Coronavirus and Football

This is apparently leaked audio from the Bristol Rovers Manager about the latest talks about the football situation-

-Promotions will take place for top 3 clubs (on merit), but relegations will not
- Football probably won't be watchable by fans in grounds until Jan 2021 (depends on whether a cure is available)
- Contracts- owners do not want to extend contracts beyond Expiry date (June 30th?), but if games are to be played, will out of contract players still play (effectively on no wage)?

More or less what I posted a few weeks ago

I think someone said before that out of contract/ loan players could play for the clubs they are at on a pay as you play basis.

Full statement

'City For All' 2020/21 season-ticket sales have today been suspended. 
 
The decision has been taken as the club continues to await further information regarding a conclusion to the current campaign, with the start date for next season yet to be confirmed.
 
This comes following a meeting yesterday held between the EFL and the Bantams' Sky Bet League Two colleagues. 
 
City officials have recently been informed of the ever-growing possibility of supporters being unable to attend matches until 2021.
 
And it is now highly likely that next season will commence behind closed doors.
 
Should this be the case, the club will endeavour to ensure those who have already purchased season tickets for the coming campaign will be able to view matches - FREE of charge - from home via iFollow. 
 
If this is not preferred then refunds will become available at a later date.
 
The club will move to update supporters on this matter as soon as possible, with talks to continue over the coming weeks between the relevant governing bodies.

More Bradford news


Callum Cooke, Dylan Connolly and Jamie Devitt have returned to their parent clubs and Dylan Mottley-Henry has been released. 
 
The trio’s loan agreements have expired - as has Mottley-Henry’s short-term contract, which he signed in January.  
 
Cooke, Connolly and Devitt return to Peterborough United, AFC Wimbledon and Blackpool respectively. 
 
The three loanees collectively turned out on 62 occasions for the Bantams, with Connolly netting a goal-of-the-season contender in February's victory over Plymouth Argyle. 
 
Mottley-Henry arrived at the Utilita Energy Stadium following a spell with Barnsley and went on to make seven appearances in claret and amber.
 
Given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the remainder of the 2019/20 season and its conclusion, Bradford City is in no position to extend the aforementioned deals indefinitely. 
 
The club would like to take this opportunity to thank all four players for their efforts and services this season.

No way can the current season be completed by June 30th when many players contracts expire.

Probably better to just abandon football until further notice... then have a reset. Some clubs have interests to preserve while others will declare bankruptcy. We'll be ok, those clubs who start again from scratch, probably many, will be just below us somewhere.

I think our Football League is waiting to see what comes out of Bozos announcement on the 7th May as regards any possible part relaxation of the lockdown and will make a final decision next weekend

Social distancing will be in place long after 7th May unless you're wearing a mask perhaps

I reckon few clubs will survive this outside of the Premiership, this set timeframe to find a vaccine already smacks of something dodgy and I have already stated many times that football is an enterprise and cannot survive without punters and income, the structure is based around GDP and it will not survive without it for the timeframe that is being banded about.

Proffesional Football structure in the UK is finished as we know it.

Guardian reporting that L1 and 2 will simply be abandoned.

PatDunne wrote:

Guardian reporting that L1 and 2 will simply be abandoned.

There's talks that teams will be promoted but not relegated so if that's true then that means Argyle, Crewe and Swindon will get promoted and the prem will have an extra 3 teams I believe. (I don't know how they'll decide who the third team is from the Championship).

In a funny way if that is how they go about things I think I'd have still enjoyed this season more than our previous promotion season in 2016/2017.

Clubs from all divisions are at risk. I don't see SH walking away from his recent investment. There's many other clubs above us reliant on sugar daddies who might have a change of heart.

PAFC96 wrote:

PatDunne wrote:

Guardian reporting that L1 and 2 will simply be abandoned.

There's talks that teams will be promoted but not relegated so if that's true then that means Argyle, Crewe and Swindon will get promoted and the prem will have an extra 3 teams I believe. (I don't know how they'll decide who the third team is from the Championship).

In a funny way if that is how they go about things I think I'd have still enjoyed this season more than our previous promotion season in 2016/2017.

The piece i read today in the Guardian, PL completes behind closed doors, Leeds, West Brom promoted, 3 games behind closed doors to settle playoffs, no relegation. L1 and L2 abandoned as clubs cannot afford the costs of the games behind closed doors with no gates (not every club has a Simon willing to underwrite losses as can be seen by clubs already releasing players)

This whole pandemic bullshit is the biggest cock up since Mons - football at lower levels has been dangling on a thread for decades and this could now kill it off. I know our club seems to be in safe hands but if it collapses around us I’m not sure what will happen, maybe at best 3 pro leagues and just hope we are in one.

3 player's in Germany have already tested positive for Big Big C

Bloody Germans, wouldn't want them in the trenches alongside ya, what ho!

Coxside_Green wrote:

Social distancing will be in place long after 7th May unless you're wearing a mask perhaps

Interesting....Sky rolling news is reporting this Saturday morning that "relaxation" of the social distancing is being considered as part of the plans to be unveiled next week
Clearly not aimed at football but I suspect industry being able to return to some sort of normality
Front of the Telegraph

harvetheslayer wrote:

Coxside_Green wrote:

Social distancing will be in place long after 7th May unless you're wearing a mask perhaps

Interesting....Sky rolling news is reporting this Saturday morning that "relaxation" of the social distancing is being considered as part of the plans to be unveiled next week
Clearly not aimed at football but I suspect industry being able to return to some sort of normality
Front of the Telegraph

But it's only social distancing that's keeping R below 1.  Relax that and it's COVID 19 all round.  But maybe that's what government now wants to try and save the economy  i.e.revert to the original plan of herd immunity if perhaps they now think the NHS could somehow cope with a massive but fairly quickly passing spike.

Freathy wrote:

harvetheslayer wrote:

Coxside_Green wrote:

Social distancing will be in place long after 7th May unless you're wearing a mask perhaps

Interesting....Sky rolling news is reporting this Saturday morning that "relaxation" of the social distancing is being considered as part of the plans to be unveiled next week
Clearly not aimed at football but I suspect industry being able to return to some sort of normality
Front of the Telegraph

But it's only social distancing that's keeping R below 1.  Relax that and it's COVID 19 all round.  But maybe that's what government now wants to try and save the economy  i.e.revert to the original plan of herd immunity if perhaps they now think the NHS could somehow cope with a massive but fairly quickly passing spike.

Without question Bozo is being mullered by his chums to get industry back and running (even acknowledged by the Tories) so there 99% will be some relaxation of sorts next Thursday
You could be right in that Cummings desire for herd immunity is back on in light of Koreas scientific claims yesterday that you cant catch it twice

I would be shocked if there was any relaxing of the situation next week.....but we might be fed a little tip bit that if all goes the right way then come the start of June there might be some concessions promised....but if we get it wrong and selfish people don't hold the line....then a second wave of Covid-19....would be worse than the first and then you could forget any concessions this year at all maybe.

Wife took a phone call from Argyle yesterday to find if we are alright and if we needed any help.

Tgwu wrote:

Taking full advantages of the lock down at home Park 

They are doing the summer maintenance and reseeding earlier this year. Harper Park is finished, main pitch today and tomorrow hoping the heavy rain forecast for tomorrow holds off . According to the workmen the grass should be through in 5 days.. They was still there at 7 last night.


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I notice on the bottom training pitch in Harper's Park, they have excavated a ditch around it. Forgot how bad the ground was which the pitch was build on.

Freathy wrote:

harvetheslayer wrote:

Coxside_Green wrote:

Social distancing will be in place long after 7th May unless you're wearing a mask perhaps

Interesting....Sky rolling news is reporting this Saturday morning that "relaxation" of the social distancing is being considered as part of the plans to be unveiled next week
Clearly not aimed at football but I suspect industry being able to return to some sort of normality
Front of the Telegraph

But it's only social distancing that's keeping R below 1.  Relax that and it's COVID 19 all round.  But maybe that's what government now wants to try and save the economy  i.e.revert to the original plan of herd immunity if perhaps they now think the NHS could somehow cope with a massive but fairly quickly passing spike.

Derriford Covid icu now running below 50% capacity, do we mothball all that until we do relax restrictions? All the lockdown is doing is slowing the hospital admissions which means people aren't dying without care. I think we should be looking at relaxing now but it will only work with test, track and trace and we are so incompetent we are still weeks away from being able to do it.
As for relaxing its all going to be work related, my youngest boy, site manager, Taylor Wimpey, is being recalled next week when they are setting up social distancing working on their sites. That's far from easy as well. Funnily enough one of my mates has been working at Bardons as he has an essential job and he designs guidance systems for Israeli missiles.

As of May 1, there had been 287 confirmed cases of corona virus in Plymouth.
Sadly 66 has pass away, but 172 patients has now be discharged (In the last week, 28 patients had recovered) 49 are still here in Derriford

Well done to all the staff who have helped to make this possible.

We never had a lockdown, what we had was a shutdown of non essential business, some forced and some voluntary, although even that was piecemeal, that's why England in particular has been badly affected, especially in areas with large ethnic populations who either don't realise or won't accept that the 'rules' apply to them too. Unfortunately I can only see a second wave, and a third and a fourth and so on until a properly enforced and abided by lockdown is deployed and the longer that takes the harder it will become with businesses crumbling, crime rising and mental health disintegrating. Desperately hope I'm wrong.