EPL’s longest season ends, pandemic issues linger for clubs
By Rob Harris
Once the final whistle blew on the Premier League’s longest season, 352 days after it began, there was a sense of relief and grief for Dean Smith.
Joy at Aston Villa ensuring it avoided relegation on the final day of the pandemic-interrupted season was tinged with sadness for the manager who could not share the achievement his father.
Ron Smith was one of the 45,752 recorded coronavirus victims in Britain, dying at the age of 79 in May during the league’s shutdown.
“It’s been emotional,” Dean Smith said after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at West Ham. “I’m sure he’ll be looking down on us.”
The point earned in east London kept Villa just above the relegation zone. Bournemouth and Watford joined Norwich in dropping into the second flight of competition.
When the league was suddenly halted in the second week of March, after coronavirus infections were reported at Arsenal and Chelsea, Villa was two points from safety and used the hiatus to regroup.
“I thought we used it really well,” Smith said, “We had to, because we couldn’t keep doing what we were doing.”
Throughout the unprecedented 100-day pause in play, uncertainty persisted over whether the season would resume at all. Safety concerns collided with selfinterest and fears about the billion-pound bill for not completing the 380 games.
It was a test of resolve for new Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, but Project Restart was accomplished.
Rules restricted the number of people allowed in stadiums to 300 meant when Liverpool fulfilled its 30year mission to be champions of England again, players lifted the Premier League trophy in an empty Anfield.
But there was no asterisk on the title triumph. The full program of games was completed, unlike in France, where Paris Saint-Germain was declared champion of a curtailed season.
Leicester would have preferred the league positions in March to be the final standings. No team suffered more after the restart in June than the 2016 champions, blowing an eight-point cushion in the Champions League places.
The capitulation was completed by Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Manchester United, which took the last Champions League place off Brendan Rodgers’ lineup.
The game-changer was Manchester City’s big offfield success in a season when the eventual runnersup were dethroned by Liverpool. City’s lawyers convinced the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a two-year ban from European competitions which meant fifth place — where Leicester finished — no longer provided entry to the Champions League.
Frank Lampard steering Chelsea to fourth place was an unexpected feat for the club’s all-time leading scorer in his first season in topflight management while hampered by the club’s transfer ban.
Chelsea reaped the benefits of Lampard having to delve into the club’s pool of academy graduates rather than making expensive signings. Fittingly, 21-year-old midfielder Mason Mount, who only made his competitive debut in August, scored the first goal in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton.
“I’ve learnt a million things,” Lampard said.
The season could still end for Chelsea in a Champions League final if a 3-0 deficit to Bayern Munich can be overcome next month in the round of 16.
Lampard’s first chance of a trophy as Chelsea manager comes in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Arsenal. Like Chelsea, Arsenal turned to a former midfielder this season to take charge. Arriving halfway through the campaign as Unai Emery’s replacement, Mikel Arteta lacked the time to impose his vision on the north London club.
Arsenal will be absent from the Champions League for a fourth successive season and the only route into the Europa League is by winning the FA Cup after finishing eighth. Arsenal was even overhauled by Tottenham, which was adrift in 14th place when Mauricio Pochettino was fired in November and replaced by Jose Mourinho.