This week the F.A. Premier League (F.A.P.L.) “Project Restart” plan has been given some press. The key questions seem to be “when”, “where” and “how”, since we know the “what” which is a return to professional football and income. The popular potential restart date is Monday 8 June, with completion of the 92 F.A.P.L. matches by Monday 27 or Friday 31 July at the latest, a provisional starting date for the 2020-21 season being Saturday 22 August. Clubs would be playing up to 3 matches a week to complete their remaining fixtures.
So far players have been training at home individually linked to their specific coaching and training staff remotely. How will team training and social distancing work out? Will even 5-a-side games and set piece training in crowded penalty areas be allowed? Sometimes team’s defences seem to be made up of strangers anyway, so now there is an excuse!
The next question is “where” will matches be played, since there are suggestions a small number of selected grounds will be used to help reduce risks of infection with coronavirus Covid-19, and police and ancillary staff numbers needed. In terms of the numbers of cases of the disease and deaths, the English “hot spots” are London, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and Birmingham and the West Midlands. That means of the F.A.P.L. “top 10” at the suspension of play on 19 March only Leicester City and Sheffield United are geographically in other parts of the country. Perhaps therefore some of those grounds in less infected areas should be used such as Bournemouth, Brighton, Leicester, Newcastle, Norwich and Sheffield?
As for “how” then all these 92 matches will be behind closed doors with a maximum of about 400 people (all tested negative for the virus) attending, and most involved in the match itself one way or another. In that way using a smaller stadium, not that St. James’ Park Newcastle is, may reduce the “empty atmosphere” a crowd-less match has. They will still be worth playing even for a mid-table Club because each place in the F.A.P.L. is worth £1.9 million in prize money. The “crowds” will be at home not in the ‘pubs and clubs, since the F.A.P.L. plan to broadcast half of the matches. That of course is where the F.A., Clubs and broadcasters themselves, through advertising, were losing out. The game is no longer as the late, great Danny Blanchflower once said about “glory, doing things in style”, but money.
Until next time, keep safe and if you are an essential worker “thank you”, Andrew at PLDs.