EFL: Give us 56 days and we will see out season
EREDIVISIE
BY MICHAEL GANNON
ENGLISH Football League chiefs have told players to go on holiday until the middle of next month – with a view to then finishing the season in 56 days.
A letter from chairman Rick Parry to all 71 clubs below the Premier League sets out a radial plan to salvage the season.
And it includes a warning to expect to play behind closed doors when football does resume.
The letter tells clubs not to start back up any training activity with players until May 16 “at the earliest”.
It reads: “Whenever the decision is taken that is safe to resume, we currently estimate that the League will require approximately 56 days to complete the outstanding matches in the season, including play-offs.”
The brief assured clubs a “suitable” pre-season break will be worked out before the 2021-22 campaign kicks off to give them time to prepare.
It added: “Clearly we are in a position whereby the 2019-20 campaign will be extended but still remain hopeful of a conclusion in the summer months.”
The letter has already sparked an angry response from boardrooms as it revealed a rescue package will not materialise yet.
Last week the Premier League advanced funds totalling £125million to the EFL and the National League to help clubs.
But the EFL said it would hold the money back pending the outcome of separate talks over player wage deferrals and cuts.
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IT’S understandable the football world usually looks to Holland for inspiration.
This is the nation that brought us Total Football but Theo Snelders reckons when it comes to the coronavirus crisis his countrymen are living in a total fantasy land.
The Scottish game is keeping tabs on the Dutch and thought they could see a chink of light when the KNVB announced plans this week to get their league campaign back up and running behind closed doors by the middle of June.
This is a few weeks after Marc Overmars at Ajax said the season had been killed stone dead.
There are still plenty of clubs in this country clinging on to the notion the current campaign could be salvaged, with Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen all sticking to the line we should aim to get back.
The lower leagues could be called at tomorrow’s SPFL vote but the top flight will continue to ignore reality by holding on for a few more weeks.
Holland are having a bash but Dons hero Snelders has warned not to get the hopes up. The infamous cafes in Amsterdam may be shut but the ex-keeper reckons Dutch chiefs must be working through their personal stockpiles if they believe their new plan will come to pass.
Snelders said: “The football authorities are treating it like it’s a bad snowstorm and expecting it to melt in a few weeks. Their
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BY MICHAEL GANNON plan is optimistic – in fact it’s unrealistic. I simply can’t see it happening.
“There are a lot of problems they still have to solve. We’ve seen the mayors of places like North Brabant and Eindhoven, where they have had big outbreaks, banning football before the government did and they are now saying there will be no games in June – it’s not possible.
“The situation is changing all the time. A few weeks ago the big teams such as Ajax said the season should be stopped. Now they want to return in June.
“There are so many factors to consider. I can’t see us playing in full grounds for a long, long time.”
Snelders’ world is upside down like everyone else – just a few weeks after he was enjoying a return to his old Pittodrie stomping ground.
The 56-year-old – who also starred for Rangers – is involved in a football tourism company and said: “I came over to Scotland in the middle of February and we took a group over from Holland to the Aberdeen game against Celtic. You could feel it in the airport even then.
“We’re used to seeing Asian people wearing the face masks but there were other people as well, even on the flight.
“Of course we’d heard about what was going on in China but it seemed so far away. No one thought a few weeks later we would be in this situation.”