[Football] Premier League / Football League attempts to finish the season

[father_and_son]

UEFA have underlined again today that all national leagues must be completed, even if there’s a long delay. With punishment for any FA that falls out of line.

I don’t doubt that the PL clubs have money lust too. We can’t exclude Brighton from this NSC slagging off. Without that TV income, Brighton’s huge annual accounting losses will go off the scale for this current financial year .... meaning TB will have to put in many more £10m’s from personal funds. It must focus the minds of TB, Steve Parish, Gold & Sullivan, Levy.

But the punishment is exclusion from next season's competitions. They have however waived that already for Belgium, (who only had one round of games to play anyway I believe). This sets a precident for FAs to challenge UEFA and force it to the Arbitrators. UEFA will rattle sabres, but they know that they need the big leagues in order to attract the viewers and so would ultimately back down (IMHO).

Sky however can call in their cancellation clause and create lasting damage to individual clubs and the EPL.

As a football chairman or an FA bigwig, I know who I'd be more afraid of upsetting. I'm sure that "integrity of the competition" and other such phrases will be used but the reality will have been that TV, once again, got their lap dogs to sit up and beg.

 

[Weststander]

But the punishment is exclusion from next season's competitions. They have however waived that already for Belgium, (who only had one round of games to play anyway I believe). This sets a precident for FAs to challenge UEFA and force it to the Arbitrators. UEFA will rattle sabres, but they know that they need the big leagues in order to attract the viewers and so would ultimately back down (IMHO).

Sky however can call in their cancellation clause and create lasting damage to individual clubs and the EPL.

As a football chairman or an FA bigwig, I know who I'd be more afraid of upsetting. I'm sure that "integrity of the competition" and other such phrases will be used but the reality will have been that TV, once again, got their lap dogs to sit up and beg.

Are the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A turning against UEFA? I get the impression that they’re all in cahoots and all singing from the same hymn sheet on this matter. Brighton can’t get out its relegation that easily

Expanding the discussion, should the threat of COVID19 be with us until say March 2021, should both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons be scrapped?

 

[father_and_son]

Are the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A turning against UEFA? I get the impression that they’re all in cahoots and all singing from the same hymn sheet on this matter. Brighton can’t get out its relegation that easily

Expanding the discussion, should the threat of COVID19 be with us until say March 2021, should both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons be scrapped?

Not saying they are against UEFA, just suggesting that UEFA making statements means very little when SKY have a £750m sword poised over the EPL. This season will be finished, not because UEFA say so, but because SKY do. Same result, just let's not pretend 'integrity' trumps 'money'.

 

[Weststander]

Not saying they are against UEFA, just suggesting that UEFA making statements means very little when SKY have a £750m sword poised over the EPL. This season will be finished, not because UEFA say so, but because SKY do. Same result, just let's not pretend 'integrity' trumps 'money'.

If it’s a dead cert that Sky will shortly bring the football season to a close, why are there dozens of NSC threads and hundreds of angry NSC posts, demanding that this season be null and voided (saving Brighton’s bacon)?

Shirley every Albion fan can relax in that wonderful news and prepare to celebrate.

Back to my question to you, if COViD19 is still a threat in March 2021, should the 2020/21 season be scrapped too?

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

UEFA are driving this, they’ve made it very clear including today that national leagues must not null and void this unfinished season. Liverpool, Leeds (and WBA) are inconsequential in the big picture of European football.

Of course Spurs, Brighton and Norwich fans dream about this season to be voided, after a car crash of relentless bad results. Guaranteeing Spurs the rich rewards (up to £100m) of CL football for 2020/21 by the back door. UEFA are having none of that. National leagues breaking their ruling are being told that their clubs won’t feature in the 2020/21 CL and EL.

I don’t see why Spurs would be in it

Shouldn’t be

But any teams that are in it should be splitting the pot 20 ways - or a percentage of it

 

[East Staffs Gull]

Sky and BT are controlling football in UK, not UEFA.
Refund to TV broadcasters if season cancelled is £750m. EPL can't pay that back and would, clearly, call on clubs. Clubs don't have that cash either (given PFA have only agreed to voluntary salary reductions or deferments... So clubs still going to pay most or all of player wages eventually).

This season will continue regardless of UEFA or player contracts because otherwise PL or clubs will be bankrupted.

£400m of that is merit money, distributed according to PL position and worth about £2m per place. Surely clubs haven’t budgeted to receive a slice of this?

 

[father_and_son]

If it’s a dead cert that Sky will shortly bring the football season to a close, why are there dozens of NSC threads and hundreds of angry NSC posts, demanding that this season be null and voided (saving Brighton’s bacon)?

Shirley every Albion fan can relax in that wonderful news and prepare to celebrate.

Back to my question to you, if COViD19 is still a threat in March 2021, should the 2020/21 season be scrapped too?

When I say this season will be finished, I'm saying it will be finished... Not cancelled. The EPL can't afford the penalty clauses if 19/20 is not completed and so the rest of the season will be played. If that isn't until March '21 then it will be future seasons that are cut short/compressed/compromised - again, with no loss to the number of televised games so Sat 3pm will disappear.

All I'm saying is that the decision to complete the season has nothing to do with UEFA and everything to do with Money.

 

[father_and_son]

£400m of that is merit money, distributed according to PL position and worth about £2m per place. Surely clubs haven’t budgeted to receive a slice of this?

According to the BBC that isn't lost income... That's the penalty clause payment due back to Sky if the season isn't completed. Over and above that, the club's will lose prize money and revenue for the unplayed games. Hence the statement earlier that this has the potential to bankrupt.
In theory it's a contractual matter between PL and Sky (although we all know who will foot the bill if the PL have to raise £750m).

 

[Jim in the West]

Whatever Sky’s leverage over the EPL, it would be bizarre if other European leagues abandoned 2919/20 in the summer, nominated their Champions League and Europa League teams, and started 2020/21 in (say) October....but the EPL carried on with 19/20. In England we wouldn’t know the Champions League teams until December, whilst presumably the 20/21 Champions League would already have started....?

 

[Lenny Rider]

Apologies if fixtures, but by law every Premier League fixture has to have a minimum of two ambulances present.

This virus is not going away for months so the NHS is going to be at capacity for a long time, morally is it right for the EPL to take two emergency vehicles away from NHS duties for each game they play in the event of the League restarting?

 

[Weststander]

When I say this season will be finished, I'm saying it will be finished... Not cancelled. The EPL can't afford the penalty clauses if 19/20 is not completed and so the rest of the season will be played. If that isn't until March '21 then it will be future seasons that are cut short/compressed/compromised - again, with no loss to the number of televised games so Sat 3pm will disappear.

All I'm saying is that the decision to complete the season has nothing to do with UEFA and everything to do with Money.

I agree. But let’s also remember that UEFA = money. For all their platitudes over the years about the football family, we know it’s not run for the greater good. The worst exponent, Platini.

 

[beorhthelm]

...
Sky however can call in their cancellation clause and create lasting damage to individual clubs and the EPL.

so the realistic likelihood of that is zero. where would Sky be without EPL? symbioitic relation, they wont be having any falling out over this.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The season is already done. It should not be null and void but it should not restart. It would be an utter farce to finish it now. I am sure the TV companies and the premier league either have clauses covering this in their contracts or will come to a sensible pro-rata payment for this season. The questions should not be about this season but how to go about NEXT season as this one is done. The sooner people get their heads out of the fantasyland that they are in where we can go back to normal soon the more likely we can actually get to next season in time to start it!

1. This season is not 'done'. There are games left.
2. If it is not null and void but does not restart then teams will be unfairly promoted and relegated having played different numbers of games, and different teams. That is unfair and untenable.
3. It would be an utter farce to not finish this season if you don't null and void it.
4. The question is not about this season. It is about when to start next season. What happens after that (to this season) depends on feasibility (time available).
5. However we cannot 'get to next season in time' till the epidemic is over and we have a vaccine (which will probably be interdependent). We are in no position to set a date for the start of next season yet. My guess is early 2021.

Apart from that, I agree with you.
And by the way, I am not part of the moderator clique and am even the proud owner of two infraction reprimands, and one unspent infraction point, both for inappropriate low comedy that some may find offensive, before you start screaming 'conspiracy'. Again.

 

[Weststander]

The season is already done. It should not be null and void but it should not restart. It would be an utter farce to finish it now. I am sure the TV companies and the premier league either have clauses covering this in their contracts or will come to a sensible pro-rata payment for this season. The questions should not be about this season but how to go about NEXT season as this one is done. The sooner people get their heads out of the fantasyland that they are in where we can go back to normal soon the more likely we can actually get to next season in time to start it!

So if as some experts say COVID19 is here for another 12 to 18 months, when should the 2020/21 season start?

Should that be deleted completely at some stage?

Scrapping this season’s remaining matches ain’t the neat panacea, that tidy minds are demanding.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Really think if it was anyone else but Leeds and Liverpool winning the league/being promoted we would be a lot closer to voiding the season

They are scared of the fall out

This has crossed my mind too. If it were City this far clear the calls for voiding would be far louder.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

 

[Weststander]

This has crossed my mind too. If it were City this far clear the calls for voiding would be far louder.

Liverpool and Leeds are just two votes in their respective leagues, they could be heavily outvoted at the drop of a hat.

The reality is that club owners and CEO’s are calmly not rushing into decisions that do not need to be made, including Bloom and Barber. They have the business nouse and measure to manage this unprecedented situation, huge revenues are involved, and no one is harmed by this. Some fans on some forums demanding competitions are declared null and void, is inconsequential. In the scheme of things in the world just now, why is declaring the PL, FL, CL and EL seasons null and void a priorty?

 

[drew]

When I say this season will be finished, I'm saying it will be finished... Not cancelled. The EPL can't afford the penalty clauses if 19/20 is not completed and so the rest of the season will be played. If that isn't until March '21 then it will be future seasons that are cut short/compressed/compromised - again, with no loss to the number of televised games so Sat 3pm will disappear.

All I'm saying is that the decision to complete the season has nothing to do with UEFA and everything to do with Money.

The EPL is the clubs. It is a wholly owned private company, the owners being the 20 clubs in the league.

 

[drew]

Liverpool and Leeds are just two votes in their respective leagues, they could be heavily outvoted at the drop of a hat.

The reality is that club owners and CEO’s are calmly not rushing into decisions that do not need to be made, including Bloom and Barber. They have the business nouse and measure to manage this unprecedented situation, huge revenues are involved, and no one is harmed by this. Some fans on some forums demanding competitions are declared null and void, is inconsequential. In the scheme of things in the world just now, why is declaring the PL, FL, CL and EL seasons null and void a priorty?

Leeds vote is immaterial to the EPL. They can theaten to sue of course but on what grounds?

 

[burnee54]

So, UEFA have lifted their ban on telivising 3pm matches.
This could change everything?