I really don't think you can relegate or promote a side with sufficient games to go. If needed, I think the idea MartinCAFC has put forward could be made to work. You have to use as a starting point that there are no perfect solutions. You can argue that the clubs who are currently in third place and fourth place in league two need to rely on a competition that sadly can't be played to get promoted (the Play Offs). That and the fact there is no guarantee they would end up in a play off place and they would have a relatively weak argument.
Sadly, whilst there is a mathematical chance that Liverpool can be caught, they can not be awarded the title. I have heard that they would be issued with a League Leaders trophy which if true gives a clue that the Leagues will void everything.
Got tickets, accom and trains sorted for Cardiff. Can't get refunds for trains or accommodation, apparently "global pandemic" isn't a good enough reason 😠
Also got hotel booked for two nights down there with no refund being given, luckily i was going down on Megabus so haven;t lost too much on fares, but still annoying.
We've lost out on one of my boys school trip to Barcelona (no refund), school trip to Austria (no refund), family holiday to Gran Canaria (no refund probably) and family trip to Canada for wife's family reunion (no refund probably) - assuming that the last two are deemed 'unsafe'.
At least I took out insurance on my train fare to Cardiff. Lol.
All good ideas, @MartinCAFC . But the League rules say that you can't change the format of the League part way through the season, only before the season commences at the specific League meeting; any changes first have to be approved by vote of the clubs at that meeting.
Ending the season now, changing the format of promotion & relegation, dispensing with playoff games would be against the League's own comptition rules.
And surely would provoke legal challenges by disadvantaged clubs on that basis.
Legally, the season has to be played to it's full conclusion as stated by competition rules, however long it may take.
Or the season abandoned completely, null and void, as happened in 1939 after War was declared.
Surely in a Force Majeure (can never spell that) situation the rules aren’t binding?
Then in a case of Force Majeure, the season would surely be abandoned. Worst case scenario, of course.
The season must be fulfilled and all fixtures completed.
The only exception, I understand, is for disciplinary reasons - where the innocent club may be awarded 3 points if the game is not played. If a team withdraws from the League and cannot fulfill all it's fixtures, then all games already played involving that team are declared null and void.
Surely, even if it means delaying the start of next season, we will see this season extended until all games are completed?
Got tickets, accom and trains sorted for Cardiff. Can't get refunds for trains or accommodation, apparently "global pandemic" isn't a good enough reason 😠
Also got hotel booked for two nights down there with no refund being given, luckily i was going down on Megabus so haven;t lost too much on fares, but still annoying.
We've lost out on one of my boys school trip to Barcelona (no refund), school trip to Austria (no refund), family holiday to Gran Canaria (no refund probably) and family trip to Canada for wife's family reunion (no refund probably) - assuming that the last two are deemed 'unsafe'.
At least I took out insurance on my train fare to Cardiff. Lol.
did the school not take out any insurance? sounds rather poor by them if not.
Got tickets, accom and trains sorted for Cardiff. Can't get refunds for trains or accommodation, apparently "global pandemic" isn't a good enough reason 😠
Also got hotel booked for two nights down there with no refund being given, luckily i was going down on Megabus so haven;t lost too much on fares, but still annoying.
We've lost out on one of my boys school trip to Barcelona (no refund), school trip to Austria (no refund), family holiday to Gran Canaria (no refund probably) and family trip to Canada for wife's family reunion (no refund probably) - assuming that the last two are deemed 'unsafe'.
At least I took out insurance on my train fare to Cardiff. Lol.
We are watching Canada closely as we are due to fly out the first week in June.
Theoretically speaking, if play was to resume on 4th April and we play out the rest of the season, for me the best and most logical solution to all of this would be to cancel all play-offs for this season.
The top three and bottom three go up and down respectively. Instead of the race for top 6, it’s the race for the last automatic promotion place, just like how it used to be.
It allows the games suspended now to be played, the season remaining fixtures pushed back and substituted where the fixtures would be played out in May.
People can’t moan about standings and fairness because the team who finishes 3rd would in the end deserve to be promoted. With how close all of the leagues are at present, it still allows for the competitive nature to remain.
This idea means we don’t have the season dragging on any further into the summer than it needs to, and without the worry of loan players and players out of contract in the summer to be either no longer here, or only a matter of days/weeks away from leaving.
Once again Sage shows that show that age is no barrier to joined-up thinking.
There is not going to be any perfect outcome to all this. There are going to be winners & losers. I think the league fixtures, promotion & relegation issues should take precedence over cup games & even play-offs. Back to the old 3 up/3 down model & games being played sat-wed-sat. 9 games left means 5 weeks at most. These could even start as late as end of May so that it coincides with players contracts ending 30th June.
I'm not in favour of just cancelling the season altogether. Woree case scenario is somehow using the current tables to support some sort of relegation/promotion issues.
Liverpool have clearly won the PL and there is no way wiping out their achievement this season would be fair (I dont get all this hatred of them), do that the PL title sorted. At the other end of things it's clear that both Bolton & Southend are going to get relegated, so that's the bottom of League 1 sorted. Leeds & WBA are clearly the best 2 in our league so they go up, and then its Norwich +1 other to go down (maybe a play-off scenario like we first did back in 1987). Same goes for us. Luton & Barnsley have been in the bottom 3 for the majority of the season so they go & a play off comprising us, Stoke, Huddersfield & Hull. Top of league 1 is tricky as is League 2.....but I favour this method over just airbrushing it all out.
Liverpool should be champions though, as the odds of them winning the title if the matches are completed are massively stacked in their favour. All the rest is debatable. Even Leeds are only seven points clear of Fulham with nine games to play. With coronavirus set to peak (not end) in around 12 weeks time, I can't see how the season can continue myself. Most of our players would be out of contract by then, for one thing.
I'm amazed that some posters think the League can just change the Competition rules 3 quarters of the way through the season.
It would almost be like changing the Laws of the Game during a match with 20 minutes left ..... you know, keeper suddenly permitted to handle outside the box, offside law abolished and the game duration changed to 80 minutes.
Nobody would know what was happening. There would be uproar. And the team that lost would be taking the League to court first thing on Monday morning.
I'm amazed that some posters think the League can just change the Competition rules 3 quarters of the way through the season.
It would almost be like changing the Laws of the Game during a match with 20 minutes left ..... you know, keeper suddenly permitted to handle outside the box, offside law abolished and the game duration changed to 80 minutes.
Nobody would know what was happening. There would be uproar. And the team that lost would be taking the League to court first thing on Monday morning.
The rules can be changed if it is impossible to fulfil them due to outside factors. You know, Wars, killer viruses etc... You can postpone a game with 20 minutes left and there is a precedent for postponed games to be abandoned.
The play-offs though are an extension upon the leagues final standings. As long as the leagues fulfil their required fixtures, which is playing everyone twice, they’ve passed that without a problem.
My idea was purely to take away the extension for extreme circumstances like this is. Club’s can take things to court, but ultimately the team who finishes 3rd after 46, or 44 games in League One, will be the team who deserves to finish there. In extreme circumstances like this, the football season will be completed in the most fair way possible and allow for the games to be played at a more reasonable time rather than adding on the additional 3 weeks it takes for the play-offs to be completed. The top 3 would still be promoted, it just wouldn’t include the big money spinner that the play-offs were designed for.
I'm amazed that some posters think the League can just change the Competition rules 3 quarters of the way through the season.
It would almost be like changing the Laws of the Game during a match with 20 minutes left ..... you know, keeper suddenly permitted to handle outside the box, offside law abolished and the game duration changed to 80 minutes.
Nobody would know what was happening. There would be uproar. And the team that lost would be taking the League to court first thing on Monday morning.
The rules can be changed if it is impossible to fulfil them due to outside factors. You know, Wars, killer viruses etc... You can postpone a game with 20 minutes left and there is a precedent for postponed games to be abandoned.
The Competition rules won't be changed. That's my point.
The season can be extended until all fixtures are completed. Or abandoned completely, null and void.
You can't just re-write the rules 3 quarters of the way through the season. The Competition rules have to be known before commencement of the season.
Sadly for us I think the least bad solution, assuming the season won't be able to be completed, is to take the tables as they are now. For clubs that have games in hand, work out their average points per game so far and award them the appropriate number of points for their outstanding fixtures. Scrap all unfinished cup competitions.
Not a great solution by any means but I think it's more fair missing 9 odd games than undoing the work teams have done over 35ish games. Obviously from a biased point of view I would prefer the season expunged completely! And if there's any way the remaining fixtures can be completed before contracts expire that would obviously be preferable but I just can't see how it can be done.
Another thing people have suggested which isn't a bad shout is writing off the remaining games and then carrying on with the same standings/ points from next year with each team having to play each other twice again. Makes a bit of a marathon out of it but might be the most fair way?
The play-offs though are an extension upon the leagues final standings. As long as the leagues fulfil their required fixtures, which is playing everyone twice, they’ve passed that without a problem.
My idea was purely to take away the extension for extreme circumstances like this is. Club’s can take things to court, but ultimately the team who finishes 3rd after 46, or 44 games in League One, will be the team who deserves to finish there. In extreme circumstances like this, the football season will be completed in the most fair way possible and allow for the games to be played at a more reasonable time rather than adding on the additional 3 weeks it takes for the play-offs to be completed. The top 3 would still be promoted, it just wouldn’t include the big money spinner that the play-offs were designed for.
the play off's need not take three weeks. Two should be ample.
Another thing people have suggested which isn't a bad shout is writing off the remaining games and then carrying on with the same standings/ points from next year with each team having to play each other twice again. Makes a bit of a marathon out of it but might be the most fair way?
Another thing people have suggested which isn't a bad shout is writing off the remaining games and then carrying on with the same standings/ points from next year with each team having to play each other twice again. Makes a bit of a marathon out of it but might be the most fair way?
with the same squads too?
As contracts expire in June I guess you would have to allow a transfer window as normal to replace out of contract players, so the squads could look vastly different when the season reconvenes. Not ideal but it's a case of finding the least bad option at this point.
Got tickets, accom and trains sorted for Cardiff. Can't get refunds for trains or accommodation, apparently "global pandemic" isn't a good enough reason 😠
Also got hotel booked for two nights down there with no refund being given, luckily i was going down on Megabus so haven;t lost too much on fares, but still annoying.
We've lost out on one of my boys school trip to Barcelona (no refund), school trip to Austria (no refund), family holiday to Gran Canaria (no refund probably) and family trip to Canada for wife's family reunion (no refund probably) - assuming that the last two are deemed 'unsafe'.
At least I took out insurance on my train fare to Cardiff. Lol.
Can't believe the school are getting away with that. You should only lose your money if you withdraw your child from a trip that is going ahead. Go and bang on the head's door (politely).
Comments
Sadly, whilst there is a mathematical chance that Liverpool can be caught, they can not be awarded the title. I have heard that they would be issued with a League Leaders trophy which if true gives a clue that the Leagues will void everything.
At least I took out insurance on my train fare to Cardiff. Lol.
Worst case scenario, of course.
The season must be fulfilled and all fixtures completed.
The only exception, I understand, is for disciplinary reasons - where the innocent club may be awarded 3 points if the game is not played. If a team withdraws from the League and cannot fulfill all it's fixtures, then all games already played involving that team are declared null and void.
Surely, even if it means delaying the start of next season, we will see this season extended until all games are completed?
All the rest is debatable. Even Leeds are only seven points clear of Fulham with nine games to play.
With coronavirus set to peak (not end) in around 12 weeks time, I can't see how the season can continue myself. Most of our players would be out of contract by then, for one thing.
It would almost be like changing the Laws of the Game during a match with 20 minutes left ..... you know, keeper suddenly permitted to handle outside the box, offside law abolished and the game duration changed to 80 minutes.
Nobody would know what was happening. There would be uproar.
And the team that lost would be taking the League to court first thing on Monday morning.
My idea was purely to take away the extension for extreme circumstances like this is. Club’s can take things to court, but ultimately the team who finishes 3rd after 46, or 44 games in League One, will be the team who deserves to finish there. In extreme circumstances like this, the football season will be completed in the most fair way possible and allow for the games to be played at a more reasonable time rather than adding on the additional 3 weeks it takes for the play-offs to be completed. The top 3 would still be promoted, it just wouldn’t include the big money spinner that the play-offs were designed for.
The season can be extended until all fixtures are completed.
Or abandoned completely, null and void.
You can't just re-write the rules 3 quarters of the way through the season.
The Competition rules have to be known before commencement of the season.
That's a legal requirement.
Not a great solution by any means but I think it's more fair missing 9 odd games than undoing the work teams have done over 35ish games. Obviously from a biased point of view I would prefer the season expunged completely! And if there's any way the remaining fixtures can be completed before contracts expire that would obviously be preferable but I just can't see how it can be done.