Big Sam was right, there is no choice!
I AGREE with Sam Allardyce (NLP, April 12) that a decision must now be taken to close the 2019-20 season, with no extra-time, in order to focus on getting ready for the 2020-21 and its potential delayed start.
Last week’s ratification by the FA Council to null and void leagues from Steps 3 to 7 of the pyramid should apply across the board to maintain the integrity of the game.
Whether it’s Liverpool at the top of the Premier League or Jersey Bulls in Combined Counties League Division One, clubs should all be treated the same as any inequality is a substantial breach of affiliation rules.
It’s been suggested that the monies contracted to sponsors is the stumbling block but voiding the season also applies to contracts, even if insurers try to assert that Covid-19 is not covered.
Surely sponsors cannot be allowed to get away with such a reading and surely public opprobrium can be brought to bear for the exchange of publicity already received and paid for?
Despite the great show of unity, with 180 clubs calling for the season to be concluded via a version of points-per-game – and with last week’s NLP editorial suggesting that it might want to emulate the measures imposed by the Rugby Football Union – it now looks as though the only outcome in future would be a rule change based on the proportion of games played and after due consultation/vote with an agreed formula if such a scenario were to arise in the future.
We cannot know when and how this scourge will draw to a close but the lockdown is a blunt tool without an exit strategy. To hunt the virus down can only be achieved with a public health campaign to test and test, but the failure to execute with sufficient haste, despite forewarnings from China and Italy and with the early receipt of the genetic sequence, will see an interrupted economy and return of all gates open for admission. RICHARD CHILVERS
Lowestoft