After Coronavirus - What next for league football? (poll)

[Railway Blue]

Why they are 4 points clear with 9 games to go , hardly unsurmountable

Why they are 4 points clear with 9 games to go , hardly unsurmountable

Ok if the season is finished. They have earned the right for promotion by getting more points per game that any of their 23 rivals. Good enough for the majority I would guess. I'd have thought a Macclesfield fan would be more sympathetic after the season they are having.

 

[saltpie]

Ok if the season is finished. They have earned the right for promotion by getting more points per game that any of their 23 rivals. Good enough for the majority I would guess. I'd have thought a Macclesfield fan would be more sympathetic after the season they are having.

I was talking as a football fan , something a Chester fan wouldn't understand

 

[Indian Dan]

Here we go lads. A leaked conversation from Bristol Rovers club captain informing his teammates the outcome of a meeting with the EFL - attended by all EFL club captains. About the 6th post down.

https://gaschat.co.uk/thread/16220/serious-leaked-players-tape?page=1&scrollTo=616441

 

[Railway Blue]

I was talking as a football fan , something a Chester fan wouldn't understand

That made me laugh!

 

[Chris FGR]

Not much chance League 1 or 2 will either finish or start a new season this year imo. That's unless the Prem fancy subsidising everyone to play behind closed doors.

 

[LS Bantam]

An ITK on Twitter claiming we’ve terminated all our loan deals today.

 

[TimeyWimey]

The lucky clubs will have zero playing staff in July.

I do wonder how it will affect us. Most at this level can get away with clearing the decks and run basically a shell of a club but our assets are our (academy) players.

 

[saltpie]

That made me laugh!

Ex scriptwriter for Morecambe and Wise

 

[Indian Dan]

The lucky clubs will have zero playing staff in July.

I do wonder how it will affect us. Most at this level can get away with clearing the decks and run basically a shell of a club but our assets are our (academy) players.

Yeah. Their value will drop - as will every player. Hopefully, after this is over, running costs might be more realistic.

 

[valefan16]

Looks bleak for this season finishing and very bleak for the survival of many clubs certainly if this goes on into the next season and no support is provided. We’d already tied up most contracts we wanted!

Oddly Smith who was stalling on a contract hoping for a move up to the Championship with Birmingham said to be sniffing around now likely won’t get that chance and may not get tied up at Vale for example!

 

[Richard Cranium]

I know money is king in everything but how can the Prem/Champ carry on and Leagues 1 and 2 not? If ones canned it should all be.

Can't let some finish then just promote others, its an absolute farce.

 

[Indian Dan]

Maybe because the Championship to PL - and vice versa - has more riding on it financially.

If Sky want reimbursing for matches not played that’s going to shaft a lot of clubs - also sponsors etc. Who really cares about some pissy little lower league club going bust because it’s got no money

 

[Super_horns]

The clubs will have to pay for their own testing .

Government won't want to be seen giving tests away to football clubs when key workers haven't got it ...

Tbh I am surprised they are letting teams plan ahead for the season to re-start.

 

[chipmunx]

The clubs will have to pay for their own testing .

Government won't want to be seen giving tests away to football clubs when key workers haven't got it ...

Tbh I am surprised they are letting teams plan ahead for the season to re-start.

this season won't - definitely not below the championship, maybe not there and maybe not the PL either..

 

[shoddycollins]

The clubs will have to pay for their own testing .

Government won't want to be seen giving tests away to football clubs when key workers haven't got it ...

Tbh I am surprised they are letting teams plan ahead for the season to re-start.

They can plan all they want, it's not like they're too busy with all the other things they've got going on to think ahead to what happens when they're able to play football again.

 

[Chris FGR]

Clubs are doing stuff. We've been sending food to the Nightingale Hospital in London, putting NHS staff up in player accommodation and ringing around vulnerable members of the local community. Expect most clubs are doing similar.

Apparently we've done very little planning on the football side though. Which is no surprise given I doubt there will be a 20/21 season at this level. This season is finished.

 

[Chris FGR]

In order for football to happen, all players, staff, officials etc would need to be tested twice a week and isolate themselves.

If you're talking about 91 clubs that works out at something like 7000 tests a week at a guess, maybe more. Which would be the equivalent of around 1% of the governments weekly target for the entire population, which they haven't hit yet. No way will that be happening imo.

 

[Chris FGR]

How long until they call it?

 

[chipmunx]

How long until they call it?

about another 12 months...

 

[Super_horns]

The Government say it will boost morale and keep people happy..

Well not if your team start to lose !!

 

[Chris FGR]

Bundesliga likely to get the green light to restart Saturday week! Fuck me, they're miles ahead of us. We're still banned from sitting on a park bench.

 

[shoddycollins]

We've addressed some of the key issues surrounding player contracts and season tickets which other clubs have already taken action on.

We're hoping to extend loans if 19/20 is to be completed.
We're discussing timing of our retained list, there'll be a fair few players we want to make contract offers to but we're keeping an eye on whether there's an extension to the deadline for doing this.

We aren't planning on selling season tickets until we know what the future has in store.

 

[Chris FGR]

Stupid making plans for next season. There won't be one.

Retained lists are only worth doing if you've actually got something to retain players for. Best bet is to offload as many players and staff as you can asap. Furlough scheme ends in a month or so, after which clubs will be fucked.

 

[chipmunx]

Stupid making plans for next season. There won't be one.

Retained lists are only worth doing if you've actually got something to retain players for. Best bet is to offload as many players and staff as you can asap. Furlough scheme ends in a month or so, after which clubs will be fucked.

Stupid comment - there will be a next season (for clubs that survive) - just not as soon as a traditional next season would have been.....

 

[Indian Dan]

Stupid comment - there will be a next season (for clubs that survive) - just not as soon as a traditional next season would have been.....

Not stupid at all. How can any club commit to contracts when they don’t know when any new season will start, how many clubs will still be around and what the new ‘value’ of any new contract has fallen to.

 

[shoddycollins]

Not stupid at all. How can any club commit to contracts when they don’t know when any new season will start, how many clubs will still be around and what the new ‘value’ of any new contract has fallen to.

For many clubs I feel it's a matter of basic human decency. Players will be feeling quite stressed right now, no idea whether they'll have a job at the end of all this and no idea when they'll find out. I'm sure they want to know the thoughts of their employers about the future.

I mean sure you can just keep kicking the can down the road, tell players and fans alike that you've had no thoughts, but that's no more likely to benefit the club in the long run. Clubs who've assembled squads won't want to go back to the drawing board when football restarts and may feel they'll be at an advantage if they're able to restart with players who know each other versus opponents who have had massive squad turnovers.

 

[Indian Dan]

Finances will decide. I’d imagine our monthly wage bill is around the £200,000 mark. How long can we continue paying out that, plus all the other bills, with no income?

Players will be ditched with or without contracts. Clubs willing to sort out any legals down the line - if they survive.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Not stupid at all. How can any club commit to contracts when they don’t know when any new season will start, how many clubs will still be around and what the new ‘value’ of any new contract has fallen to.

There will be a next season, it just may not start until the next calendar year or the year after.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

The Government said a while back that entertainment would be at the end of the line in terms of opening up. What we are seeing is a lobbying campaign to make football an exception, and presumably save the tv deals. I suspect it won’t be long before we are reminded that there were football games during WWII.

 

[Chris FGR]

For many clubs I feel it's a matter of basic human decency. Players will be feeling quite stressed right now, no idea whether they'll have a job at the end of all this and no idea when they'll find out. I'm sure they want to know the thoughts of their employers about the future.

I mean sure you can just keep kicking the can down the road, tell players and fans alike that you've had no thoughts, but that's no more likely to benefit the club in the long run. Clubs who've assembled squads won't want to go back to the drawing board when football restarts and may feel they'll be at an advantage if they're able to restart with players who know each other versus opponents who have had massive squad turnovers.

Human decency or not, if clubs are forced to carry on paying players and staff for long with next to no income then there won't be any clubs left. So either which way all players and staff will end up out of work. Might as well lay them all off before that happens so there might be some jobs in lower league football to come back to in a years time.