After days of confusion
Suspended until at least April 3 and there are rumours that the season may not finish at all. pulled the plug on their respective domestic competitions – and Germany’s Bundesliga would follow suit first thing Monday.
No, the Premier League intended to plough on. So too did the EFL and SPFL.
In truth, though, nobody expected that stiff-upper-lip stance to survive the lightning spread of the killer flu from the Far East for too long. And less than an hour on – at 10.20pm – the Premier League’s pledge lay in virtual tatters.
That was the moment Arsenal went public with news their Spanish boss Mikel Arteta had tested positive for the virus.
The KO punch had arrived. Even playing matches behind closed doors was no longer an option. After all, Arteta’s Gunners were
In early March, the Moroccan Football Federation ordered all matches in the country to be played behind closed doors. supposed to face Brighton on Saturday – an impossibility given they were now in self-isolation.
Within minutes of the shock revelation, the trip to The Amex was officially off.
From then on it was a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ English and Scottish football would be kicked into touch – and the 2019-20 campaign, as we know it, would change completely.
Any lingering doubts were firmly put to bed in the early hours of Friday – at 1.20am to be exact – as Chelsea confirmed England attacker Callum Hudson-Odoi was infected.
At 9.45am, there was a similar announcement from Everton. Next up, came Bournemouth. Then, at
10.30am on the morning of Friday, March 13 (in case the date escaped your attention), following an emergency Premier League meeting, the bombshell we dreaded – yet anticipated – hit.
All Premier League games would be postponed until April 3 – and the same applied to the EFL and SPFL.
The suspension of the beautiful game on these shores has occurred because the health of the individual is deemed the
No.1 priority. The collective sigh of relief could be heard from Bournemouth to Glasgow, via London and Merseyside.