Restart date set is delayed
BURTON Albion and their League One rivals look set to be kept waiting for news of when next season will start.
Clubs were hopeful that a restart date would be established this week, eager for clarity as they look to put recruitment and pre-season plans in place.
Meetings were initially scheduled for this week but Peterborough United director of football Barry Fry has now confirmed that these have been postponed until July 24.
Two provisional start dates – August 29 and September 12 – have been put to clubs, while there are also plans in place to begin the season with a Carabao Cup tie.
But Fry has confirmed it will be another two weeks until there is clarity on which start date has been selected.
He told the Peterborough Telegraph: “It’s incredibly frustrating but we’ve now been told we won’t hear anything about a start date until July 24. The Premier League and the FA are still talking with the EFL about cups and all sorts.
“It’s driving our manager Darren Ferguson up the wall as he can’t plan properly for next season. It can’t start any later than September 12 or we’ll never get the fixtures in. If we start on September 12 it will be six months between competitive matches for us.”
Portsmouth look set to lose star man Ronan Curtis.
The News claim that Curtis is one of the names being eyed by Brentford as a contingency plan if Said Benrahma departs this summer.
There is an expectation that the Bees will be able to retain Benrahma if they can gain promotion to the Premier League but alternatives are being eyed in case the exciting attacker is lured away this summer.