I can't imagine this would ever float but I was thinking maybe it would be better to cancel the 2020/2021 season and just finish the 2019/2020 season as and when it is practical to do so. Takes away all the discussion on how this season should finish and provides a fair end to the season for most clubs. There will still be clubs that go under financially but that is likely to happen anyway.
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The 2019-2020 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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Ouch; I read about this disgusting assault and robbery this morning. Horrible.
I feel like this season is never going to have any satisfactory resolution.
Games without fans, a horrible thought to some - it wouldn't bother me, promotions and no relegations is one of the best ideas. But I just don't see it coming together.
And I bet the Bundesliga changes their mind before Saturday.
The stark reality is that the footballing world faces the choice between insolvency on the one hand and a raft of unattractive alternatives on the other. Looking at it from a purely pragmatic perspective, televised matches in empty stadiums with copious and constant testing of players and staff is the only workable alternative for the foreseeable future. So we need to focus on making that happen if and when it becomes possible to do so in each country. The process of re-starting leagues is going to have to be a very flexible process in each league that will change from week-to-week and even day to day depending on developments.
It all boils down to how thorough the contingency planning is and whether the proposed testing regimes actually work as intended.
The progress of the pandemic will always be a wildcard, but if the powers that be do their homework and if everyone - including fans at home - really commit to cooperating, I think most nations can finish out the current season and start the next in ways that - while far from ideal - at least keep football alive and kicking, and give us all something to root for in the midst of all the uncertainty.
It all boils down to how thorough the contingency planning is and whether the proposed testing regimes actually work as intended.
The progress of the pandemic will always be a wildcard, but if the powers that be do their homework and if everyone - including fans at home - really commit to cooperating, I think most nations can finish out the current season and start the next in ways that - while far from ideal - at least keep football alive and kicking, and give us all something to root for in the midst of all the uncertainty.
Enjoy.
Actually, I honestly think (or rather, have come to suspect) that fans (and the presence of fans at games) increasingly come as part of the packaging of the "brand" of a particular team, and that, for the top teams, such as those at the apex of the PL, fans are something they can sell to international sponsors (when selling the concept of the club, complete with atmosphere and history and traditions).
Notwithstanding that, for many of the top teams in the top leagues of Europe, fans are not something that are any longer all that necessary financially, as TV rights, sponsorship deals, oligarch owners, have rendered that model (whereby fans, or supporters provide the financial base - or, an important financial component, - for the club and its activities) somewhat redundant.
However, it is a very different matter for clubs lower down the football leagues and footballing and financial hierarchy; those clubs do depend on the financial life-line of gate receipts, and merchandise such as the shirts bought by fans for their very financial survival.
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The Dortmund-Schalke match had some good goals in it but it wasn't much of a contest. I am just watching the dying moments of the Union-Bayern match and while Bayern won they had to work for it and the match was pretty open for long stretches.
The Bundesliga is really great league in so many ways, with an amazing fan culture. There is really only one thing wrong with it - Bayern. As long as they dominate the way they do, the whole concept of a competition is something of a fiction. But take that away and there is so much to enjoy about it.
Here's hoping the restart ends up being a success.
The Bundesliga is really great league in so many ways, with an amazing fan culture. There is really only one thing wrong with it - Bayern. As long as they dominate the way they do, the whole concept of a competition is something of a fiction. But take that away and there is so much to enjoy about it.
Here's hoping the restart ends up being a success.
Shame that Bayern won yesterday. But that's German football for you, and so goes the league title. I watched the Paderborn - Hoffenheim match this past weekend and it was pretty back-and-forth. It may not be "normal" football but I am finding it enjoyable all the same.
Only put dates in for the teams that have a game in hand so far. I guess they are just going to see how it goes.
It may be national stereotyping, but I must say I am less confident in the Premier League restart than I was in the case of the Bundesliga. For one thing, the infection numbers in the UK are proportionately worse than Germany. I do not think the Premier League restart will go as smoothly as it has (so far) with the Bundesliga.
Agree. I can see idiots at the ground. Especially when it comes to any trophy presentation!
I have to say that I share your concerns, which are entirely valid.
One of the good things about viewing the Bundesliga league matches for people who normally don't follow the league, they get the chance of being exposed to the good footballers of the league.
Honestly I think the Bundesliga, on average, plays a more attractive style of football.
I do not like the fake crowd noises.
They've been using that at the Villa for years!
Danish football restarts with drive-ins and virtual stadiums.
Aarhus AGF will kick off against Randers FC as Denmark becomes one of the first countries in Europe to restart its premiere league.
With no fans, AGF has instead partnered with the digital video platform Zoom to create a sort of virtual stadium, where fans can choose from one of 22 different sections -- just like in a real stadium -- and be able to cheer and hear the cheers of others through their computers.
Pictures of the fans will then be mounted on a huge screen in the stadium, so the players can see and hear them.
https://www.thelocal.dk/20200528/danish-football-restarts-with-drive-ins-and-virtual-stadiums
Aarhus AGF will kick off against Randers FC as Denmark becomes one of the first countries in Europe to restart its premiere league.
With no fans, AGF has instead partnered with the digital video platform Zoom to create a sort of virtual stadium, where fans can choose from one of 22 different sections -- just like in a real stadium -- and be able to cheer and hear the cheers of others through their computers.
Pictures of the fans will then be mounted on a huge screen in the stadium, so the players can see and hear them.
https://www.thelocal.dk/20200528/danish-football-restarts-with-drive-ins-and-virtual-stadiums
I just don’t get it. If a stadium is empty, it’s empty. Plastic fans, zoom fans or recorded cheers are not going to make it more normal.