Crunch talks
PL clubs lean towards voiding season with Liverpool title in the balance
FOOTBALL should prepare to go on a war footing as it attempts to deal with the coronavirus outbreak – and that could mean abandoning the season. After initially announcing a halt to fixtures until April 4, Premier League clubs are thought to be edging towards cutting their losses rather than extending the season after being advised that crowd restrictions may not be lifted until the end of July.
And ahead of a conference call between representatives of all 20 clubs, leading sports lawyer Richard Cramer had advised them to think the unthinkable.
“If anyone thinks a magic wand is going to be waved and by April 4 everything is back to sort of normality I think that is unrealistic,” said Cramer.
“Everyone will try to play all the matches to preserve the integrity of the league but the nearest precedent is what happened in the World Wars when the competition was abandoned.
“The other big precedent is the big freeze in 1963 when I think one match was postponed 15 times.
“The beauty of that was you know there is going to be a thaw – winter doesn’t last forever – but with this we just don’t know how long we are talking about.
“The nearest thing to it in terms of a certainty is the war so that’s what they have to plan for in my view.”
While the winter weather disrupted the 1962/63 season to the extent that the FA Cup final was put back three weeks, the outbreak of World War Two stopped it in its tracks.
It ended after three games following Germany’s invasion of Poland at which point the leagues were torn up and redrawn regionally.
A 50-mile travel limit and 8,000 attendance ceiling was imposed.
Blackpool, who were top of the table at the time, had to start again in the North-West League and ended up third.
They finished fifth when the Football League resumed in 1946/47 when Liverpool won the title.
There will be huge pressure on the Premier League to award Liverpool the title this season even if it cannot be finished after their dominance of the campaign but the issue of promotion and relegation is much less clearcut.
“Ultimately the decision will probably rest with the Premier League’s Board of Directors. These guys have a wealth of experience but this is unprecedented,” said Cramer.
“There is nothing in the rulebook about this. Nothing to say that after three-quarters of a season the positions would stand. Nothing like that.
“It may well be that they give Liverpool the title but expunge everything else from the records and start all over again in 2020/21.
“When you draw your terms and conditions up or take your insurance out I don’t think you plan for something of this nature.
“There are going to be disputes and, horrible though it is to say, there is so much litigation which is going to be flying around because of this.” – Express Newspapers