Football League Suspended

[chaddyrovers]

37 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I hardly watch much football under normal circumstances these days unless it's Rovers. I won't be watching any games played behind closed days. 

Each person is different Tyrone. 

[roversfan99]

Find it very strange that Rovers have come out and stated that we have no positive tests, have any other Championship clubs done the same?

4 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Yet again, How many times does this need explaining that Football(EFL and PL) are using private Covid-19 tests from a different company than the NHS/our government one. So taking none away from our key workers. 

 

Of course people have different opinions and that's what freedom of speech and living in democracy 

If games will be live on BBC or live on freeview channels owned by Sky which supposedly some games will be according the Culture, Media and Sport minister.

Ive seen behind closed doors football games before over the years like some England away games where fans have been banned.  

Yes I would have the same feeling tho. Just like when I watching a test cricket match that England win or watching the Lakers win at NBA. 

so you will still watch it even tho you don't agree with football restarting at this time? Very hypocritic there. 

Maybe you will be different but I don't think you appreciate the difference, youve uttered the phrase "become a TV sport" so many times that I think you dont fully realise quite how different it will be, how diluted it is, how sanitized it is and how the novelty will almost certaintly wear off fairly quickly. 

I have watched the Bundesliga and one thing I will say that shows that I am not single minded enough to only consider one side of the argument is that the actual quality of the games have been good, there isnt a massive reduction in tempo, there doesnt seem to be an overriding fear in terms of physical contact, I have Leipzig on now and they have been incredibly good, the Bayern game was good last night, Dortmund are good to watch. One thing that I would say is that being behind closed doors does perhaps favour the better teams. But when it came back last week, football was back, I was excited, within half an hour of the first game I was half watching, it wasnt the same. I believe you dont have BT so you might not appreciate how different it is until youve watched it yourself.

It is more the overall feeling that you have, that edge is gone, there is something missing, not even necessarily in individual games as much as to the overall season. Even teams who finish the season in success will have fans with mixed feelings. It isnt like a one off game like you have seen behind closed doors before, and you wont have, or at least dont yet know if you will have that same feeling, I will wager that you wont. If we say got to the play off final, unlikely I know, that would be the first Wembley appearance for 28 years. You'd feel like you was missing out, like a rare season of pure success has almost been taken away. If Liverpool win the league, it will be anticlimactic, no celebrations (which arent the same months down the line) and you could go on and on.

I dont understand why games would be put on freeview channels either, surely that would go against one of seemingly the primary reasons why the season is to be finished, the TV money?

 

[chaddyrovers]

32 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Find it very strange that Rovers have come out and stated that we have no positive tests, have any other Championship clubs done the same?

why shouldn't Rovers come out and tell fans that they have no positive tests? 

Hull City?

[chaddyrovers]

33 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Maybe you will be different but I don't think you appreciate the difference, youve uttered the phrase "become a TV sport" so many times that I think you dont fully realise quite how different it will be, how diluted it is, how sanitized it is and how the novelty will almost certaintly wear off fairly quickly. 

I fully appreciate how difference you might feel But I will be different. Football is a TV sport with at least 4 Premier League games per week and 2 Championship games per weekend. Yes fans will be able to attend till Xmas but its only 6 months to wait. aint long before we can get back to watching football inside stadiums

34 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I have watched the Bundesliga and one thing I will say that shows that I am not single minded enough to only consider one side of the argument is that the actual quality of the games have been good, there isnt a massive reduction in tempo, there doesnt seem to be an overriding fear in terms of physical contact, I have Leipzig on now and they have been incredibly good, the Bayern game was good last night, Dortmund are good to watch. One thing that I would say is that being behind closed doors does perhaps favour the better teams. But when it came back last week, football was back, I was excited, within half an hour of the first game I was half watching, it wasnt the same. I believe you dont have BT so you might not appreciate how different it is until youve watched it yourself.

I was going to going to get BT Sport last week but I aint willing to pay 25 pounds per pounds per month. I watched the highlights on YouTube later. When Spanish Football is back on the La Liga I will be watching it as much as possible. 

34 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

It is more the overall feeling that you have, that edge is gone, there is something missing, not even necessarily in individual games as much as to the overall season. Even teams who finish the season in success will have fans with mixed feelings. It isnt like a one off game like you have seen behind closed doors before, and you wont have, or at least dont yet know if you will have that same feeling, I will wager that you wont. If we say got to the play off final, unlikely I know, that would be the first Wembley appearance for 28 years. You'd feel like you was missing out, like a rare season of pure success has almost been taken away. If Liverpool win the league, it will be anticlimactic, no celebrations (which arent the same months down the line) and you could go on and on.

I know a few Liverpool fans who I worked with in the past and I know they will be celebrating and drinking when they will win the title. Good luck to them. 

Who knows what will happen. If we get to the playoffs or playoffs final I will have the same passion I would as I would inside Ewood Park or Wembley. 

 

34 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont understand why games would be put on freeview channels either, surely that would go against one of seemingly the primary reasons why the season is to be finished, the TV money?

There is talk that a few games will be on BBC or Sky freeview channels or YouTube. 

[rigger]

14 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

why shouldn't Rovers come out and tell fans that they have no positive tests? 

Hull City?

I think the Rovers are entitled to make the announcement. As long as its true.

[G Somerset Rover]

2 hours ago, Cherry Blue said:

Championship tested 1,014 players and staff. Two were positive coming from Hull City who will now self-isolate for 7 days.

Looks like it’s ‘game on’ regardless of people’s thoughts now then.

[rigger]

7 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Looks like it’s ‘game on’ regardless of people’s thoughts now then.

Oh to see Leeds bottle it again.

[RevidgeBlue]

51 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Find it very strange that Rovers have come out and stated that we have no positive tests, have any other Championship clubs done the same?

Maybe you will be different but I don't think you appreciate the difference, youve uttered the phrase "become a TV sport" so many times that I think you dont fully realise quite how different it will be, how diluted it is, how sanitized it is and how the novelty will almost certaintly wear off fairly quickly. 

I have watched the Bundesliga and one thing I will say that shows that I am not single minded enough to only consider one side of the argument is that the actual quality of the games have been good, there isnt a massive reduction in tempo, there doesnt seem to be an overriding fear in terms of physical contact, I have Leipzig on now and they have been incredibly good, the Bayern game was good last night, Dortmund are good to watch. One thing that I would say is that being behind closed doors does perhaps favour the better teams. But when it came back last week, football was back, I was excited, within half an hour of the first game I was half watching, it wasnt the same. I believe you dont have BT so you might not appreciate how different it is until youve watched it yourself.

It is more the overall feeling that you have, that edge is gone, there is something missing, not even necessarily in individual games as much as to the overall season. Even teams who finish the season in success will have fans with mixed feelings. It isnt like a one off game like you have seen behind closed doors before, and you wont have, or at least dont yet know if you will have that same feeling, I will wager that you wont. If we say got to the play off final, unlikely I know, that would be the first Wembley appearance for 28 years. You'd feel like you was missing out, like a rare season of pure success has almost been taken away. If Liverpool win the league, it will be anticlimactic, no celebrations (which arent the same months down the line) and you could go on and on.

I dont understand why games would be put on freeview channels either, surely that would go against one of seemingly the primary reasons why the season is to be finished, the TV money?

 

If Rovers have had no positive tests so far I don't see a problem with them announcing the fact. I'm sure you'd have been absolutely cock a hoop if we'd announced 2 or 3 positive tests as you'd be citing it as evidence it was too early for football to restart.

If you meant it's surprising we didn't have any positive tests, again this isn't that surprising as only 0.8% tested positive in the Premier League round of tests so only a handful of Clubs will record any positive tests.

As regards the Bundesliga, it seems to have gone relatively well, the standard has been good and to my mind there is no more loss of tension or feeling of importance or feeling that the proceedings are a training exercise or exhibition match than if there was a crowd. The only downside from watching in this Country is that most people don't have an emotional attachment in either side.

You are against the reintroduction of football so therefore you are opposed to playing behind closed doors on principle and are now trying to decry its relevance.

There's no doubt it isn't quite as good as the normal product but such is the apparent resistance to getting back to normal in general I fear we're going to have to get used to football behind closed doors for quite some time to come.

[roversfan99]

5 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If Rovers have had no positive tests so far I don't see a problem with them announcing the fact. I'm sure you'd have been absolutely cock a hoop if we'd announced 2 or 3 positive tests as you'd be citing it as evidence it was too early for football to restart.

If you meant it's surprising we didn't have any positive tests, again this isn't that surprising as only 0.8% tested positive in the Premier League round of tests so only a handful of Clubs will record any positive tests.

As regards the Bundesliga, it seems to have gone relatively well, the standard has been good and to my mind there is no more loss of tension or feeling of importance or feeling that the proceedings are a training exercise or exhibition match than if there was a crowd. The only downside from watching in this Country is that most people don't have an emotional attachment in either side.

You are against the reintroduction of football so therefore you are opposed to playing behind closed doors on principle and are now trying to decry its relevance.

There's no doubt it isn't quite as good as the normal product but such is the apparent resistance to getting back to normal in general I fear we're going to have to get used to football behind closed doors for quite some time to come.

Why on earth would I want anyone to contract coronavirus? It was a genuine question as the other day I read that the results were very much confidential and I was thus surprised to see Rovers come out with that tweet. Ultimately I have since seen another team tweet similar so maybe it is common place.

Your comment on me being opposed to playing behind closed doors "on principle" due to being against the idea of re-introducing football is totally ludicrous too.

I like you and everyone else love watching football and miss it as much as anyone, so what you have to remember is me being skeptical of its reintroduction is not a natural instinctive reaction, it goes against my wants and needs of wanting to watch football again.

The thing is you and chaddy are speaking from very stubborn points of view, whereby chaddy wants football back and turns a blind eye towards any possible points towards not bringing football back, living in somewhat of a fantasy world, whereas you have been dismissive of a pandemic right from the start.

Indeed, I did comment that the standard of the games technically and in terms of tempo has been maintained much better than I had expected, something not consistent with a desire to dismiss any notion of the reintroduction of football. I did expect the actual footballing product on show to be diluted or inferior, with even silly ideas mentioned like turning away when tackling etc, and to be fair I am not sure that is the case, that was an area of doubt I had that I am satisfied has not been noticeably affected. Leipzig today played some brilliant football to watch, and Bayern Munich yesterday also played some very good football, and there was an element of jeopardy momentarily when they were pegged back to 3-2.

The aspect of behind closed doors that I did not appreciate is the overall atmospheric situation of it, and how removing that, even if the football is the same, takes the buzz away from it. I was excited to see football back last week and logistically I think that the Bundesliga have pulled it off as well as is feasibly possible. There also doesnt seem to be the issue of players refusing to come back for whatever reason, another hurdle we would need to appreciate, understand and overcome. It isnt even that the fans arent there in the individual games necessarily either. You just realise that something is missing, usually a title race between 2 fantastic teams such as Bayern Munich and Dortmund would be exciting, ultimately though the games seem somewhat of a clinical obligation in the absence of fans, with the better footballing sides benefiting. But whoever wins the league, you just know watching it that no matter how tightly run the winner is, the elation of winning it will be massively subdued.

I appreciate that I have not got an active interest in the Bundesliga, and to be honest dont really understand peoples need to make a temporary attachment to a team to enjoy it, but conversely the main league that I watch is the Premier League due to its coverage and I don't have a positive attachment to any teams in there either. I actually think though that if I did have an attachment, for example take the unlikely scenario in which Rovers made the play offs behind closed doors, that would be when the different surely would be most apparent. The usual feeling of elation of a successful season which rarely come around would probably be minimised with more of an anticlimactic and even bitter feeling more apparent at the fact that a potential trip to Wembley was taken away, a potential memorable day getting promotion was taken away, and even some if not all of the reward of the following season being taken away. This is why I refuse to accept that anyone could be as equally delighted as they would have been had the pandemic not occured, and indeed for other clubs, take Liverpool, Leeds etc for example, the closure of finishing the season will not just be a normal feeling.

My feelings on the immorality on the testing needed, and my doubts on the necessity of risking players health, players not being willing to come back, the impossibility of maintaining the integrity etc still all remain, but ultimately it seems past that point when the football is back. I have just realised that although I don't really care for platitudes like "football is nothing without fans" I really dont think it is. I think that behind closed doors football in my own opinion should be minimised. For example, if we assumed that we could play in front of fans from January onwards, maybe optimistic, then I would happily null and void this season, and just start the next season as delayed as possible, to get the vast majority if not all of next season in front of fans, maybe using the Euros, European competitions, even cup competitions etc as collateral to save time and work up until and around the winter World Cup in Qatar. Of course, the problem is the uncertainty of when we can play in front of fans again.

[Stuart]

17 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

There's no doubt it isn't quite as good as the normal product but such is the apparent resistance to getting back to normal in general I fear we're going to have to get used to football behind closed doors for quite some time to come.

Sadly I think you are correct that it could be a while.

It will be interesting to see what happens with coverage. For the whole TV money situation to make any sense we will have to expect that we will only see the same games available on Sky and BT that were originally planned. We may possibly be offered iFollow subscriptions for all games - including 3pm kos.

If that is the case, I’ll forego my refund in return for a free subscription.

That said, I’m so disillusioned by this whole sorry saga, I think I’d just rather have the refund. Particularly given that football has seen fit to declare it safe to put on matches while at the same time it believes it to be unsafe for spectators.

Fans who don’t have coronavirus should be allowed to attend...

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

why shouldn't Rovers come out and tell fans that they have no positive tests? 

Hull City?

Mowbray said he is going to focus on the negatives ??.

[AllRoverAsia]

Koln 0 v Dusseldorf 2 at present, a decent enough game.

Also trying to create the illusion of spectators in the seats opposite the camera and piped, I think, crowd sound which is going a bit weird.

[chaddyrovers]

37 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Sadly I think you are correct that it could be a while.

It will be interesting to see what happens with coverage. For the whole TV money situation to make any sense we will have to expect that we will only see the same games available on Sky and BT that were originally planned. We may possibly be offered iFollow subscriptions for all games - including 3pm kos.

If that is the case, I’ll forego my refund in return for a free subscription.

That said, I’m so disillusioned by this whole sorry saga, I think I’d just rather have the refund. Particularly given that football has seen fit to declare it safe to put on matches while at the same time it believes it to be unsafe for spectators.

Fans who don’t have coronavirus should be allowed to attend...

From what I have read all Premier League games including 3pm kick offs will be TV or YouTube. 

Championship games will be on Sky Sports or Ifollow

[chaddyrovers]

 

54 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The thing is you and chaddy are speaking from very stubborn points of view, whereby chaddy wants football back and turns a blind eye towards any possible points towards not bringing football back, living in somewhat of a fantasy world, whereas you have been dismissive of a pandemic right from the start.

No I don't turns a blind eye to other views but Football is coming back and Its positive news about only 2 positive tests in the entire Championship players and staff

55 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The aspect of behind closed doors that I did not appreciate is the overall atmospheric situation of it, and how removing that, even if the football is the same, takes the buzz away from it.

I'm not interest in the atmosphere when I watch it on TV. 

56 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

For example, if we assumed that we could play in front of fans from January onwards, maybe optimistic, then I would happily null and void this season, and just start the next season as delayed as possible, to get the vast majority if not all of next season in front of fans, maybe using the Euros, European competitions, even cup competitions etc as collateral to save time and work up until and around the winter World Cup in Qatar. Of course, the problem is the uncertainty of when we can play in front of fans again.

Well hopefully we will be back in stadium by January with this vaccine and hopefully it works. The UK Government has ordered 100 million doses of it. 

UEFA wont allow it's Euro's and Champions league/Europa League to be affected. 

[RevidgeBlue]

3 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Why on earth would I want anyone to contract coronavirus? It was a genuine question as the other day I read that the results were very much confidential and I was thus surprised to see Rovers come out with that tweet. Ultimately I have since seen another team tweet similar so maybe it is common place.

Your comment on me being opposed to playing behind closed doors "on principle" due to being against the idea of re-introducing football is totally ludicrous too.

I like you and everyone else love watching football and miss it as much as anyone, so what you have to remember is me being skeptical of its reintroduction is not a natural instinctive reaction, it goes against my wants and needs of wanting to watch football again.

The thing is you and chaddy are speaking from very stubborn points of view, whereby chaddy wants football back and turns a blind eye towards any possible points towards not bringing football back, living in somewhat of a fantasy world, whereas you have been dismissive of a pandemic right from the start.

Indeed, I did comment that the standard of the games technically and in terms of tempo has been maintained much better than I had expected, something not consistent with a desire to dismiss any notion of the reintroduction of football. I did expect the actual footballing product on show to be diluted or inferior, with even silly ideas mentioned like turning away when tackling etc, and to be fair I am not sure that is the case, that was an area of doubt I had that I am satisfied has not been noticeably affected. Leipzig today played some brilliant football to watch, and Bayern Munich yesterday also played some very good football, and there was an element of jeopardy momentarily when they were pegged back to 3-2.

The aspect of behind closed doors that I did not appreciate is the overall atmospheric situation of it, and how removing that, even if the football is the same, takes the buzz away from it. I was excited to see football back last week and logistically I think that the Bundesliga have pulled it off as well as is feasibly possible. There also doesnt seem to be the issue of players refusing to come back for whatever reason, another hurdle we would need to appreciate, understand and overcome. It isnt even that the fans arent there in the individual games necessarily either. You just realise that something is missing, usually a title race between 2 fantastic teams such as Bayern Munich and Dortmund would be exciting, ultimately though the games seem somewhat of a clinical obligation in the absence of fans, with the better footballing sides benefiting. But whoever wins the league, you just know watching it that no matter how tightly run the winner is, the elation of winning it will be massively subdued.

I appreciate that I have not got an active interest in the Bundesliga, and to be honest dont really understand peoples need to make a temporary attachment to a team to enjoy it, but conversely the main league that I watch is the Premier League due to its coverage and I don't have a positive attachment to any teams in there either. I actually think though that if I did have an attachment, for example take the unlikely scenario in which Rovers made the play offs behind closed doors, that would be when the different surely would be most apparent. The usual feeling of elation of a successful season which rarely come around would probably be minimised with more of an anticlimactic and even bitter feeling more apparent at the fact that a potential trip to Wembley was taken away, a potential memorable day getting promotion was taken away, and even some if not all of the reward of the following season being taken away. This is why I refuse to accept that anyone could be as equally delighted as they would have been had the pandemic not occured, and indeed for other clubs, take Liverpool, Leeds etc for example, the closure of finishing the season will not just be a normal feeling.

My feelings on the immorality on the testing needed, and my doubts on the necessity of risking players health, players not being willing to come back, the impossibility of maintaining the integrity etc still all remain, but ultimately it seems past that point when the football is back. I have just realised that although I don't really care for platitudes like "football is nothing without fans" I really dont think it is. I think that behind closed doors football in my own opinion should be minimised. For example, if we assumed that we could play in front of fans from January onwards, maybe optimistic, then I would happily null and void this season, and just start the next season as delayed as possible, to get the vast majority if not all of next season in front of fans, maybe using the Euros, European competitions, even cup competitions etc as collateral to save time and work up until and around the winter World Cup in Qatar. Of course, the problem is the uncertainty of when we can play in front of fans again.

Fair comment, I certainly didn't mean to imply that you wished anyone harm rather that you would expect from any sample size of 1000 of the population 5 -10 people to be positive and for those people to make a swift and complete recovery in the absence of any underlying age or health factors.

There were one or two (literally) concerns raised about returning in Germany from players with partners who had serious health conditions but nothing like the hand wringing and agonising which has gone on here. Former Wimbledon and Man Utd striker who is now a football correspondent in Spain said on the radio last week there hadn't been a single objection to returning from players there either.

Certainly as regards to football, in othercountries where Governments haven't jumped the gun and banned all sport until a certain date, there seems to be a general acceptance that seasons have to be finished and everyone is just getting on with it.

Edited May 24, 2020 by RevidgeBlue

[Stuart]

13 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

From what I have read all Premier League games including 3pm kick offs will be TV or YouTube. 

Championship games will be on Sky Sports or Ifollow

If they are going to show games on TV or YouTube then Sky/BT won’t have the exclusivity that they pay top dollar for. This would negate the whole money argument, which is they only logical reason to rush football back.

[Parsonblue]

43 minutes ago, Stuart said:

If they are going to show games on TV or YouTube then Sky/BT won’t have the exclusivity that they pay top dollar for. This would negate the whole money argument, which is they only logical reason to rush football back.

Sky/BT will keep the Premier League games - or the majority of them and certainly the key games.  SKY/BT, as you say, are not going to give up the exclusivity to the major games.  BBC may get the Premier League games that have no importance in terms of European qualification or relegation and very little audience pulling power.  ifollow will end up with Championship games with one or two maybe making it to Quest.

I think the interesting question is what happens next season.  With the Oxford group now admitting that it is unlikely that a vaccine is going to be ready until some time next year - at the earliest and maybe not even at all - it's likely that the whole of next season will be played behind closed doors.  With the costs of testing etc. I'm not sure how clubs in Leagues One and Two could possibly contemplate that and I suspect several Championship clubs will find it a stretch too far. 

The Premier League will be able to fund it from TV money  - both from here and abroad - but I suspect the rest of football is going to really struggle.  In twelve months time I will be amazed if we still have 92 full time clubs at senior level unless the government are going to prop clubs up with financial support.

[OldEwoodBlue]

58 minutes ago, Stuart said:

If they are going to show games on TV or YouTube then Sky/BT won’t have the exclusivity that they pay top dollar for. This would negate the whole money argument, which is they only logical reason to rush football back.

Expect all the big PL games to be exclusively on Sky/BT/Amazon as before... all outside the 3pm Saturday slot.

BBC will probably show Sat 3pm games e.g. Southampton vs Bournmouth with other games on the red button / internet service. This would be an additional (emergency) TV deal funded by central government with (extra) money going into the pyramid to offset closed door losses for the good of "public morale".

Championship will be the standard Sky red button / ifollow format but without the 3pm Saturday blackout.

[RevidgeBlue]

 

8 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

I think the interesting question is what happens next season.  With the Oxford group now admitting that it is unlikely that a vaccine is going to be ready until some time next year - at the earliest and maybe not even at all - it's likely that the whole of next season will be played behind closed doors.  With the costs of testing etc. I'm not sure how clubs in Leagues One and Two could possibly contemplate that and I suspect several Championship clubs will find it a stretch too far. 

The Premier League will be able to fund it from TV money  - both from here and abroad - but I suspect the rest of football is going to really struggle.  In twelve months time I will be amazed if we still have 92 full time clubs at senior level unless the government are going to prop clubs up with financial support.

All correct Parson and something I've been saying for many weeks now.

Yet despite all this you still seem opposed to the return of football?

[arbitro]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52790371

An interesting piece from the Huddersfield owner who reckons 50 or 60 clubs could go bust. I haven't a clue on the numbers but I can see some clubs going to the wall or perhaps part time. The salary cap proposal for Leagues 1 and 2 is really sensible going forward but the defining period for lots of clubs will be between now and the time that paying customers can come back. Worrying times for football.

 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

If they are going to show games on TV or YouTube then Sky/BT won’t have the exclusivity that they pay top dollar for. This would negate the whole money argument, which is they only logical reason to rush football back.

The vast Majority of games will be shown by Sky Sports or BT. But they are talks about some games being on YouTube or BBC or Sky Freeview channel. 

[Stuart]

40 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Sky/BT will keep the Premier League games - or the majority of them and certainly the key games.  SKY/BT, as you say, are not going to give up the exclusivity to the major games.  BBC may get the Premier League games that have no importance in terms of European qualification or relegation and very little audience pulling power.  ifollow will end up with Championship games with one or two maybe making it to Quest.

I think the interesting question is what happens next season.  With the Oxford group now admitting that it is unlikely that a vaccine is going to be ready until some time next year - at the earliest and maybe not even at all - it's likely that the whole of next season will be played behind closed doors.  With the costs of testing etc. I'm not sure how clubs in Leagues One and Two could possibly contemplate that and I suspect several Championship clubs will find it a stretch too far. 

The Premier League will be able to fund it from TV money  - both from here and abroad - but I suspect the rest of football is going to really struggle.  In twelve months time I will be amazed if we still have 92 full time clubs at senior level unless the government are going to prop clubs up with financial support.

This is the dilemma for us all as human beings though, not just football fans. If there is going to be no vaccine then we are going to have to adapt to living with this virus. The question at the moment is, given where the UK is along the curve, is this the right time to restart football? Germany have had a much much lower death rate than anywhere else in Europe, they were ahead of us and have only just returned to football. Spain are more likely to be in the same boat as the PL (a coincidence that UK money is thrown at La Liga by O’Rourke - ex Setanta - ‘s Premier Sports and only available on Sky and Virgin?) where there will be pressure from clubs to restart.

The principle of the lockdown as far as I can see was to avoid everyone becoming sick at the same time. Although it’s controversial and seen as insensitive, herd immunity is likely to be necessary to get us back to normal.

I still maintain though that if footballers can get back playing then spectators should also be able to return - if they wish to. It’s is incongruous to think that it can be safe for players but not safe in the stadium. Neither party can socially distance. 88 seconds is a nonsense when players will be spitting, sweating and breathing heavily in close proximity. It’s one or the other.

On the matter of TV, Sky and BT don’t just pay for certain games, they pay for exclusivity. Given the hype around the product, Bournemouth v Watford on the BBC or ITV would be enough of a football fix for many neutrals - indeed, this could easily be a Sky game! If they are giving up the exclusivity then they will be wanting a discount.

But the most important bit is exactly as you say, what happens next season? When does it start? Is this the point of June and July football, to get the game back in late August? But is this still behind closed doors? This is the TV companies’ wet dream - much like the wall to wall news of coronavirus hiking the ratings, a massively hyped PL behind closed doors would do the same thing. Clubs can even cut costs by closing stadiums and getting rid of staff.

We should be fighting BCD football lest the doors don’t reopen “because it’s not safe”.

(Over to you @RevidgeBlue, I must have made at least three or four contradictions in there  )

[OldEwoodBlue]

Government held the upper hand in the exclusivity negotiation with broadcasters.

Option 1 - we can follow the French precedent and say no pro sport until September at the earliest.

Option 2 - you sell us some of your exclusivity. In return we tweak the laws on the 3pm blackout, facilitate a June restart by our unlock roadmap and pay a sum of money via the BBC.

Edited May 25, 2020 by OldEwoodBlue

[Parsonblue]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

 

All correct Parson and something I've been saying for many weeks now.

Yet despite all this you still seem opposed to the return of football?

I'm opposed to resources being wasted on football rather than where they are needed.  I appreciate that you have been opposed to the lockdown from day one but I look at the growing number of deaths and really don't regard football as all that important in the greater scheme things.

Behind closed doors football is going to be the norm for the foreseeable future.  Our way of life before the virus hit is not going to return until there is a vaccine and that may be a year or two away, if indeed one is created at all.  Social distancing is here to stay with all the ramifications it will bring.  Football, like the rest of society, is going to have to adapt to the new reality and, sadly, many clubs are going to find that impossible.

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, Stuart said:

Spain are more likely to be in the same boat as the PL (a coincidence that UK money is thrown at La Liga by O’Rourke - ex Setanta - ‘s Premier Sports and only available on Sky and Virgin?) where there will be pressure from clubs to restart.

on Sky there is a channel just for La Liga which is 5.99 pounds per month. Via Premier Sports. 24 hours of La Liga coverage