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Seems like with cricket it’s multiple folk dealing with the same ball is the issue.
Next Season Crowds at National League
#123
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Posted 24 June 2020 - 02:22 PM
azul, on 24 June 2020 - 09:58 AM, said:
All this chat from the government that shouting and chanting increasing the chances of transmission doesn’t bode well for football crowds.
Unless you go the library at Old Trafford !
#124
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Posted 24 June 2020 - 03:24 PM
dtp, on 02 June 2020 - 04:28 PM, said:
Hi Howard. Hope all is well with you and yours.
We had an earlier thread regarding "could we fit into our ground" previously and I fully agree with your suggestions. With some thought I am sure we could have football with attendances at our level. Obviously, there will be issues to address such as use of toilets, preventing crowding below the stands etc but there is plenty of time between now and whenever the new season starts to start giving this some detailed thought rather than just sitting on hands.
We had an earlier thread regarding "could we fit into our ground" previously and I fully agree with your suggestions. With some thought I am sure we could have football with attendances at our level. Obviously, there will be issues to address such as use of toilets, preventing crowding below the stands etc but there is plenty of time between now and whenever the new season starts to start giving this some detailed thought rather than just sitting on hands.
We could have no loitering in the concourse except to purchase at the counter. Consuming alcohol maybe accommodated outside the stadium if legally possible.
God I hate this league.
#125
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Posted 24 June 2020 - 03:53 PM
Speaking of crowds, Leeds United have had an interesting figure turn up in one of their fake crowds
Leeds United
Leeds United
This post has been edited by SpireiteFitzy: 24 June 2020 - 03:54 PM
If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!
#126
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Posted 25 June 2020 - 06:10 PM
An interesting article in the Athletic
The National League play-offs: a ‘financial gamble’ with no promise of promotion
The six clubs preparing for play-offs in English football’s fifth tier are taking a huge “financial gamble” as there are no guarantees the winner will be promoted, several club sources have told The Athletic.
The National League’s Barnet, Boreham Wood, Halifax Town, Harrogate Town, Notts County and Yeovil Town have returned to training after last week’s vote on how to decide the final table.
This has meant bringing staff off the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme, handing out short-term contracts to players they had expected to release in March and paying for the type of testing and cleaning regime teams far higher up the English game’s pyramid are grumbling about.
Each COVID-19 test costs £125 but the total bill will vary for each club, as it depends on the size of their squad, when they start training and how far they go in the play-offs.
Notts County, for example, are sparing no expense in their attempt to return to the English Football League after last season’s shock relegation. They have announced a 24-man squad for the play-off campaign, started testing last week and were in training on Monday.
Harrogate Town, on the other hand, who finished one spot ahead of Notts County in second place, have only 17 players on their books, including two goalkeepers and just four defenders. They started testing on Monday and were still waiting for clearance to resume full training as of Tuesday evening.
The Yorkshire side are almost overstaffed in comparison to Barnet, though. The north London side released most of their squad in March and are in talks with those players about temporary deals to cover the play-offs, which are scheduled to start with the Yeovil-Barnet and Boreham Wood-Halifax quarter-finals on July 18 and finish on July 30.
Neal Ardley Notts County manager National League play-offs
Neal Ardley, the Notts County manager, has named a 24-man squad for the play-offs – their rivals are not so fortunate (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
But the play-off teams are making these plans — and writing these cheques — on the assumption that the winner of the final — which does not have a venue yet but is usually staged at Wembley — will join champions Barrow in League Two next season, a belief that hinges on the National League being ready to start the new campaign in September.
Having lost Bury to financial problems last year, the EFL had planned to relegate only one team from League Two this season and promote the usual two from the National League to restore its numbers to three divisions of 24 sides.
As a result, Barrow’s place among the 72 is guaranteed but the EFL has said it will not relegate last-placed Stevenage if they have nowhere to play next season. EFL clubs have made it clear they do not like the idea of increasing the size of a division, even for one season.
Therefore, the play-off winner’s promotion prize depends on the clubs they have left behind being willing to start next season on time, even if that means doing so without fans in the ground.
This is a prospect several club sources have said is simply unworkable because the majority of the clubs’ income in non-League football comes from match-going fans.
“Football really doesn’t work at this level of the game without footfall,” National League chief executive Michael Tattersall tells The Athletic. “That means getting people through the turnstiles, in the bars and in the clubhouse.”
On Tuesday, the British government said hairdressers, hotels, pubs and restaurants could open from July 4, providing people stay “one metre plus” apart, but gyms, sports venues and swimming pools will remain closed, as they have been since lockdown was introduced in March.
“Come on, who actually knows when the government will allow crowds back into football games?” asks one club chairman, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I can’t imagine it being one of the next things they do and who knows where this week’s relaxation announcement will lead? Looking at the experience of Germany and other countries, I’d be extremely worried about a second spike (of the pandemic) going into the autumn.
“Do you really think putting crowds of people together is a responsible thing to do?”
His scepticism about the chances of getting fans back into grounds was supported by several other club bosses, who pointed out that the Premier League and other leading sports bodies in the UK believe professional sport will have to remain behind closed doors until October at the earliest. Even then, the return of fans will be phased and subject to social-distancing rules.
“I can foresee a situation where you have a national guideline that, in theory, will enable us to start but it could be overruled locally if there is a second wave in the area,” says one source.
“That makes sense in terms of public health but it’s a disaster if you’re running a national football competition. You can’t have some teams starting one date, while others don’t know when they’ll be able to start.”
Another source pointed out that it was “one thing to play behind closed doors to finish the season, as we have an objective, but it’s another to start a season behind closed doors”.
He added: “Not to get too philosophical about it, but what would be the point? We need fans in the grounds. If you were to ask most clubs if they would want to play in front of no fans — or even just a few fans, week in, week out — they would say, ‘No thanks, we’ll wait until we can bring them all in’.”
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been leading weekly meetings of representatives from the leading sports, public health officials and events experts to work out a plan for what it is calling “phase five” of the resumption of sport, the return of fans.
Sources close to these meetings told The Athletic the conversations are still at a relatively early stage but cutting the social-distance bubble from two metres to one was a crucial step forward.
“It’s hard to call it now but there is no doubt this issue is getting a lot more (governmental) bandwidth,” says one source.
Speaking to reporters last week, sports minister Nigel Huddleston said it was not as simple as making sure fans were spaced out inside a stadium. In all stadiums, there will be pinch points for congestion, even with a reduced crowd, and there are transport considerations to consider.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said playing behind closed doors is an “odd experience” and “the Premier League won’t be back with a capital B until fans are back”.
Masters has also said the league is an “active participant” in the DCMS-led process and the league’s clubs would be happy to act as “guinea pigs” for any trial the government is planning for crowds. The Football Association has also said it would be willing to take part in such an experiment.
Whether this trial would be based on a maximum capacity of 5,000, as has been proposed elsewhere in Europe, or a percentage of a stadium’s capacity, as has been floated here, remains to be seen, but either solution will pose significant challenges for most clubs below the Championship, as they have smaller grounds.
“I don’t know where these blanket percentages are coming from as every stadium is different — 25 per cent of a small stadium with 6,000 capacity is a lot of people moving in small areas. There’s no chance to social-distance at all,” one club chairman told The Athletic.
“But 15,000 people in a huge, 60,000-capacity stadium is not crowded and social distancing may well be possible. We know our stadium can hold 480 with a two-metre distance at all times and 1,100 with a one-metre social distance at all times. We can’t get anywhere near 25 per cent and stay within the rules.”
Not everyone is as pessimistic as that, though.
Tattersall told The Athletic the proposal to proceed with play-offs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National South got more than 80 per cent of the vote last week, although the decision is still subject to FA Council approval. He also said all teams in the play-offs have confirmed their intention to play.
In regards to those teams that are short of players, he said they have agreed with the principle that their play-off squads should be as close as possible to their squads when the season was suspended on March 16, which means offering players temporary contracts. And if that does not work, they can ask the league for permission to add a new player.
One National League club boss said he was “very confident” about the start of the new season in September, pointing out “it is as long between the start of lockdown and now as it is between now and the proposed start of the season. Lots can happen”.
The National League play-offs: a ‘financial gamble’ with no promise of promotion
The six clubs preparing for play-offs in English football’s fifth tier are taking a huge “financial gamble” as there are no guarantees the winner will be promoted, several club sources have told The Athletic.
The National League’s Barnet, Boreham Wood, Halifax Town, Harrogate Town, Notts County and Yeovil Town have returned to training after last week’s vote on how to decide the final table.
This has meant bringing staff off the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme, handing out short-term contracts to players they had expected to release in March and paying for the type of testing and cleaning regime teams far higher up the English game’s pyramid are grumbling about.
Each COVID-19 test costs £125 but the total bill will vary for each club, as it depends on the size of their squad, when they start training and how far they go in the play-offs.
Notts County, for example, are sparing no expense in their attempt to return to the English Football League after last season’s shock relegation. They have announced a 24-man squad for the play-off campaign, started testing last week and were in training on Monday.
Harrogate Town, on the other hand, who finished one spot ahead of Notts County in second place, have only 17 players on their books, including two goalkeepers and just four defenders. They started testing on Monday and were still waiting for clearance to resume full training as of Tuesday evening.
The Yorkshire side are almost overstaffed in comparison to Barnet, though. The north London side released most of their squad in March and are in talks with those players about temporary deals to cover the play-offs, which are scheduled to start with the Yeovil-Barnet and Boreham Wood-Halifax quarter-finals on July 18 and finish on July 30.
Neal Ardley Notts County manager National League play-offs
Neal Ardley, the Notts County manager, has named a 24-man squad for the play-offs – their rivals are not so fortunate (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
But the play-off teams are making these plans — and writing these cheques — on the assumption that the winner of the final — which does not have a venue yet but is usually staged at Wembley — will join champions Barrow in League Two next season, a belief that hinges on the National League being ready to start the new campaign in September.
Having lost Bury to financial problems last year, the EFL had planned to relegate only one team from League Two this season and promote the usual two from the National League to restore its numbers to three divisions of 24 sides.
As a result, Barrow’s place among the 72 is guaranteed but the EFL has said it will not relegate last-placed Stevenage if they have nowhere to play next season. EFL clubs have made it clear they do not like the idea of increasing the size of a division, even for one season.
Therefore, the play-off winner’s promotion prize depends on the clubs they have left behind being willing to start next season on time, even if that means doing so without fans in the ground.
This is a prospect several club sources have said is simply unworkable because the majority of the clubs’ income in non-League football comes from match-going fans.
“Football really doesn’t work at this level of the game without footfall,” National League chief executive Michael Tattersall tells The Athletic. “That means getting people through the turnstiles, in the bars and in the clubhouse.”
On Tuesday, the British government said hairdressers, hotels, pubs and restaurants could open from July 4, providing people stay “one metre plus” apart, but gyms, sports venues and swimming pools will remain closed, as they have been since lockdown was introduced in March.
“Come on, who actually knows when the government will allow crowds back into football games?” asks one club chairman, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I can’t imagine it being one of the next things they do and who knows where this week’s relaxation announcement will lead? Looking at the experience of Germany and other countries, I’d be extremely worried about a second spike (of the pandemic) going into the autumn.
“Do you really think putting crowds of people together is a responsible thing to do?”
His scepticism about the chances of getting fans back into grounds was supported by several other club bosses, who pointed out that the Premier League and other leading sports bodies in the UK believe professional sport will have to remain behind closed doors until October at the earliest. Even then, the return of fans will be phased and subject to social-distancing rules.
“I can foresee a situation where you have a national guideline that, in theory, will enable us to start but it could be overruled locally if there is a second wave in the area,” says one source.
“That makes sense in terms of public health but it’s a disaster if you’re running a national football competition. You can’t have some teams starting one date, while others don’t know when they’ll be able to start.”
Another source pointed out that it was “one thing to play behind closed doors to finish the season, as we have an objective, but it’s another to start a season behind closed doors”.
He added: “Not to get too philosophical about it, but what would be the point? We need fans in the grounds. If you were to ask most clubs if they would want to play in front of no fans — or even just a few fans, week in, week out — they would say, ‘No thanks, we’ll wait until we can bring them all in’.”
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been leading weekly meetings of representatives from the leading sports, public health officials and events experts to work out a plan for what it is calling “phase five” of the resumption of sport, the return of fans.
Sources close to these meetings told The Athletic the conversations are still at a relatively early stage but cutting the social-distance bubble from two metres to one was a crucial step forward.
“It’s hard to call it now but there is no doubt this issue is getting a lot more (governmental) bandwidth,” says one source.
Speaking to reporters last week, sports minister Nigel Huddleston said it was not as simple as making sure fans were spaced out inside a stadium. In all stadiums, there will be pinch points for congestion, even with a reduced crowd, and there are transport considerations to consider.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said playing behind closed doors is an “odd experience” and “the Premier League won’t be back with a capital B until fans are back”.
Masters has also said the league is an “active participant” in the DCMS-led process and the league’s clubs would be happy to act as “guinea pigs” for any trial the government is planning for crowds. The Football Association has also said it would be willing to take part in such an experiment.
Whether this trial would be based on a maximum capacity of 5,000, as has been proposed elsewhere in Europe, or a percentage of a stadium’s capacity, as has been floated here, remains to be seen, but either solution will pose significant challenges for most clubs below the Championship, as they have smaller grounds.
“I don’t know where these blanket percentages are coming from as every stadium is different — 25 per cent of a small stadium with 6,000 capacity is a lot of people moving in small areas. There’s no chance to social-distance at all,” one club chairman told The Athletic.
“But 15,000 people in a huge, 60,000-capacity stadium is not crowded and social distancing may well be possible. We know our stadium can hold 480 with a two-metre distance at all times and 1,100 with a one-metre social distance at all times. We can’t get anywhere near 25 per cent and stay within the rules.”
Not everyone is as pessimistic as that, though.
Tattersall told The Athletic the proposal to proceed with play-offs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National South got more than 80 per cent of the vote last week, although the decision is still subject to FA Council approval. He also said all teams in the play-offs have confirmed their intention to play.
In regards to those teams that are short of players, he said they have agreed with the principle that their play-off squads should be as close as possible to their squads when the season was suspended on March 16, which means offering players temporary contracts. And if that does not work, they can ask the league for permission to add a new player.
One National League club boss said he was “very confident” about the start of the new season in September, pointing out “it is as long between the start of lockdown and now as it is between now and the proposed start of the season. Lots can happen”.
#127
Sussex Spireite
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Posted 05 July 2020 - 09:27 PM
moondog, on 25 June 2020 - 06:10 PM, said:
An interesting article in the Athletic
The National League play-offs: a ‘financial gamble’ with no promise of promotion
The six clubs preparing for play-offs in English football’s fifth tier are taking a huge “financial gamble” as there are no guarantees the winner will be promoted, several club sources have told The Athletic.
The National League’s Barnet, Boreham Wood, Halifax Town, Harrogate Town, Notts County and Yeovil Town have returned to training after last week’s vote on how to decide the final table.
This has meant bringing staff off the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme, handing out short-term contracts to players they had expected to release in March and paying for the type of testing and cleaning regime teams far higher up the English game’s pyramid are grumbling about.
Each COVID-19 test costs £125 but the total bill will vary for each club, as it depends on the size of their squad, when they start training and how far they go in the play-offs.
Notts County, for example, are sparing no expense in their attempt to return to the English Football League after last season’s shock relegation. They have announced a 24-man squad for the play-off campaign, started testing last week and were in training on Monday.
Harrogate Town, on the other hand, who finished one spot ahead of Notts County in second place, have only 17 players on their books, including two goalkeepers and just four defenders. They started testing on Monday and were still waiting for clearance to resume full training as of Tuesday evening.
The Yorkshire side are almost overstaffed in comparison to Barnet, though. The north London side released most of their squad in March and are in talks with those players about temporary deals to cover the play-offs, which are scheduled to start with the Yeovil-Barnet and Boreham Wood-Halifax quarter-finals on July 18 and finish on July 30.
Neal Ardley Notts County manager National League play-offs
Neal Ardley, the Notts County manager, has named a 24-man squad for the play-offs – their rivals are not so fortunate (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
But the play-off teams are making these plans — and writing these cheques — on the assumption that the winner of the final — which does not have a venue yet but is usually staged at Wembley — will join champions Barrow in League Two next season, a belief that hinges on the National League being ready to start the new campaign in September.
Having lost Bury to financial problems last year, the EFL had planned to relegate only one team from League Two this season and promote the usual two from the National League to restore its numbers to three divisions of 24 sides.
As a result, Barrow’s place among the 72 is guaranteed but the EFL has said it will not relegate last-placed Stevenage if they have nowhere to play next season. EFL clubs have made it clear they do not like the idea of increasing the size of a division, even for one season.
Therefore, the play-off winner’s promotion prize depends on the clubs they have left behind being willing to start next season on time, even if that means doing so without fans in the ground.
This is a prospect several club sources have said is simply unworkable because the majority of the clubs’ income in non-League football comes from match-going fans.
“Football really doesn’t work at this level of the game without footfall,” National League chief executive Michael Tattersall tells The Athletic. “That means getting people through the turnstiles, in the bars and in the clubhouse.”
On Tuesday, the British government said hairdressers, hotels, pubs and restaurants could open from July 4, providing people stay “one metre plus” apart, but gyms, sports venues and swimming pools will remain closed, as they have been since lockdown was introduced in March.
“Come on, who actually knows when the government will allow crowds back into football games?” asks one club chairman, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I can’t imagine it being one of the next things they do and who knows where this week’s relaxation announcement will lead? Looking at the experience of Germany and other countries, I’d be extremely worried about a second spike (of the pandemic) going into the autumn.
“Do you really think putting crowds of people together is a responsible thing to do?”
His scepticism about the chances of getting fans back into grounds was supported by several other club bosses, who pointed out that the Premier League and other leading sports bodies in the UK believe professional sport will have to remain behind closed doors until October at the earliest. Even then, the return of fans will be phased and subject to social-distancing rules.
“I can foresee a situation where you have a national guideline that, in theory, will enable us to start but it could be overruled locally if there is a second wave in the area,” says one source.
“That makes sense in terms of public health but it’s a disaster if you’re running a national football competition. You can’t have some teams starting one date, while others don’t know when they’ll be able to start.”
Another source pointed out that it was “one thing to play behind closed doors to finish the season, as we have an objective, but it’s another to start a season behind closed doors”.
He added: “Not to get too philosophical about it, but what would be the point? We need fans in the grounds. If you were to ask most clubs if they would want to play in front of no fans — or even just a few fans, week in, week out — they would say, ‘No thanks, we’ll wait until we can bring them all in’.”
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been leading weekly meetings of representatives from the leading sports, public health officials and events experts to work out a plan for what it is calling “phase five” of the resumption of sport, the return of fans.
Sources close to these meetings told The Athletic the conversations are still at a relatively early stage but cutting the social-distance bubble from two metres to one was a crucial step forward.
“It’s hard to call it now but there is no doubt this issue is getting a lot more (governmental) bandwidth,” says one source.
Speaking to reporters last week, sports minister Nigel Huddleston said it was not as simple as making sure fans were spaced out inside a stadium. In all stadiums, there will be pinch points for congestion, even with a reduced crowd, and there are transport considerations to consider.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said playing behind closed doors is an “odd experience” and “the Premier League won’t be back with a capital B until fans are back”.
Masters has also said the league is an “active participant” in the DCMS-led process and the league’s clubs would be happy to act as “guinea pigs” for any trial the government is planning for crowds. The Football Association has also said it would be willing to take part in such an experiment.
Whether this trial would be based on a maximum capacity of 5,000, as has been proposed elsewhere in Europe, or a percentage of a stadium’s capacity, as has been floated here, remains to be seen, but either solution will pose significant challenges for most clubs below the Championship, as they have smaller grounds.
“I don’t know where these blanket percentages are coming from as every stadium is different — 25 per cent of a small stadium with 6,000 capacity is a lot of people moving in small areas. There’s no chance to social-distance at all,” one club chairman told The Athletic.
“But 15,000 people in a huge, 60,000-capacity stadium is not crowded and social distancing may well be possible. We know our stadium can hold 480 with a two-metre distance at all times and 1,100 with a one-metre social distance at all times. We can’t get anywhere near 25 per cent and stay within the rules.”
Not everyone is as pessimistic as that, though.
Tattersall told The Athletic the proposal to proceed with play-offs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National South got more than 80 per cent of the vote last week, although the decision is still subject to FA Council approval. He also said all teams in the play-offs have confirmed their intention to play.
In regards to those teams that are short of players, he said they have agreed with the principle that their play-off squads should be as close as possible to their squads when the season was suspended on March 16, which means offering players temporary contracts. And if that does not work, they can ask the league for permission to add a new player.
One National League club boss said he was “very confident” about the start of the new season in September, pointing out “it is as long between the start of lockdown and now as it is between now and the proposed start of the season. Lots can happen”.
The National League play-offs: a ‘financial gamble’ with no promise of promotion
The six clubs preparing for play-offs in English football’s fifth tier are taking a huge “financial gamble” as there are no guarantees the winner will be promoted, several club sources have told The Athletic.
The National League’s Barnet, Boreham Wood, Halifax Town, Harrogate Town, Notts County and Yeovil Town have returned to training after last week’s vote on how to decide the final table.
This has meant bringing staff off the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme, handing out short-term contracts to players they had expected to release in March and paying for the type of testing and cleaning regime teams far higher up the English game’s pyramid are grumbling about.
Each COVID-19 test costs £125 but the total bill will vary for each club, as it depends on the size of their squad, when they start training and how far they go in the play-offs.
Notts County, for example, are sparing no expense in their attempt to return to the English Football League after last season’s shock relegation. They have announced a 24-man squad for the play-off campaign, started testing last week and were in training on Monday.
Harrogate Town, on the other hand, who finished one spot ahead of Notts County in second place, have only 17 players on their books, including two goalkeepers and just four defenders. They started testing on Monday and were still waiting for clearance to resume full training as of Tuesday evening.
The Yorkshire side are almost overstaffed in comparison to Barnet, though. The north London side released most of their squad in March and are in talks with those players about temporary deals to cover the play-offs, which are scheduled to start with the Yeovil-Barnet and Boreham Wood-Halifax quarter-finals on July 18 and finish on July 30.
Neal Ardley Notts County manager National League play-offs
Neal Ardley, the Notts County manager, has named a 24-man squad for the play-offs – their rivals are not so fortunate (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
But the play-off teams are making these plans — and writing these cheques — on the assumption that the winner of the final — which does not have a venue yet but is usually staged at Wembley — will join champions Barrow in League Two next season, a belief that hinges on the National League being ready to start the new campaign in September.
Having lost Bury to financial problems last year, the EFL had planned to relegate only one team from League Two this season and promote the usual two from the National League to restore its numbers to three divisions of 24 sides.
As a result, Barrow’s place among the 72 is guaranteed but the EFL has said it will not relegate last-placed Stevenage if they have nowhere to play next season. EFL clubs have made it clear they do not like the idea of increasing the size of a division, even for one season.
Therefore, the play-off winner’s promotion prize depends on the clubs they have left behind being willing to start next season on time, even if that means doing so without fans in the ground.
This is a prospect several club sources have said is simply unworkable because the majority of the clubs’ income in non-League football comes from match-going fans.
“Football really doesn’t work at this level of the game without footfall,” National League chief executive Michael Tattersall tells The Athletic. “That means getting people through the turnstiles, in the bars and in the clubhouse.”
On Tuesday, the British government said hairdressers, hotels, pubs and restaurants could open from July 4, providing people stay “one metre plus” apart, but gyms, sports venues and swimming pools will remain closed, as they have been since lockdown was introduced in March.
“Come on, who actually knows when the government will allow crowds back into football games?” asks one club chairman, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I can’t imagine it being one of the next things they do and who knows where this week’s relaxation announcement will lead? Looking at the experience of Germany and other countries, I’d be extremely worried about a second spike (of the pandemic) going into the autumn.
“Do you really think putting crowds of people together is a responsible thing to do?”
His scepticism about the chances of getting fans back into grounds was supported by several other club bosses, who pointed out that the Premier League and other leading sports bodies in the UK believe professional sport will have to remain behind closed doors until October at the earliest. Even then, the return of fans will be phased and subject to social-distancing rules.
“I can foresee a situation where you have a national guideline that, in theory, will enable us to start but it could be overruled locally if there is a second wave in the area,” says one source.
“That makes sense in terms of public health but it’s a disaster if you’re running a national football competition. You can’t have some teams starting one date, while others don’t know when they’ll be able to start.”
Another source pointed out that it was “one thing to play behind closed doors to finish the season, as we have an objective, but it’s another to start a season behind closed doors”.
He added: “Not to get too philosophical about it, but what would be the point? We need fans in the grounds. If you were to ask most clubs if they would want to play in front of no fans — or even just a few fans, week in, week out — they would say, ‘No thanks, we’ll wait until we can bring them all in’.”
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been leading weekly meetings of representatives from the leading sports, public health officials and events experts to work out a plan for what it is calling “phase five” of the resumption of sport, the return of fans.
Sources close to these meetings told The Athletic the conversations are still at a relatively early stage but cutting the social-distance bubble from two metres to one was a crucial step forward.
“It’s hard to call it now but there is no doubt this issue is getting a lot more (governmental) bandwidth,” says one source.
Speaking to reporters last week, sports minister Nigel Huddleston said it was not as simple as making sure fans were spaced out inside a stadium. In all stadiums, there will be pinch points for congestion, even with a reduced crowd, and there are transport considerations to consider.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said playing behind closed doors is an “odd experience” and “the Premier League won’t be back with a capital B until fans are back”.
Masters has also said the league is an “active participant” in the DCMS-led process and the league’s clubs would be happy to act as “guinea pigs” for any trial the government is planning for crowds. The Football Association has also said it would be willing to take part in such an experiment.
Whether this trial would be based on a maximum capacity of 5,000, as has been proposed elsewhere in Europe, or a percentage of a stadium’s capacity, as has been floated here, remains to be seen, but either solution will pose significant challenges for most clubs below the Championship, as they have smaller grounds.
“I don’t know where these blanket percentages are coming from as every stadium is different — 25 per cent of a small stadium with 6,000 capacity is a lot of people moving in small areas. There’s no chance to social-distance at all,” one club chairman told The Athletic.
“But 15,000 people in a huge, 60,000-capacity stadium is not crowded and social distancing may well be possible. We know our stadium can hold 480 with a two-metre distance at all times and 1,100 with a one-metre social distance at all times. We can’t get anywhere near 25 per cent and stay within the rules.”
Not everyone is as pessimistic as that, though.
Tattersall told The Athletic the proposal to proceed with play-offs in the National League and sixth-tier National League North and National South got more than 80 per cent of the vote last week, although the decision is still subject to FA Council approval. He also said all teams in the play-offs have confirmed their intention to play.
In regards to those teams that are short of players, he said they have agreed with the principle that their play-off squads should be as close as possible to their squads when the season was suspended on March 16, which means offering players temporary contracts. And if that does not work, they can ask the league for permission to add a new player.
One National League club boss said he was “very confident” about the start of the new season in September, pointing out “it is as long between the start of lockdown and now as it is between now and the proposed start of the season. Lots can happen”.
Has anything come of this play-off proposal?
Growing old is unavoidable, growing up is optional
#128
Westbars Spireite
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Posted 05 July 2020 - 10:44 PM
They're playing them, yes.
#129
azul
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Posted 06 July 2020 - 08:51 PM
NL playoff schedule here...
https://www.bbc.co.u...otball/53291764
Watched the L1 playoff semi tonight - what a good game considering they haven’t played for months
Pity for Fleetwood, Ched and Joey
https://www.bbc.co.u...otball/53291764
Watched the L1 playoff semi tonight - what a good game considering they haven’t played for months
Pity for Fleetwood, Ched and Joey
Accentuate th Positive, eliminate the negative
