Coronavirus and League 2

Boletus Edulis

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I really hate to bring this up, but it is looking more and more likely that football will not be immune from the effects of Coronavirus. The postponing of tonight’s premier league game because some Arsenal players have come into contact with someone with the virus is likely to be the thin end of the wedge.

I would not be at all surprised if at some point games have to be played behind closed doors. If this happens will there be multiple Bury’s in Leagues 1 & 2 because the teams are more reliant on turnstile income proportionately?

Down here in pasty land we are getting very nervous that the Devon Derby could be behind closed doors, for us fans this would take away the most eagerly awaited home game all season. For the club, with its biggest pay day of the year off, it could have a significant affect on next season’s budget.

Should league 1 and 2 sides get compensation from EFL, FA, Premier League or whomever, or is it an act of god, so tough luck?

Which teams might be put in a very serious position financially beyond the obvious two in our league of Macclesfield and Oldham?

Would you expect compensation? I hear people talk about season ticket holders getting a refund. Personally I would not take it for our four tickets, I’d rather take a personal hit than for my club to be in problems next year. I rarely think caveat emptor is right, but in this instance I do. The only thing I would ask is that at some point in the future Argo do something specifically for season ticket holders and others who have bought tickets for the remaining games as a thank you.

What would other season ticket holders do, will you expect a refund?
 

shoddycollins

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The Arsenal thing is a different issue though, that game has been postponed not because of the crowd, but because the Arsenal players who met the Olimpiakos owner are now self-isolating, so playing it behind closed doors would make no difference.

If though, we do see games played behind closed doors then I would hope the fat cats of the sport realise what a disaster it would be for the sport if several clubs go out of business in one fell swoop while others are left clinging onto existence and step in with a rescue package. There is more than enough money in the budgets of the top premier league clubs alone to guarantee the financial stability of every club in the country below the Championship and the broadcasting and betting markets contribute untold more billions to the total money in football.

Perhaps though, a crisis like this will shake them out of their complacency that the sport as a whole can look after itself while they skim off the cream and bring about a change in attitude. One can hope, every cloud and all that.

As a season ticket holder I wouldn't expect the club to have to foot the bill for refunds if matches had to be played behind closed doors; despite missing out on a few games I won't have had to fork out any more than I was expecting to pay anyway. I'd hope though that I could still be compensated out of the same deep pockets that I expect to help the club out.

Could be worse I suppose. South X Southwest Festival which was cancelled last week have announced that they won't be issuing refunds for tickets sold, which have cost people hundreds of pounds. I guess they are unable to issue refunds if they've already paid all the costs of putting on the festival.

I would feel for the Liverpool fans though if after waiting so long for a title in the Premier League era, they have to play the decider behind closed doors.
 
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valefan16

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I expect in the next week or two for games to end up behind closed doors, or the season suspended, it seems inevitable looking around Europe and where we are currently at that it isn't far away.

Its a complex situation... if considered safe to play but behind closed doors then hopefully its a couple of weeks away and we get down to the last 2-3 home games for most teams at this level so lesser of an impact than 4 or 5 that it would be if happens prior to the weekend this week...

What I imagine would be one option is to allow ifollow to stream UK wide and at least some income would be saved by fans paying to stream it in the UK, this would offset some of the costs and you'd hope and hopefully some support from higher levels to see it through...

The bigger complexity would be if the season was cancelled... Do you promote the top 4 and relegate Stevenage now? or have a formula? or just cancel it and start again as it is this season? Could it be postponed and played in Late May/June with the Euro's not likely to impact L2 level? Or what do you do with the play offs? If you promote the top 4 and relegate Stevenage without mathematical certainty how do you compensate the clubs who miss out on play offs or potential Auto when the season isn't finished...
 

Super_horns

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Think they will try to play games behind closed doors and compensate teams or just delay the season.

Issue is this virus isn't going away for sometime ..

Read it might hit a peak next winter !
 

shoddycollins

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Think they will try to play games behind closed doors and compensate teams or just delay the season.

Issue is this virus isn't going away for sometime ..

Read it might hit a peak next winter !

The flipside to that argument is that new cases in Wuhan are already falling.
 

valefan16

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The flipside to that argument is that new cases in Wuhan are already falling.

They are but literally isolated the city from the rest of the world... can you see the UK literally isolating each town for weeks?
 

E10rifle

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They are but literally isolated the city from the rest of the world... can you see the UK literally isolating each town for weeks?

Italy have done it. Might be Boris’ only option in the near future, seeing as it’s going to be a swathe of Tory voters getting killed off otherwise.
 

Richard Cranium

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Cancel the entire league and start again from May 2nd last year. About 3.03pm and we can defend that corner properly this time and then get promoted
 

Chris FGR

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There is no vaccination so this isn't going away. All football should be shut down until a vaccine is developed, as should other sports and events. All clubs should be compensated by the Premier League so they can all pay off all their staff and players off who can then look for other jobs in the meantime and also shut their stadiums down for a year or two which means minimal running costs.
 

Kim Jong Un

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Season suspended more likely in the EFL due to clubs relying on ticket money
 

Chris FGR

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The Prem will carry on behind closed doors. Everyone else will have to abort the season imo. That should at least give Bury enough time to sort themselves out in time to start in August 2021 back in league 1.
 

Son of Cod

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Quarantine all the old people, in my opinion. They fucked us all over with Brexit and numerous general elections, so fair is fair. Let the people who can recover easily just get on with our lives.
The flipside to that argument is that new cases in Wuhan are already falling.
If you believe the Chinese government/health organisations are reporting everything correctly...
 

Indian Dan

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Can’t see the remaining fixtures being rearranged - they’ll be behind closed doors with wall to wall iFollow coverage.

I reckon we’d lose around £500,000 if we didn’t play our remaining 5 home games - big, big money for L2. Can’t see why the EFL would/should pay compo - football is no different to other business that will struggle because of Coronavirus.

I’ve cancelled my trip back to watch a couple of games which has pissed me off. Rearranged for October - so it’ll be a couple of L1 games instead!
 

shoddycollins

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Can’t see why the EFL would/should pay compo - football is no different to other business that will struggle because of Coronavirus.
Well it's entirely up to them, not just them but the FA, PL and broadcasting/betting companies too. If they're happy for half the clubs in the country to fold (and maybe they are) then they need do nothing. If they want to maintain a system of professional clubs outside the major cities then they might have to put their money where their mouth is.

If football is sent into terminal decline then all coronavirus will be is the straw that broke the camel's back.
 

Kim Jong Un

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Quarantine all the old people, in my opinion. They fucked us all over with Brexit and numerous general elections, so fair is fair. Let the people who can recover easily just get on with our lives.

If you believe the Chinese government/health organisations are reporting everything correctly...

Moronic ageism. The lack of respect for the elderly in this country is astounding.
 

shoddycollins

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The only people that would need to be in the stadium for a match played behind closed doors would be the teams and coaching staff, match officials and ground staff. Everyone else, including club officials are only there to cater to the fans, though you'd probably want to give access to media still.
 
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ProfessorGreen

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If the Exeter match got put behind closed doors it would cost the club circa 300k including the Sky money. Would be a bit of a ballache.
 

Vanni

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We're not going up so I say just scrap this season altogether and start afresh come August.

Of course, it all depends on the side you follow. Boro fans will be eternallygrateful(#stevenageforleaguefootball), as will the Wrexham and Chesterfield fans as they'll be assured of National League footy next year.

Spare a thought for others though. Chipmunx won't be seen ever again on this forum, while Liverpool's 30 year plus wait for a PL title won't be over just yet.
 

TimeyWimey

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We're not going up so I say just scrap this season altogether and start afresh come August.

Of course, it all depends on the side you follow. Boro fans will be eternallygrateful(#stevenageforleaguefootball), as will the Wrexham and Chesterfield fans as they'll be assured of National League footy next year.

Spare a thought for others though. Chipmunx won't be seen ever again on this forum, while Liverpool's 30 year plus wait for a PL title won't be over just yet.

Woah. Let's not be rash. Promotions and relegations should definitely go ahead. And play-offs, just for the 8th placed heart ache.
 

Richard Cranium

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They'll extend the season for the lower leagues I reckon. No idea with the Prem/Champ though. Can see the Euros being scrapped
 

Son of Cod

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They'll extend the season for the lower leagues I reckon. No idea with the Prem/Champ though. Can see the Euros being scrapped
What about Newport's international superstars? I'm assuming they're all going to the Euros...
 

Vanni

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This ifollow thing is a bit of a dilemma. On one hand you've got the ST holders that are saying that should the upcoming matches be played behind closed doors then the club should give them access to the live stream. But an empty ground means the clubs will be taking a big hit financially and one way they can recuperate a part of that lost income is via ifollow, and if they give free access to all the STH's then the club will only be recuperating a very small percentage of the lost revenue.
 

Laker

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This ifollow thing is a bit of a dilemma. On one hand you've got the ST holders that are saying that should the upcoming matches be played behind closed doors then the club should give them access to the live stream. But an empty ground means the clubs will be taking a big hit financially and one way they can recuperate a part of that lost income is via ifollow, and if they give free access to all the STH's then the club will only be recuperating a very small percentage of the lost revenue.
There is no way that some of the season ticket holders in the Habbin have even used a computer, let alone own one....!
 

Greenacres

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We nearly went bust ten years ago, when still in the Conference, after losing a couple of games to the weather in the middle of winter and our main source of income dried up. As far as I can remember we had a bill for something like £25k from the Inland Revenue and no way to pay it. Granted that we were getting average gates of around 1000 at that time, but losing the match-day income from just a few thousand people nearly sent us over the edge. We are in a lucky position now, despite being a small club in the Football League, I suspect that there are clubs facing a difficult future.
 

AdamStag

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It’s all a load of nonsense.

Ebola killed far more than this but nobody cared as was in Africa, no-one mentions the millions who die each year of starvation.

Imagine how awkward it is for folk in Mansfield being so close to the Derbyshire border!
 

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