Development Squad game at Celtic is suspended
TOWN’S Elite Development Team match at Celtic has been called off due to the latest guidance on the coronavirus.
It was due to be a 2pm kick-off at The Hoops’ Lennoxtown Training Centre - but the game will not now take place.
The Premier League and EFL have suspended all fixtures until at least April 3 because of the pandemic, with the Football Association confirming Academy and youth team matches are also being suspended.
That decision came just hours before the scheduled kick-off in East Dumbartonshire, so the Town team who travelled north of the border yesterday are now making the return journey without playing a game.
The FA statement said: “The FA, Premier League, EFL and FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have collectively agreed to postpone the professional game in
England until Friday 3 April at the earliest.
“This action, which will be kept under constant review, has been taken due to the increasing numbers of clubs taking steps to isolate their players and staff because of the Covid-19 virus.
“It will also apply to all
England team fixtures at every level and all FA competitions including the Emirates FA Cup and the Women’s FA Cup, along with academy and youth-team matches.
“The decision is being made purely on the number of cases requiring self-isolation and the impact on facilities. Given the steps being taken across clubs, there is no alternative but for today’s action. However, all parties are committed at this time to trying to complete this season’s domestic fixture programme and are liaising to establish appropriate options to do so.”
THE Examiner answers your questions on what the EFL’s decision to suspend the football programme means for Town.
THE decision means that Huddersfield Town’s scheduled home game against Wigan Athletic today, Wednesday evening’s trip to Nottingham Forest and the following weekend’s game at Birmingham City have all been called off.
Town are currently scheduled to play Preston North End at home on April 4 but there is no guarantee that will still go ahead as planned.
WE don’t know. It depends how the
THAT’S the plan, but again, it depends how the pandemic continues to unfold over the coming weeks. It is entirely possible that further games will be postponed; for us, it’s hard to imagine they won’t. We may get a clearer picture of what the contingency plan is after Uefa’s meeting on Tuesday about what is going to happen with this summer’s planned Euro 2020 tournament. That’s because part of the issue is that there is only so long games can continue being postponed without butting up on the start of Euro 2020. If the tournament were to be cancelled or moved to 2021 – as reports have suggested it will be – then that
Town are scheduled to play Preston North
End on April 4, but there is no guarantee
that will go ahead
would free up the summer months and at the very least leave open the possibility that the season could resume at some point. Even if the Euros were cancelled, though, there is no guarantee that the pandemic will have lifted come June or July – which leaves the future footballing calendar still very much uncertain.
THAT remains to be seen: it could be that the 2019/20 season is voided altogether, it could be that the current league tables are declared to be final, or there could be another solution altogether.
Those would all suit Huddersfield Town quite nicely, of course, as any of those outcomes would guarantee them Championship football next season – but given the wider implications, hopefully it is not a decision that needs to be made.