warehamgas
Predictions League
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,430
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Post by warehamgas on Mar 18, 2020 22:03:18 GMT
The general health situation is going to get far worse before it gets better and because of this football will come way down the list of priorities. I think epping nailed it when he says it’s a huge threat to the game of football as we know it. I’d be amazed if the PL clubs turned round to help clubs in the EFL. Bournemouth today have just posted a loss of over £20m today, so they won’t be helping anyone. For as long as I know we’ve been talking about the unsustainability of football in the lower leagues and the fact that each season there are several stories about clubs being near the edge. Bury finally fell over the edge this season because they were so badly run. I’m certain that this CV will be the final straw that breaks several clubs. Will Sky help? Perhaps although I don’t know if they can because they are going to be be very badly hit esp if hard-pressed punters start to cancel subscriptions because TV might come way down the priority list. I suspect Sky are looking seriously at their own business and how they can provide alternative content when there’s no sport taking place and they must be seriously worried about their medium term plans. So at the moment I’m not sure where any help will be coming from. Everyone will be looking after their own concerns without caring too much about others and the last source of support, the government, would look at clubs and wonder at the way they are run. They are then likely to run a mile before putting too much support their way. I guess the only way clubs would get government help is likely to be that the government gives a block of money to the EFL and then leaves it to the EFL to decide the allocation. We always thought that one day it would all crash and perhaps Coronavirus has been the event to do this, pretty sure that football will never look quite the same in the future. UTG!
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Mar 19, 2020 9:30:01 GMT
www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2020/march/efl-covid-19-update/ FINANCIAL SUPPORT. Effectively a £50mil interest-free loan facility to EFL Clubs. I am not much of a fan of the EFL - but that is something. And it wouldn't have been easy to put in place. So whilst I applaud, it looks on the face of it that EFL Clubs are just going to increase debt (though interest free is a help).
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warehamgas
Predictions League
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Posts: 3,430
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Post by warehamgas on Mar 19, 2020 9:52:57 GMT
From this I take it that the EFL must have some kind of contingency fund for such important events. Good to know. Perhaps someone, somewhere was planning for that rainy day! UTG!
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irishrover
Global Moderator
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 3,372
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Post by irishrover on Mar 19, 2020 11:48:50 GMT
What about the recreational game?
We're facing a crisis at our cricket club over this. Because of the timing it is likely to more or less wipe out cricket this summer. Our membership subscription year (like most clubs) runs March-February so understandably very few people will be willing to renew given the likelihood of no actual play. That is a critical income for ensuring the club continues plus we obviously also lose the income from matchday and seasonal activities as well as money you'd normally take over the bar etc. Despite not being very well off or having any rich donors/sponsors we are an extremely well run club and should just about be able to see this out but it will be tight. I worry for others though and wonder if grassroots football will face a similar crisis or if the timing of this thing means they will be able to escape relatively lightly?
While there are clearly far more important things to worry about than the survival of small sports clubs they are vital community hubs that provide many with the things that make life worth living (community, support, friendships etc). Having to deal with this makes me realise how much damage is going to be done to these kind of civic and community institutions that bring joy to many and which others rely on for much of their social support. Obviously not just sports clubs but all types of organisations of this type are going to be under immense strain. I certainly worry more about these type of things than professional clubs who have deep pocketed owners and large fanbases. When that grassroots organisation goes than it goes - it doesn't come back as a phoenix club.
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bluetornados
Predictions League
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Posts: 12,227
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 19, 2020 11:55:33 GMT
John Barnes Talking about this remaining season:
"If Karren Brady's West Ham were fifth and trying to get into the Champions League, she wouldn't be saying that the league should be halted,” he told BonusCodeBets.co.uk.
“Just because her side is just about out of the relegation zone she is happy to stop and not risk the financial implications. Everyone is out for themselves and it is not right.
"You won't hear Norwich say that as they can still get out of relegation - everyone has different agendas when we should be pulling together as one and recognising empathy and fairness.
"For example, I may be a Liverpool fan, but you can't just give Liverpool the title now because they are 25 points clear and they haven't won the league for 30 years [and] make everything else null and void - that would be totally unjust.
"I would write off the 2020/21 season - why do you have to have a 2020/21 season in these unprecedented times when there are still outstanding issues to resolve? In times of War, football stopped altogether, we are in uncharted waters.
"In these times we have to stop thinking about the season being from August to May as usual. What I would do is wait until everyone is ready to universally start again and go into the summer and beyond.
"The priority must be finishing all the domestic leagues and the FA Cup, which means we come back to pre-season training in three months' time for a six-week period to get the players up to speed and the remainder of this season will start towards the end of 2020.
"The Champions League and Europa League really do not matter when you have domestic leagues and cups to finish, especially because each country will have different ideas about when football can start again and so you may risk different teams in Europe having different levels of preparation.
"This is so much better than scrapping the season now and not knowing how that is going to work, and then cramming and rushing next season's start on time amid a global pandemic.
"You need to allow time to recalibrate by changing the calendar, giving this season enough time to finish organically while preserving health, wellbeing and fairness."
"There is no summer transfer window anymore, it's an end-of-season window. If the season is still going on in November or March then the window will have to be then, whenever it starts and ends.
"Players who are out of contract at the end of the season so they will have to be extended until the end of the season, not July as usual - the question is whether clubs down the leagues can pay their players for that long?
"This will only be for one year, I'm sure in a year or two it will go back to normal. But you cannot hold people to conventional timings for the next year."
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basel
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,064
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Post by basel on Mar 19, 2020 12:00:47 GMT
Personally I think it would be perfectly reasonable if this season is cancelled,but not forgotten.
Start again in a new season in August if the plague allows.
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Mar 26, 2020 16:40:09 GMT
Personally I think it would be perfectly reasonable if this season is cancelled,but not forgotten. Start again in a new season in August if the plague allows. So everything below tier 6... the season has been cancelled. No promotion or relegation. Might be precedent for the other leagues? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52052351
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harrybuckle
Always look on the bright side
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Post by harrybuckle on Mar 26, 2020 18:04:57 GMT
Personally I think it would be perfectly reasonable if this season is cancelled,but not forgotten. Start again in a new season in August if the plague allows. So everything below tier 6... the season has been cancelled. No promotion or relegation. Might be precedent for the other leagues? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52052351Likely EFL will follow suit but prem continue as they generally are far more important !
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Teigngas
Steve White
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Posts: 265
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Post by Teigngas on Mar 27, 2020 6:29:12 GMT
If this season is cancelled, do Bury still exist....
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 6:49:24 GMT
If this season is cancelled, do Bury still exist.... Ha! It's mad. Quite, quite, mad. Yes. It should be finished first. There are games left on your season tickets. Titles, promotions, and relegations, still. Restart this season when it's safe to.
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Mar 27, 2020 9:28:54 GMT
If this season is cancelled, do Bury still exist.... Great question... might give a bit of hope for their supporters anyway. I like traditional Clubs like Bury. Stevenage, Crawley, Morecambe, Fleetwood et al. No offence but, "don't care". (Quotation provided courtesy of Andy Tate. In fact when in long and complex debate with people, simply saying "don't care" repeatedly is a marvellously annoying tactic).
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