RON: CANCEL THE REST OF THE SEASON

[kentblues]

I was talking to one of the senior partners at my law firm the other day, and he said he can guarantee this season will be finished. The amount of litigation that would be launched in any other senario would be huge and could effectivly shut football down for far longer than COVID-19. The season is just to far gone for there to be any other fair means of ending it than actually ending it. There will have to be agreement over what happens to next season obviously but we can rest assured whatever happens we will be relegated this season unless we win all our remaining 9 matches and stay up fair and square but even that is stretching the maths quite far!!

Don't suppose your senior partner could explain why sports other than football are cancelling and postponing- no doubt under advise from other lawyers. Give me 10 lawyers and I will give your 10 opinions. Not a criticism just the way it is.

Frankly football is standing out as a game driven by £££ ahead of all else at the moment and its not a great look. They can finish this season if they want to but there wont be a 20/21 season. Rugby's focus is to 1. ensure safety of players, officials and staff, and their families 2. make sure 20/21 season can start as early as possible and go ahead. Neither of these are a priority for the Prem in particular and so you have a different approach.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Looking at the example that F1 has set shows how out of touch football has become, they have not only cancelled races, including Monaco, but the teams are using their manufacturing facilities to to make ventilators.

Surely football clubs could use their collective wealth to assist in some way? even opening getting coaches to do online fitness classes would help. with homeschooling going on having players join in would get more kids to engage.

lets face it kids are more likely to listen to paul pogba than to mum and dad

A lot of football clubs are testing their players - sod the footballers, we should be using these kits to test NHS staff etc!!!

 

[kaymac]

Don't suppose your senior partner could explain why sports other than football are cancelling and postponing- no doubt under advise from other lawyers. Give me 10 lawyers and I will give your 10 opinions. Not a criticism just the way it is.

Frankly football is standing out as a game driven by £££ ahead of all else at the moment and its not a great look. They can finish this season if they want to but there wont be a 20/21 season. Rugby's focus is to 1. ensure safety of players, officials and staff, and their families 2. make sure 20/21 season can start as early as possible and go ahead. Neither of these are a priority for the Prem in particular and so you have a different approach.

Actually you’re wrong, the RFU have closed the season for all competitions other than the Gallagher Premiership....

 

[kaymac]

“Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs has outlined how the league plan to complete the suspended 2019/20 season and be the first sport back on TV following a complete shutdown across the UK.

Gallagher Premiership rugby games could be played midweek and through the summer to fit postponed match in according to league boss“

Looks to me like the RFU are also driven by £££....

 

[Justleavingwork]

Or we move to a March through December season with a break in summer for sporting events. Instead of August through May.

The season to begin in March go on break for June and July, then continues in August with the last games in December.

 

[undercovershrimper]

Don't suppose your senior partner could explain why sports other than football are cancelling and postponing- no doubt under advise from other lawyers. Give me 10 lawyers and I will give your 10 opinions. Not a criticism just the way it is.

Frankly football is standing out as a game driven by £££ ahead of all else at the moment and its not a great look. They can finish this season if they want to but there wont be a 20/21 season. Rugby's focus is to 1. ensure safety of players, officials and staff, and their families 2. make sure 20/21 season can start as early as possible and go ahead. Neither of these are a priority for the Prem in particular and so you have a different approach.

Football ceased to be a sport a long time ago, its a business and a mutli billion pound one at that especially at the top level. Come up with any senerio you like for finishing the season in anyway other than playing the games and I will tell you where the litigation will come from. It only takes one chairman/owner to say whatever method of ending the season is not fair and the whole sport can be suspended by order of the courts. These litigation cases can run for years and years before they are resolved so if we go down that route we will have virtually no football clubs left once the litigation is settled. Hence this season will be finished, it has to be

 

[kentblues]

“Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs has outlined how the league plan to complete the suspended 2019/20 season and be the first sport back on TV following a complete shutdown across the UK.

Gallagher Premiership rugby games could be played midweek and through the summer to fit postponed match in according to league boss“

Looks to me like the RFU are also driven by £££....

Indeed it does..at least just the Prem but not Championship and lower. And how desperate- even looking at playing multiple matches at the same (single) empty stadium in the summer- just so it can be completed and televised. Basically Sky have sport over a barrel. What I dont understand how the absolute muppets who negotiate these contracts don't have a force majeur clause that means that are not forced to either play games or not get paid in situations like this over which they have no control.

Any way result is £££ being put front and centre ahead of players, staff and families and if uses up medical and policing staff then so be it. ..

 

[kentblues]

Football ceased to be a sport a long time ago, its a business and a mutli billion pound one at that especially at the top level. Come up with any senerio you like for finishing the season in anyway other than playing the games and I will tell you where the litigation will come from. It only takes one chairman/owner to say whatever method of ending the season is not fair and the whole sport can be suspended by order of the courts. These litigation cases can run for years and years before they are resolved so if we go down that route we will have virtually no football clubs left once the litigation is settled. Hence this season will be finished, it has to be

And no doubt the Leagues and FA have signed with TV companies to deliver a full season of matches including cups next season as well- and the TV will want money back if this doesn't happen also. Already supposedly the Euros are now June 2021 so next season must finish by May 2021 when it probably wont start until Nov given this season "must" be finished first. I guess the first test will be as players are released out of contract end June and we are still not playing.

 

[MilkeySUFC]

Money over morality. Everywhere you look. First Witherspoons, then Sports Direct, all high-level sports.

All those bosses will be sitting nicely isolated in their penthouses and mansions pushing their workforces to keep braving the lottery of infection to keep the bucks rolling in. Very sad, very worrying.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

With the Olympics postponed a year, it's going to be nigh on impossible for the PL and EFL to resume in May.
Whether one likes it or not, the Olympics are the biggest sporting show in town.
Check viewing figures for an Olympics, and they nudge the World Cup into second place.
If everyone is hell bent on 'finishing' this season, someone is going to have to come up with a radical solution for starting the next - and nothing I've read here - despite the honest and creative endeavours of Zoners cut it - not even abandoning Cups in 20/21.
Regarding that, one can see sponsors kicking off in a different kind of way, even before the announcement hits the ether.

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

So as far as I understand the football authorities want the season to be completed with the likely outcome of games being played behind closed doors.So this means that clubs up and down the country being driven to various locations all sitting close proximity to each other.Then play a game of football then go back home.There is a presumption that players are happy to do this and of course match officials also in agreement. Personally I cant see it happening life is more important than getting the season completed with the risks involved

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

So as far as I understand the football authorities want the season to be completed with the likely outcome of games being played behind closed doors.So this means that clubs up and down the country being driven to various locations all sitting close proximity to each other.Then play a game of football then go back home.There is a presumption that players are happy to do this and of course match officials also in agreement. Personally I cant see it happening life is more important than getting the season completed with the risks involved

This is why the antibody test to see who has had covid19 is vital. That way life can start getting back to normal, including sporting events, even behind closed doors.

 

[MilkeySUFC]

Don't suppose your senior partner could explain why sports other than football are cancelling and postponing- no doubt under advise from other lawyers. Give me 10 lawyers and I will give your 10 opinions. Not a criticism just the way it is.

Frankly football is standing out as a game driven by £££ ahead of all else at the moment and its not a great look. They can finish this season if they want to but there wont be a 20/21 season. Rugby's focus is to 1. ensure safety of players, officials and staff, and their families 2. make sure 20/21 season can start as early as possible and go ahead. Neither of these are a priority for the Prem in particular and so you have a different approach.

To be fair, it's not just 10 different people (of any profession), give me 10 days and I will have 10 different ideas of how we could do things.

In the last two days I've thought of:

1. Complete the current season, in full, when ever practicably possible after restrictions relaxed, and cancel 20/21 season.

2. Finish this season, as soon as possible behind closed doors, split next season's 92 teams into SIX leagues (of 2x16, 4x15 teams) and play to a shortened timeframe.

3. Scrap next season's league format and go to knock-out formats only (number of comps/teams in each I haven't even begun to formulate).

I'm sure there's plenty of other solutions we could devise and every single one has major issues. As has been said, by Ron and many others, no solution will be acceptable to everyone.

I don't know what's best but I absolutely bet TV money will have the biggest sway on any outcome.

 

[Floval Flyer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1242476451288383488

 

[pottster]

The other problem is a lot of players will be out of contract at the end of the season. Trying to play out the season will just make a pigs ear out of things.

 

[BriggBlue]

looks like the national league may be following Ron's advice link

Not sure what that actually will look like for relegation from L2 though and what the Knock-on effects will be

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

looks like the national league may be following Ron's advice link

Not sure what that actually will look like for relegation from L2 though and what the Knock-on effects will be

If this gets agreed then pressure on the EFL and Premiership to follow suit

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

'It could be six months before life in the UK returns to "normal", England's deputy chief medical officer has said' (Sunday eve).
OK, so let's see the PL/EFL ignore the government, or maybe not.
So, a September resumption to finish this season? I don't think so.

 

[Thundersley Blue]

I have just seen that Shepherd Neame, who sponsor the major Cricket League in the County, have announced they cannot support the League either this year or next.

This news immediately rings alarm bells for all football clubs. Advertising and Sponsorship are going to be even more difficult to obtain. Hadn't really thought of that before. Further cuts in the playing budget for next year will surely follow.

 

[BriggBlue]

I have just seen that Shepherd Neame, who sponsor the major Cricket League in the County, have announced they cannot support the League either this year or next.

This news immediately rings alarm bells for all football clubs. Advertising and Sponsorship are going to be even more difficult to obtain. Hadn't really thought of that before. Further cuts in the playing budget for next year will surely follow.

It won't just be sponsorship either, club owners will be feeling the pinch and wondering whether they really need a football club, strangely it is the clubs higher up the pyramid will be hit harder by this than we will. were skint already and were looking to raise money for next season anyway and may well have managed to do so before this became so widespread