going to be cheesed off if in two weeks they’re still not allowed to go to the beach or a garden centre but somewhere else 500 people are allowed to gather in the same buildings for prolonged periods of extended body contact.

[CB Fry]

I think a lot of people are going to be cheesed off if in two weeks they’re still not allowed to go to the beach or a garden centre but somewhere else 500 people are allowed to gather in the same buildings for prolonged periods of extended body contact.

500 people?

[Colinjb]

500 people?

 

20 squads of 25 people.

 

Add in coaches, physios, kit staff, photographers, camera crews etc. Closer to 1000.

[Lighthouse]

500 people?

 

20 clubs with let’s say 25 people each involved, all playing in the same facilities, every day. That’s being conservative, I’d wager with a match day 18, 3/4 extra players, managers, assistants, coaches, physios, nutritionists and a media team, we probably take nearer 30-35 on an average away day. Then there’s 4 officials, camera men, ball boys, on site security, catering, hospitality...

 

It’s the absolute anti-Christ of self isolation.

[davefizzy14]

would this be a good idea: - https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-clubs-could-use-21944290

[SW5 SAINT]

would this be a good idea: - https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-clubs-could-use-21944290

 

Imagine doing all that for 75,000 people......

[Lighthouse]

would this be a good idea: - https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-clubs-could-use-21944290

 

All plausible in theory but by most reports there are plenty of people infected who are asymptomatic or are yet to develop symptoms. You can’t assume someone isn’t a risk because they don’t have a fever. Likewise the spray and UV will only clean the top layer of clothing. If you go in and take your coat off, you’re then exposing any microbes on your shirt, jumper or whatever that you picked up at home, on the train or in the pub.

 

Then there’s the cost of having one at every turn style, which would be prohibitive to a lot of clubs, plus the monumental queueing times outside grounds. That will lead to large gatherings of people outside the stadium, which will include all those who are infected and will fail the supposed pod test.

 

In short, I can’t see it.

[Badger]

would this be a good idea: - https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-clubs-could-use-21944290

 

Difficult to implement due to cost, and space required.

 

From a practical point of view... just think of the queues to use the bogs. Channeling 32,000 through this system would be chaos.

[davefizzy14]

Difficult to implement due to cost, and space required.

 

From a practical point of view... just think of the queues to use the bogs. Channeling 32,000 through this system would be chaos.

 

Yes that is very true. It would be time consuming to start with. Then all the health checks to be done, probably isnt practical.

[CB Fry]

20 squads of 25 people.

 

Add in coaches, physios, kit staff, photographers, camera crews etc. Closer to 1000.

20 clubs with let’s say 25 people each involved, all playing in the same facilities, every day. That’s being conservative, I’d wager with a match day 18, 3/4 extra players, managers, assistants, coaches, physios, nutritionists and a media team, we probably take nearer 30-35 on an average away day. Then there’s 4 officials, camera men, ball boys, on site security, catering, hospitality...

 

It’s the absolute anti-Christ of self isolation.

 

Why would you aggregate it up to include all the separate stadiums together, that makes no sense whatsoever. There wont be anything like 500 people in one stadium, that's absolutely hysterical.

 

By the time football restarts every garden centre, DIY shop, florist and hairdressers in the country will be open. How many hundreds of people will that be. I'll give you clue: you won't be able to count it in hundreds.

 

It's the players, officials and physios who won't be able to socially distance. Everyone else would be able to.

Edited 29 April, 2020 by CB Fry

[CB Fry]

I'm a bit bewildered by these threads.

 

Fair play if some people genuinely haven't left the house for six weeks but for the rest of us there have been people working at factories, warehouses, shops for the entire time. All of them almost all the time working closer together than a groundsman, a press photographer and a TV production manager would be in a freaking football stadium on a behind closed doors match day.

Edited 29 April, 2020 by CB Fry

[ringwood]

Honestly I dont see the desparation to finish the current season , just pack it in now, plan for the new season , I'm a season ticket holder but can't honestly say that I'm missing it , maybe thats a reflection of Saints performances at home .

 

Every game to be televised hmmm can see that causing a few arguments at homes around the country, especially as they won't be free to air nor will be able to watch in a pub.

 

Actually I find the playing behind closed doors pretty direspectful to the fans , they won't do that for the other leagues , yet they all play to the same rules

[Lighthouse]

Why would you aggregate it up to include all the separate stadiums together, that makes no sense whatsoever. There wont be anything like 500 people in one stadium, that's absolutely hysterical.

 

By the time football restarts every garden centre, DIY shop, florist and hairdressers in the country will be open. How many hundreds of people will that be. I'll give you clue: you won't be able to count it in hundreds.

 

It's the players, officials and physios who won't be able to socially distance. Everyone else would be able to.

 

I’ve put it all together because the stated proposal is for every team to meet up at St George’s and play each other, three times a day, every day. We don’t know how long the virus can survive on surfaces but if it can survive 24 hours then 6 clubs on day 1 will pass it on to 6 on day two. It’s 500 people gathering in the same place for no reason other than football.

 

We will restart eventually but the OP is talking about mid May, that’s two weeks away. Beaches and garden centres will not be open as normal in two weeks I can promise you that and when they are it will be with social distancing and probably face protection as standard.

 

What the OP is proposing/reporting is making a mockery of everything we’ve been through in the last couple of months.

[CB Fry]

I’ve put it all together because the stated proposal is for every team to meet up at St George’s and play each other, three times a day, every day. We don’t know how long the virus can survive on surfaces but if it can survive 24 hours then 6 clubs on day 1 will pass it on to 6 on day two. It’s 500 people gathering in the same place for no reason other than football.

 

We will restart eventually but the OP is talking about mid May, that’s two weeks away. Beaches and garden centres will not be open as normal in two weeks I can promise you that and when they are it will be with social distancing and probably face protection as standard.

 

What the OP is proposing/reporting is making a mockery of everything we’ve been through in the last couple of months.

Fair enough didn't read that opening post - it wasn't linked to any news report and I hadn't heard that anywhere else, just hearsay. They obviously will not do that because it would be utterly mental.

 

There's no need to do them all at St George's Park. But I guess they might reorder some matches to minimize some travel. And playing some at training grounds might make sense: the MCFC one is pretty much a conference level stadium already.

 

But I think they will be played at the stadiums because the broadcast infrastructure will already be there.

[Patrick Bateman]

Utterly ridiculous, football is nothing. Lives matter, football (or any sport for that matter) does not.

[waylander]

Honestly I dont see the desparation to finish the current season , just pack it in now, plan for the new season , I'm a season ticket holder but can't honestly say that I'm missing it , maybe thats a reflection of Saints performances at home .

 

Every game to be televised hmmm can see that causing a few arguments at homes around the country, especially as they won't be free to air nor will be able to watch in a pub.

 

Actually I find the playing behind closed doors pretty direspectful to the fans , they won't do that for the other leagues , yet they all play to the same rules

 

I would imagine the prospect of having to return a lot of money to media partners, advertisers, sponsors etc would be a factor in driving this.

[Shroppie]

I would imagine the prospect of having to return a lot of money to media partners, advertisers, sponsors etc would be a factor in driving this.

Absolutely. It's not about football or fans. It's just money.

 

But it's not going to happen. It's taking a while to sink in but the end result is inevitable: any artificial attempt at finishing this season is ludicrous, irresponsible and dangerous.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[Lord Duckhunter]

Some journo , I think it may have been that arse Henry Winter but I can’t remember, was on radio. He claimed he’d spoken to a lot of premier league clubs & the general consensus was they’ll be about 200-250 people involved staging a closed doors game. This excludes any police or stewards needed outside to control any numpties that turn up.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lighthouse]

Whilst it’s understandable that many parties have a vested interest in finishing the season, it’s starting to stink of doing your homework at 0853 on the school bus.

 

A reasonable pre-season, without the ludicrous, money spinning tours of Asia, is probably just about feasible for an on time start to next season. That may or may not be behind closed doors or using PPE, it remains to be seen where we are in three months.

[aintforever]

Playing behind closed doors should be achievable IMO. The numbers of people that appear to need to be involved seems a bit high but most of these will not have to be in physical contact with anyone. As long as there is capacity to test the players, coaches and officials. The media, camera men, security staff etc can just go to work just like millions are every day up and down the country.

[ooh it's a corner]

Whilst it’s understandable that many parties have a vested interest in finishing the season, it’s starting to stink of doing your homework at 0853 on the school bus.

.

 

I object to this. Some of my best homework was done in a rush, on the bus.

 

Maybe, not my best hand-writing, but my best homework.

[SaintBobby]

Not at all sure about the veracity of the OP's info, but seems plausible to me they will complete the season in this sort of format.

 

Sure, I get the argument that - on the face of it - it looks like favouritism for football, but there are some reasons to treat football differently to, say, reopening garden centres or clothes shops.

 

1. Footballers themselves are in an incredibly low risk category. Fatalities amongst fit and healthy 20-30 year olds are near zero. The risk of infection is real, but the consequences are less severe comapred to - say - hundreds of 70-year olds visting garden centres,

2. The finances of football mean non-completion of the season could be catastrophic for clubs - the state furlough scheme, for example, proably covers 80% of the wages of garden centre employees, but hardly scratches the wage bill for players at football clubs.

3. The financial upside of restarting the season could be huge - the global TV audiences for Premier League football (in the absence of any other major sport on TV and if large numbers of people are still in lockdown at home) could be enormous. Re-opening garden centres or pub with social distancing measures might see their revenues get to, say, 25% of normal. For football - depending on the TV rights package - you could imagine revenues being above normal. (Every single match televised at £10 PPV, for example).

4. I guess an argument could just about be made that it would be good for national morale, more so than reopening B&Q perhaps.

 

There are still all sorts of problems - the unfairness of losing the Home-Away difference (probably helps Saints though!) etc. But there might be ways to mitigate this (maybe only relegate two teams this season, for example?)

[lambtiss]

Honestly I dont see the desparation to finish the current season , just pack it in now, plan for the new season , I'm a season ticket holder but can't honestly say that I'm missing it , maybe thats a reflection of Saints performances at home .

 

Every game to be televised hmmm can see that causing a few arguments at homes around the country, especially as they won't be free to air nor will be able to watch in a pub.

 

Actually I find the playing behind closed doors pretty direspectful to the fans , they won't do that for the other leagues , yet they all play to the same rules

 

I'm with you on this Ringwood.

[SW5 SAINT]

Honestly I dont see the desparation to finish the current season , just pack it in now, plan for the new season , I'm a season ticket holder but can't honestly say that I'm missing it , maybe thats a reflection of Saints performances at home .

 

Every game to be televised hmmm can see that causing a few arguments at homes around the country, especially as they won't be free to air nor will be able to watch in a pub.

 

 

Actually I find the playing behind closed doors pretty direspectful to the fans , they won't do that for the other leagues , yet they all play to the same rules

 

It would seem it’s just the Prem season they are desperate to finish. I hear little about completing the season for the other leagues. That in my opinion stinks.....

[Lighthouse]

Not at all sure about the veracity of the OP's info, but seems plausible to me they will complete the season in this sort of format.

 

Sure, I get the argument that - on the face of it - it looks like favouritism for football, but there are some reasons to treat football differently to, say, reopening garden centres or clothes shops.

 

1. Footballers themselves are in an incredibly low risk category. Fatalities amongst fit and healthy 20-30 year olds are near zero. The risk of infection is real, but the consequences are less severe comapred to - say - hundreds of 70-year olds visting garden centres,

2. The finances of football mean non-completion of the season could be catastrophic for clubs - the state furlough scheme, for example, proably covers 80% of the wages of garden centre employees, but hardly scratches the wage bill for players at football clubs.

3. The financial upside of restarting the season could be huge - the global TV audiences for Premier League football (in the absence of any other major sport on TV and if large numbers of people are still in lockdown at home) could be enormous. Re-opening garden centres or pub with social distancing measures might see their revenues get to, say, 25% of normal. For football - depending on the TV rights package - you could imagine revenues being above normal. (Every single match televised at £10 PPV, for example).

4. I guess an argument could just about be made that it would be good for national morale, more so than reopening B&Q perhaps.

 

There are still all sorts of problems - the unfairness of losing the Home-Away difference (probably helps Saints though!) etc. But there might be ways to mitigate this (maybe only relegate two teams this season, for example?)

 

If they did try this, the rest of the non football watching population would be annoyed and it would lead to large scale civil disobedience. Everyone will be asking, "if the footballers are allowed to play, why can't I play a small music venue with 30-40 people? Why can't I get together in the park/beach/garden party/bbq with my friends? What about rugby/cricket? Why can't I go to the gym? Why are the shops still closed?"

 

If you were asked why football gets priority over everything else and your answer was that the footballers, Sky and some Saudi billionaires really need a few more million, it wouldn't go down well either. That's what point 3 basically comes down to, it's only a financial upside for three groups of people I have the least sympathy for.

[brmbrm]

1. Footballers themselves are in an incredibly low risk category. Fatalities amongst fit and healthy 20-30 year olds are near zero. The risk of infection is real, but the consequences are less severe comapred to - say - hundreds of 70-year olds visting garden centres,

 

Just to comment on this, its not all about the risk to them, its the fact that you start with 1 or 2 infected, asymptomatic very fit young specimens, then a month later you turn out 500 very fit, young, asymptomatic/symptomatic specimens who then spread it around

[SaintBobby]

If they did try this, the rest of the non football watching population would be annoyed and it would lead to large scale civil disobedience. Everyone will be asking, "if the footballers are allowed to play, why can't I play a small music venue with 30-40 people? Why can't I get together in the park/beach/garden party/bbq with my friends? What about rugby/cricket? Why can't I go to the gym? Why are the shops still closed?"

 

If you were asked why football gets priority over everything else and your answer was that the footballers, Sky and some Saudi billionaires really need a few more million, it wouldn't go down well either. That's what point 3 basically comes down to, it's only a financial upside for three groups of people I have the least sympathy for.

 

It's a fair point, but the finances available in football also allow them to pay substantial money to mitigate and lower the risks.

 

I'm imagining the details, but you could see the circumstances/legal requirements being as follows:

 

1. All those not practising social distancing must have been tested (at full market rate) three times in the previous fortnight - only those testing continually negative can play.

2. All those involved on "the fieled of play" must be aged under 40.

3. All those involved must be tested twice in the week after the match (at full market rate)

4. Any individual or group wishing to run an event or match represents a potential drain on NHS resources, to this end the organisers of the event must pay to secure a licence, the cost of which is £50,000 per event/match and earmarked directly for the NHS budget.

 

These rules could apply to anyone seeking special exemption, but I imagine it's unlikely that you would seek to clear these hurdles to play a small music venue or arrange a family BBQ. If you do, that's fine though. Football could, of course, easily meet the costs of complying.

Edited 30 April, 2020 by SaintBobby

[SaintBobby]

Just to comment on this, its not all about the risk to them, its the fact that you start with 1 or 2 infected, asymptomatic very fit young specimens, then a month later you turn out 500 very fit, young, asymptomatic/symptomatic specimens who then spread it around

 

Yep. I guess you would need to impose some sort of lockdown/isolation for the duration of the mini-season and thereafterwarsd too. Separate hotels and hotel rooms for each club and associated officials. Compulsory testing and isolation for all those involved for 7-14 days at the conclusion of the seson etc.

 

My general point is that you obviosuly can't reduce the risks to zero, but you can reduce them very substnatially with sufficient resources and football is wealthy enough to provide these resources.

[bpsaint]

If this were to happen at St George’s Park as previously mentioned, each team would need to commandeer a local hotel each with their own staff working there, lock down for two weeks prior without their family, and stay there there entire course of the season remainder without physically spending time with their families for potentially 10 weeks altogether without venturing outside due to risk of contagion.

 

Can’t see people going for that really - basically a prisoner for over two months for the sake of a few games of football.

[Lighthouse]

It's a fair point, but the finances available in football also allow them to pay substantial money to mitigate and lower the risks.

 

I'm imagining the details, but you could see the circumstances/legal requirements being as follows:

 

1. All those not practising social distancing must have been tested (at full market rate) three times in the previous fortnight - only those testing continually negative can play.

2. All those involved on "the fieled of play" must be aged under 40.

3. All those involved must be tested twice in the week after the match (at full market rate)

4. Any individual or group wishing to run an event or match represents a potential drain on NHS resources, to this end the organisers of the event must pay to secure a licence, the cost of which is £50,000 per event/match and earmarked directly for the NHS budget.

 

These rules could apply to anyone seeking special exemption, but I imagine it's unlikely that you would seek to clear these hurdles to play a small music venue or arrange a family BBQ. If you do, that's fine though. Football could, of course, easily meet the costs of complying.

 

When football does restart next season, there probably will be a lot of testing involved but it will be part of a nationwide, general evolution of safety measures. It’s not going to happen any time soon, especially whilst the rest of the country is still in lockdown.

[SaintBobby]

When football does restart next season, there probably will be a lot of testing involved but it will be part of a nationwide, general evolution of safety measures. It’s not going to happen any time soon, especially whilst the rest of the country is still in lockdown.

 

I'm not so sure about that. I think it's a bit above 50-50 that they will complete the season, even if that delays the start of next season.

 

Lockdown will probably start to ease after the bank holiday weekend and may ahve eased a lot by June or July.

[beatlesaint]

Premier league is back in June. I am told from someone (I wont say where he works or what he does but has contact with Spurs, City, Wolves, Newcastle, to name a few) to organise for 8 weeks event starting mid May.

 

All premier league teams will play their remaining games at St Georges Park behind closed doors and for TV only. The complex will host 2/3 games a day that will be streamed live.

 

The players will go into isolation mid May at select hotels in the vicinity of St Georges and will train at local clubs grounds. They will not be able to see family and friends during the period of games. Each player will be tested regulary to ensure safety and hotels will be locked down for players only.

 

Could be a hoax but seems plausible. I do not know the above informant personally.

 

Whether its a hoax or not its the only way i can see it happening anytime relatively soon and it makes sense that all players and club staff are isolated.

 

The question is - Is football really worth all this ?

[jawillwill]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52484530

 

Nothing would make me happier than knowing the sole reason Liverpool didn't win the league was because their fans are clearly bell ends.

[skintsaint]

the UK statistically is in a worse position due to Covid19 than France and they have made the decision to give all sport up till Sept. Can't really see any other alternatives to stop the league and start again when they can. PL desperate to get going only for financial reasons.

Edited 30 April, 2020 by skintsaint

[aintforever]

8th of June is 5 weeks away, It will be fine.

 

If restrictions are not starting to ease by then the economy will be toast anyway so I can see it happening.

[beatlesaint]

the UK statistically is in a worse position due to Covid19 than France and they have made the decision to give all sport up till Sept. Can't really see any other alternatives to stop the league and start again when they can. PL desperate to get going only for financial reasons.

 

which is the point Gary Neville keeps making, they are being led by money not health

[Whitey Grandad]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52484530

 

Nothing would make me happier than knowing the sole reason Liverpool didn't win the league was because their fans are clearly bell ends.

 

If Carlsberg did ironies...

[SaintBobby]

which is the point Gary Neville keeps making, they are being led by money not health

 

It's a question of difficult trade offs really. If restarting the season would make £500m, but ten people would get slightly ill, it's worth it.

 

Obviously the tricky bit is calculating what the likely trade offs are at least as much as workign out if they are worth it.

[jawillwill]

What if only 3 people got slightly ill, but 1 person otherwise healthy person slightly died?

[SW5 SAINT]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52484530

 

Nothing would make me happier than knowing the sole reason Liverpool didn't win the league was because their fans are clearly bell ends.

 

I imagine they will still be ‘awarded’ the title. Mind you even in that scenario, I can imagine their fans taking to the streets to celebrate.....

[Whitey Grandad]

I imagine they will still be ‘awarded’ the title. Mind you even in that scenario, I can imagine their fans taking to the streets to celebrate.....

 

Just give them an honorary title, a cup made out of tinfoil and cardboard medals.

[Batman]

a leaked recording of the Bristol Rovers manager doing the rounds about the current situation...

 

Edited 30 April, 2020 by Batman

[SaintBobby]

What if only 3 people got slightly ill, but 1 person otherwise healthy person slightly died?

 

If you want to minimise total deaths as an absolute top priority, probably best to cancel football permanently - irrespective of coronavirus.

[Give it to Ron]

If you want to minimise total deaths as an absolute top priority, probably best to cancel football permanently - irrespective of coronavirus.

 

Fingers crossed this inoculation Oxford Uni and AstraZeneca bears fruit we can get back to normal

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[benjii]

The idea of playing all matches on a single campus seems nuts.

 

There are, what, 90-something matches left?

 

So at 3 matches every day that's every team playing every three days or so for a month. If there are some rest days then extend the period. If 3 matches a day at the same venue can't be done then extend the period.

 

As soon as anyone involved has tested positive, which is inevitable, you would have thought, then that's everything grinding to a halt for 14 days?

 

And you can't have everyone playing at the same time on the last day of the season so scheduling could have a big impact.

 

It will be a drawn-out, boring, pointless affair and quite unfair to teams with good home form.

 

And that's without even mentioning contract issues and potential loss of players.

 

If we can't do football properly then wait until we can.

 

Give Liverpool a nice certificate or something for "good effort" then start again another time.

Edited 30 April, 2020 by benjii

[stknowle]

Whether its a hoax or not its the only way i can see it happening anytime relatively soon and it makes sense that all players and club staff are isolated.

 

The question is - Is football really worth all this ?

 

And the answer is - NO

[Saint86]

Not at all sure about the veracity of the OP's info, but seems plausible to me they will complete the season in this sort of format.

 

Sure, I get the argument that - on the face of it - it looks like favouritism for football, but there are some reasons to treat football differently to, say, reopening garden centres or clothes shops.

 

1. Footballers themselves are in an incredibly low risk category. Fatalities amongst fit and healthy 20-30 year olds are near zero. The risk of infection is real, but the consequences are less severe comapred to - say - hundreds of 70-year olds visting garden centres,

 

 

Seriously?!?! We've been in lock-down for 40odd days and you still haven't grasped why we're doing it... Please tell me you aren't one of these people that thinks the rules don't apply to them?!

 

Everyone should be wearing masks when they're out and about as well tbh. The government are going to bring that it when the lockdown is eased, but they aren't making people do it now... talk about hamstringing the efficiency of all the lock-down in reducing case numbers.

[1576]

Stopped going last year and you very quickly realise that the vast majority of people really dont give a rats arse about football. When you go and you're in and out of pubs, meeting mates and travelling to games it seems football is a big thing but it really isn't.