FIGHT TO THE FINISH
Relief for Reds as FA agree extension to signal that season will be completed
ENGLISH FOOTBALL has spelled out its determination to get the 2019-20 season completed by extending it “indefinitely”.
It sent out a clear message the current campaign will be fully finished, giving Jurgen Klopp’s runaway top-flight leaders the chance to clinch the title properly.
A statement released after a video conference between the Premier League and all 20 clubs, which the FA also attended, said that football would not be
IT WAS not so much a case of what was said as what was not.
Nobody, for instance, even suggested for a minute that the season should be scrapped. The Premier League were ready to argue the case after West Ham managing director Karren Brady’s incendiary column appeared after the last meeting a week ago.
Once again, though, within the digital video conference gathering of all 20 clubs, there was not a nanobyte of a suggestion that the current campaign should end.
At the same time, a little-known rule buried away on page 100 of the 589-page tome that is the FA Handbook 2019-20 was scrapped without a second thought.
The official “closed season” starts every year on June 1 but, obviously in the circumstances, that could not possibly work.
Instead of setting a new deadline, as UEFA did when they asked for football on the continent to be concluded by
June 30, the FA ignored such thoughts.
By not setting any sort of target, they have shown that completing the process of crowning a champion and waving goodbye to three properly relegated teams is more important than artificially hurrying on to the 2020-21 season.
Despite the strength of the message, some clubs came away determined to keep themselves covered if the outcome is not as positive as is hoped. Manchester United and Liverpool generously announced goodwill payments to cover loyal matchday and casual non-matchday workers.
According to United, their £1million pledge is to cover wages “should Premier League games be cancelled or played behind closed doors for the remainder of the season”.
Both of those are doomsday scenarios, though.
For Liverpool, having waited what will now be more than
30 years for their club to lift the title, the feeling is that it is only fair their fans should be there to witness it.
At the same time, lawyers for relegationthreatened clubs will want to make sure there is nothing in doubt and that their clients are not dumped off the gravy train before it has reached its proper destination.
By setting an earliest-possible resumption date of April 30, the clear message from the authorities to the clubs is that it is an opportunity for players to get a genuine rest rather than waiting on tenterhooks.
Once this season is finally over, there is likely to be a fair amount of pressure being put on a quick turnaround so that UEFA can get their next round of competitions up and running.
There is also now some thinking time before the next meeting at the start of April – a regular stakeholders’ gathering that has long been in the diary. Realistically, a decision will then have to be made if this April 30 resumption is to have a chance of being implemented. If the country is still in the grip of pandemic, bigger decisions then have to be made. There seems to be little point in starting a season in May or June. June 30 marks the final day of a number of players’ registrations, potentially causing contractual carnage for the final games in which the season is supposed to reach its thrilling conclusion.
One solution, expressed by former EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey yesterday, involves opening the transfer window now – giving clubs a chance to get their playing resources into place for the final push. It would provide a cash injection for clubs lower down the leagues, who could sell off players to meet ongoing wage demands.
And the speculation alone could give fans something to talk about until season 2019-20 gets underway again.
Because, if all goes according to plan, it will be doing just that.