EPL eyes June return
The English Premier League is tentatively scheduling a plan which involves games starting after June 1, which would allow them to finish the season within six weeks and begin the 2020-2021 campaign on August 8 – heading off a financial catastrophe for clubs carrying huge wage bills.
The June 1 start date, in 10 weeks’ time, remains a target rather than anything approaching a certainty but, with the postponement of the European Championship by Uefa last week, this is one of the best-case scenarios being considered by the Premier League and English Football League.
The games would be played behind closed doors, which is a universally accepted proviso, and would need the Government to sanction the presence of emergency crews within the ground.
Those resources are in short supply amid the coronavirus pandemic that has caused an unprecedented shutdown of pubs, cafes, restaurants and public spaces, and no professional football played in the United Kingdom since March 13.
The Premier League, EFL and Football Association agreed on Thursday that there would be no games played until April 30 at the earliest but all governing bodies pledged to complete the 2019-2020 season.
Under the June 1 plan there would be a six-week window to finish the season around July 11, including the FA Cup, which would be challenging but possible and would satisfy the requirements of broadcasters, including key partners Sky Sports and BT Sport. Just as importantly, it would allow next season – the second in the three-year NZ$17 billion deal with domestic and international broadcasters – to begin on time.
If the season could be completed within a six-week time frame it would allow a further four weeks of preparation and rest to get the players ready for another season.
Although finishing this campaign is the priority, beginning the new season is also a necessity as it is crucial to fulfilling the broadcast contracts.
There is the issue of some players being out of contract after June 30 although that is not viewed as insurmountable by the clubs, with governing body Fifa, which regulates registrations and transfers, promising to intervene.
Martin Semmens, the Southampton chief executive, confirmed yesterday that such an arrangement was possible. He told BBC Radio Solent: ‘‘We hope to get the league done by the end of June and that would be easier for everybody.
‘‘As soon as you go past that date, there are then those legal challenges and issues that we have to fulfil.
‘‘But if we end up playing until July 15 and you had to extend a player’s contract by two weeks, I don’t believe that will be a substantial challenge to try to convince a player to play two more weeks’ football.
‘‘I just don’t think – when you look at all the challenges the country is facing right now – to get paid very nicely to do it before he moves to a new club [would be difficult].’’
Semmens added: ‘‘The challenge is making sure we don’t have a knock-on effect into other seasons and make football compromised as the years go on.’’
With the EFL drawing up a NZ$1.4 billion rescue package for its clubs, its chairman, Rick Parry, railed against the notion that it should ask for a handout from Premier League clubs, as has been suggested by some in the three lower divisions. Parry, himself a former Premier League chief executive, said he was ‘‘not a fan of the begging-bowl culture’’.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Parry said that wage bills in the Championship were out of control and suggested that it was there cuts could be made.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that Championship clubs would propose capping players’ wages at NZ$11,330 per week.
Parry said: ‘‘[Rather than] just looking for handouts, it’s better to go with a self-help mentality, saying, ‘This is what we’ve done, this is the problem that we find ourselves in, so how can we all help to produce a better future?’
‘‘I think it’s much better, in dialogue with the Premier League, to talk about sustainable futures and how we might be able to have a reset going forward.
‘‘We have already been looking at measures to control costs. In the Championship, wages represent 107 per cent of turnover of clubs.
‘‘That is completely and utterly unsustainable in any climate. In this climate, it comes home to roost very quickly when there’s no money coming through the door. We need to have better cost-control measures. I’m sure we will because, if this doesn’t focus minds, frankly, what will.’’