Football has been on a COVID-19 timeout since late-March and rightly so. This was due to the necessary lockdown to prevent the pervasive spread of the coronavirus and its sweeping path of destruction. Things are dropping back a little as measures kick in and there is talk about football being brought back but this won’t be before June 1 and subject to Government advice and guidelines.
In truth, no one is really sure what football will look like when it does come back and how football will return to anything like its previous manner. There are talks going on at every level and plans being worked out as to how seasons will end and what decisions need to be made in order to make a return safe for all involved.
For EFL sides, there is talk that Leagues One and Two could very well be folded in and decided by a fair and proportionate application of a mathematical formula – the measure of which is yet to be finalised. One thing is known, the initial return will be in empty grounds and football will be played behind closed doors.
There is even talk of that form of football carrying over to next year in order to truly eliminate the threat that COVID-19 holds for people. It is that which forms a part of Luton Town CEO, Gary Sweet’s concerns:
Twitter: “We have to be open minded in creating that solution.”
“Football is in a precarious position here and we’ve got to… https://t.co/ze5NjoAi2B (@talkSPORT)
Admitting that there is “a general consensus that all clubs want to play out the season,” Sweet then continues to talk about the importance of safety and its impact on clubs and their efforts to play out their campaigns to a natural end.
Clubs in all three EFL leagues are feeling the financial pinch and the effect it is having on clubs. Talking about protecting the “professional game“, he then talks about the “real threat” that clubs could be looking at playing in front of empty terraces until 2021.
On this he was bluntly honest, saying that “football can’t go a year without having any supporters.” That is a point that surely must be taken into consideration when the powers that be make up their forward planning.
