Football and the Coronavirus

BaZ87 said:
Clubs that are at risk of being relegated will use any excuse to prevent the season resuming. First we had Karen Brady being a shameless hypocrite with her stuff about the NHS etc and now clubs at the bottom of the table are objecting for 'sporting integrity' reasons because games cannot be played at all stadiums. Whether this happened a month ago or in a months time, the likes of West Ham would still look for any reason to save their own skin.
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This.

If you're a club in the Premier league, positioned nicely to get your share of the large amounts of money that comes with the Premier league... but you're down in the relegation area, with a handful of matches to go and there was someway that you could make it so that the season was voided and there was no relegation, you would jump at it. No matter which season it was. The simple truth is that the people at risk of going down do not want the season to finish, plain and simple. Its nothing to do with health concerns, its nothing to do with neutral grounds, nothing to do with tv rights, nothing to do with safety worries. Its entirely to do with the fact that they know if the season completes they could be in the Championship next year. They're essentially doing the equivalent of taking the ball to the corner flag and trying to wait it out until the whistle is blown.
 
BaZ87 said:
How would starting next season at neutral venues but ending the season at home stadiums be any different to the situation now? It's exactly the same, just in reverse. You're going to end up with some sides having less home games than others and vice versa. Brighton's concerns about the difficulty of remaining home/away games will still stand - next season Brighton might play 'away' to Liverpool at a neutral venue and a rival of theirs have to play Liverpool at Anfield with a crowd.

There is absolutely some validity to the concerns being raised as general points but when you look at the specifics of the bottom 6's concerns, of the 6 sides that are in the relegation fight, only Villa are being disadvantaged as they have 6 remaining home games compared to 5 for the others. Brighton will argue that they have a disproportionate number of harder home games (which will become even harder) but the flip side of that is they have easier home games that are now even easier. Steve Parish also made the point on Sky yesterday that sometimes timings of games are a bit of a lucky dip and no opposition is ever the same for all 19 teams - you'll have injuries, teams with more or less to play for at different points in the season and so on.
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Because everyone knows that the likelyhood of any games being played with fans next season is next to zero so the premier league can make the decision now that all games next season will be behind closed doors, no one has any advantage then. Scientists have already said social distancing will be a thing for the next 12-18 months and you can’t really social distance in a football stadium
 
woppy101 said:
Because everyone knows that the likelyhood of any games being played with fans next season is next to zero so the premier league can make the decision now that all games next season will be behind closed doors, no one has any advantage then.
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That wasn't what Steve Parish suggested would happen and because of the finances involved, it certainly won't happen. Whatever happens now, teams are going to lose 10s if not 100s of millions of pounds. If after 1/4 of the season it is then deemed safe for teams to play in their own grounds and supporters to return then it 100% will happen. Matchday revenue is worth £100m+ per season for some clubs, they cannot afford for it not to happen and supporters would demand it.
 
BaZ87 said:
That wasn't what Steve Parish suggested would happen and because of the finances involved, it certainly won't happen. Whatever happens now, teams are going to lose 10s if not 100s of millions of pounds. If after 1/4 of the season it is then deemed safe for teams to play in their own grounds and supporters to return then it 100% will happen. Matchday revenue is worth £100m+ per season for some clubs, they cannot afford for it not to happen and supporters would demand it.
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As my edit said scientists have already said social distancing will be a thing for the next 12-18 months and you can’t really social distance in a football stadium I think the first crowd you will see in a football stadium will be the European championships next year. I think scientists can predict what is going to happen a lot better than Steve Parish TBH don’t seem to remember any PHDs after his name.
This is one thing the premier league has no say in, its up to the government to relax social distancing which won’t happen until a vaccine and until it happens you won’t see one spectator in a football stadium
 
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woppy101 said:
As my edit said scientists have already said social distancing will be a thing for the next 12-18 months and you can’t really social distance in a football stadium I think the first crowd you will see in a football stadium will be the European championships next year, and I think scientists can predict what is going to happen a lot better than Steve Parish TBH don’t seem to remember any PHDs after his name.
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Nobody knows exactly when crowds will return and Steve Parish certainly wasn't saying they definitely will return. I was responding to your point that clubs would agree to playing all of next season behind closed doors - Steve Parish suggested that wouldn't be the case and it's fairly straight forward to understand why too. Financially clubs need the money (and even more so if this season isn't finished) and supporters wouldn't accept not being able to attend games when they're told it's safe to do so.
 
BaZ87 said:
Nobody knows exactly when crowds will return and Steve Parish certainly wasn't saying they definitely will return. I was responding to your point that clubs would agree to playing all of next season behind closed doors - Steve Parish suggested that wouldn't be the case and it's fairly straight forward to understand why too. Financially clubs need the money (and even more so if this season isn't finished) and supporters wouldn't accept not being able to attend games when they're told it's safe to do so.
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It makes no difference what the premier league, clubs or Steve Parish suggest if social distancing isn’t relaxed(which it won’t be)the stadiums stay locked to spectators.
I don’t understand what you not getting about social distancing being in force for the next 12-18 months minimum (scientists have already said as much) , which takes us past the end of next season so the premier league can say all games will be played behind closed doors quite comfortably.
 
scientists don't make policy, politicians do. If you seriously think things aren't going to be relaxed for over a year then you are incredibly naive.
 
Shamikebab said:
scientists don't make policy, politicians do. If you seriously think things aren't going to be relaxed for over a year then you are incredibly naive.
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Of course things will be relaxed but the 1m rule is here to stay until a vaccine, even politicians have said as much and you can’t have a 1m rule in a football stadium, your being incredibly optimistic If you think your getting into a football stadium to watch a football match before next summer.
 
Of course politicians will say that now, because the public is overwhelmingly behind them. Things will change and policy will change. Money rules everything, you need to understand that.

it's 2m, not 1m...

So you missed the shots of flights this week fully booked then?
 
Shamikebab said:
it's 2m, not 1m...

So you missed the shots of flights this week fully booked then?
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No you need to understand football fans attending games are at the bottom of the list, if football can continue behind closed doors broadcast on tv.
Your right in this country it’s 2m which is likely to be relaxed in the next few weeks to come in line with the WHO’s 1m suggestion.
I did see that and there is currently an investigation why it was allowed to happen, airlines are currently trying to come up with a plan to allow air travel with social distancing(can’t see it happening myself which is a shame as I’m booked to go to Thailand in October)
 
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Don’t get me wrong I can’t wait to get back to St James Park, but I’m a realist and honestly can’t see it happening until next August at the earliest.
 
woppy101 said:
It makes no difference what the premier league, clubs or Steve Parish suggest if social distancing isn’t relaxed(which it won’t be)the stadiums stay locked to spectators.
I don’t understand what you not getting about social distancing being in force for the next 12-18 months minimum (scientists have already said as much) , which takes us past the end of next season so the premier league can say all games will be played behind closed doors quite comfortably.
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It's very difficult to have a conversation with you when your replies have no relevance to the post you're quoting.

You suggested that the clubs would decide now (or before next season) that all games would be played at neutral venues next season - Steve Parish's interview with Sky suggested that they have no plans to do that. It is also very easy to understand why they wouldn't do that. Nobody knows when supporters will be allowed back into the stadium or how many will be allowed back in when restrictions are relaxed. Maybe they won't be allowed back at all until after next season ends, maybe they'll allow x% of the capacity for part of next season, maybe a vaccine will be available mid way through and full crowds will be allowed by February. You don't know that and neither does anybody else. Clubs will not tie their hands now though. Matchday revenue accounts for 10s if not 100s of millions per season for PL clubs and no owner will give that up unless they 100% have to.
 
I think I’ll quite enjoy a bit of summer football. We’ve got a big tv in the conservatory, so a few beers, bit of sun in the garden and a match will be pretty cool.
 
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