September 12 suggested as date for new EFL season to kick off

THE EFL is considering September 12 as a potential start date for next season – but a decision will have to be made soon if that is to become a reality, according to Sunderland chief executive Jim Rodwell.

The 2019-20 season was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 crisis and a majority of League One clubs last month voted to curtail the campaign, although the play-offs will still take place.

There has been no announcement about next season, however, with the EFL yet to set a date for the 2020-21 programme to get under way.

Key to any start date below Championship level will be the admittance of fans into grounds, with clubs unable to operate without their biggest source of revenue - gate receipts - and that will involve talks between the EFL, the government, clubs and local authorities.

Clubs will need time to plan for the restart from both an infrastructure and playing perspective.

After discounting the possibility of restarting on August 29, Rodwell said September 12 has also been discussed but warned: “Even if we were going to do September 12, that decision would have to be set in stone pretty quickly because there is a lot of planning which would need to go in prior to that.

“September 12 sounds like a reasonable date but we have to get fans back in grounds.”

Attendances are likely to be capped at between 25-35% of capacity to allow for social distancing measures but the exact cap is expected to vary from ground to ground.

Rodwell added: “I don’t think it will be a flat percentage of capacity which will apply to all stadiums because every ground is different.”