How to complete the season

[werthersoriginal]

That's how the playoffs were first introduced. Not sure how long it ran like that but think it was pulled because the higher league team tended to win.

Playoffs for relegation were dropped because too many teams were at risk of relegation and it led to a lot of very defensive games, as I recall

 

[horseman]

Reducing games 50% does not change the mentality of how some clubs approach the game..it just means your target is some 25 pts instead of 50...i would go as far as to suggest that there may indeed be more of the 11 behind the ball approach.
Why cancel cup games next season that bring alot of revenue into the game and down to grass roots, if you're thinking to do that then void the current one this season (F A Cup) as only prem teams are left in it anyway and you free up dates for league games that way.

All these pundits suggesting play 3 or 4 games a week have not got a clue, some prem teams will be fine as they have the squads but what about the rest of them as you go down the pyramid?

With the Euros moved to next year international managers are going to want to arrange friendlies prior to the tournement thus clogging up the program anyway.

 

[Malc]

Here's a silly idea. Play matches as soon as possible and iFollow show all matches including in the UK. This at the normal fee of a tenner for UK customers. iFollow then inform the EFL how many people watched each game. The EFL then donate £15 for each person watching to be equally divided between the two teams. Also iFollow donate £5 per person to the pot. But also if possible let the public into the stadiums.
This would give all clubs some income and hopefully keep every team afloat. The EFL can try to get some money back from the funds made available by the government to help businesses in problem.
Season ticket holders could get a special code for iFollow from the clubs free.

 

[horseman]

Here's a silly idea. Play matches as soon as possible and iFollow show all matches including in the UK. This at the normal fee of a tenner for UK customers. iFollow then inform the EFL how many people watched each game. The EFL then donate £15 for each person watching to be equally divided between the two teams. Also iFollow donate £5 per person to the pot. But also if possible let the public into the stadiums.
This would give all clubs some income and hopefully keep every team afloat. The EFL can try to get some money back from the funds made available by the government to help businesses in problem.
Season ticket holders could get a special code for iFollow from the clubs free.

So effectively the only income is from those who would normal walk up to pay on the day? much of which depends on the opposition..There are many clubs with nothing to play for so their income still remains dry effectively (pay on the days)

 

[Manorlounger]

How this season is brought to an end is, to my mind, going to depend on two factors. Firstly, how long the virus hangs around which, on present expectations is going to be well after the start of June. Secondly, the willingness of a majority of clubs in each league to vote for completion and resolution.
I am thinking that for some clubs, the season is already over, no promotion or demotion. Some clubs would no doubt welcome an annulment of the season thus avoiding relegation, others would be livid with any promotion taken away. (Championship to Premiership being valued at £120 million) Will that leave enough to form a majority vote and will that be enough?
Then, if the first factor prevents any play before end of June, we will have issues with player contracts, sponsorship deals and impingement on the start of next season. Commercial factors will inevitably start to play a bigger role in decisions. (Obviously all agents must be banned from the game with immediate effect! )
It won't be possible to make any decision for some time, so now is a good chance for anyone with half a brain to start coming up with solutions, perhaps then, by the time a decision can be made, we may all have a pretty good plan in place!

 

[Grumpy Git]

it had to happen...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2553657568241916

 

[Marked Ox]

It's not exciting and it's not going to be viable.
Footballers, club staff, match officials etc etc are all human. There will be a proportion with the virus to varying degrees, with squads unable to train together and players concerned about exposure to themselves and their families.

The A League in Australia and Aussie Rules Football are both currently playing behind closed doors. So it is doable. Whether it is right to do it is a different question.

From a club point of view, I suppose if they were played behind closed doors, and there is no likelihood of the games being played otherwise which is looking likely, then the clubs could raise some income via iFollow which would be better than nothing.

 

[Marked Ox]

So effectively the only income is from those who would normal walk up to pay on the day? much of which depends on the opposition..There are many clubs with nothing to play for so their income still remains dry effectively (pay on the days)

But that wouldn't be much different from a normal game at this time of the year. Obviously they won't get profits/income from hospitality etc but they might get nothing if the season is void.

 

[tonyw]

That's how the playoffs were first introduced. Not sure how long it ran like that but think it was pulled because the higher league team tended to win.

I'm going to have to issue another Football Statto nerd alert before I post......

......but the playoffs were introduced in 1987, and they actually only had the concept of including teams that were in the relegation places for two seasons.

The playoffs those first two seasons included the teams that were 4th from bottom in the upper league, and the three teams that were just below the automatic spots in the lower league. All games (including the final) were played over two legs.

In fact, over the six playoffs that ran using this format (2 seasons x 3 leagues), the team from the higher league only won once (Charlton in 87), the other five times they were won by a team in the lower league. The reason it was abandoned is that it was only ever supposed to work like that for two years anyway - it was the time when the top division was being reduced from 22 teams to 20 and they didn't want to straight up relegate 4 teams from the top division each season.....they wanted to give the team 4th from bottom a fighting chance. By the 1988-89 season, the numbers in each league were as they are now, and they adopted the playoff system that we still have today.

(as an aside - this is why having an odd number of teams in League One this year is not unprecedented.....in 1987-88, there were 21 teams in Div 1 and 23 teams in Div 2 because they were halfway through this process).


But it's not a bad idea for how to finish the season if they get to start playing again in late May or early June. You'd probably just have to agree on Points-per-game as the way to account for the fact that not everyone has played the same number of games.

 

[Grumpy Git]

The A League in Australia and Aussie Rules Football are both currently playing behind closed doors. So it is doable. Whether it is right to do it is a different question.

From a club point of view, I suppose if they were played behind closed doors, and there is no likelihood of the games being played otherwise which is looking likely, then the clubs could raise some income via iFollow which would be better than nothing.

No tackling allowed, you need to be 6ft from an opponent. And what happens with the wall?

 

[tonyw]

Also, there are some reports today suggested that some measures to combat COVID-19 may have to be in place for the rest of the year.

Given that postponing sporting events was just about the first measure introduced, bad as it sounds, it's not impossible that they're not playing football in front of crowds until early 2021 anyways. If that's the case, I guess we'll just pick up where we left off and miss a season.......

......of course how many clubs will have gone out of business in the meantime is another question......

 

[Gary Baldi]

I can't be the only one genuinely interested in what the Stadium will look like having a deep clean. Will it still be standing? Will the rust in the Urinals be a thing of the past? Will the concrete floors look less like cow shed and more like a concrete floor. Such questions!

 

[Berliner]

I can't be the only one genuinely interested in what the Stadium will look like having a deep clean. Will it still be standing? Will the rust in the Urinals be a thing of the past? Will the concrete floors look less like cow shed and more like a concrete floor. Such questions!

I'm going to go with "Exactly the same but with a 2-inch patina of dust and bird sh*t"...

 

[Sheik djibouti]

12 weeks to get the virus under control does not equal 12 weeks until it is safe to return to normal...far from it. In fact doing so would probably render the restrictions of those 12 preceeding weeks completely pointless as infection rates start to spike again from more social interaction. 12 weeks of ever increasing isolation and shut down, followed by months of social distancing seems the more likely outcome at present.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Also, there are some reports today suggested that some measures to combat COVID-19 may have to be in place for the rest of the year.

Given that postponing sporting events was just about the first measure introduced, bad as it sounds, it's not impossible that they're not playing football in front of crowds until early 2021 anyways. If that's the case, I guess we'll just pick up where we left off and miss a season.......

......of course how many clubs will have gone out of business in the meantime is another question......

Blimey, if there is a year off what on Earth will the players do? Ruffs and Long will become accountants, Dickie an estate agent.Mackie will probably go into security

 

[bazzer9461]

I suppose with the hunger for football getting hungrier by the day, by the time the football season restarts we may have for the remaining games have sell out crowds.

 

[SteMerritt]

I'm going to have to issue another Football Statto nerd alert before I post......

......but the playoffs were introduced in 1987, and they actually only had the concept of including teams that were in the relegation places for two seasons.

The playoffs those first two seasons included the teams that were 4th from bottom in the upper league, and the three teams that were just below the automatic spots in the lower league. All games (including the final) were played over two legs.

In fact, over the six playoffs that ran using this format (2 seasons x 3 leagues), the team from the higher league only won once (Charlton in 87), the other five times they were won by a team in the lower league. The reason it was abandoned is that it was only ever supposed to work like that for two years anyway - it was the time when the top division was being reduced from 22 teams to 20 and they didn't want to straight up relegate 4 teams from the top division each season.....they wanted to give the team 4th from bottom a fighting chance. By the 1988-89 season, the numbers in each league were as they are now, and they adopted the playoff system that we still have today.

(as an aside - this is why having an odd number of teams in League One this year is not unprecedented.....in 1987-88, there were 21 teams in Div 1 and 23 teams in Div 2 because they were halfway through this process).


But it's not a bad idea for how to finish the season if they get to start playing again in late May or early June. You'd probably just have to agree on Points-per-game as the way to account for the fact that not everyone has played the same number of games.

Is that correct? The reason I ask is the year Charlton were in the playoffs as a 'higher division' team, we finished 1 place above them, thanks to our win at Luton (for those who don't remember it, we needed a win to stay up, Luton were about 5th in the top flight, had a plastic pitch, and had banned away fans. It was a difficult place to go. We were 2-0 up with about 4mins to go and safety, before Luton scored twice to make it 2-2 in the last minute. Dean Saunders then made himself a club legend by scoring for 3-2 deep into stoppage time, keeping us up).

Now, in my head, only 2 went straight down, and 3rd bottom went into the playoff, not 3 down and 4th bottom. The reason I think this? Our highest ever league finish is 18th in the top flight, which we did twice, 85/6 and 86/7, both 4th from bottom.

Please don't tell me I've had this wrong for 35 years!!! ? ?

 

[horseman]

But that wouldn't be much different from a normal game at this time of the year. Obviously they won't get profits/income from hospitality etc but they might get nothing if the season is void.

i should have been more clearer, i was referring to ifollow and doubting that on the day attendees / casual fans would bother to purchase

 

[LondonRoader]

I suppose with the hunger for football getting hungrier by the day, by the time the football season restarts we may have for the remaining games have sell out crowds.

A lot will depend on people's financial situation at the time.

 

[holdsteady]

i should have been more clearer, i was referring to ifollow and doubting that on the day attendees / casual fans would bother to purchase

It would have to be made very simple and straightforward to attract even half I reckon, the social side of going attracts a lot of people.