Cancelling season 'premature' say UEFA - what could that mean for Yorkshire's football clubs?

On Thursday heads of European football's governing body, the European Club Association and European Leagues signed a letter to leagues, clubs and national associations which has been seen by the Associated Press. In it, they outlined their confidence football can return in the coming months, and revealed they are planning around a July/August resumption.

The Premier League, Football League and other bodies are meeting on Friday to discuss plans for if and when the 2019-20 campaign can be restarted. English top-level football has been suspended until at least April 30 because of the spread of coronavirus, although that could be pushed back at the meeting.

The European Leagues are also expected to hold a conference call on Friday to discuss the letter.

Hard and fast plans are hard to formulate because of uncertainty about when it will be deemed safe to start training as groups, then playing, again in each country.

“We are confident that football can restart in the months to come — with conditions that will be dictated by public authorities — and believe that any decision of abandoning domestic competitions is, at this stage, premature and not justified,” wrote UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli and EL president Lars-Christer Olsson. Last weekend Ceferin struck a more gloomy tone about the chances of resumption in an interview with La Repubblica.

UEFA has set up working groups to assess the legal, regulatory and financial issues caused by the various possible courses of action.

“Their work is now focusing on scenarios encompassing the months of July and August, including the possibility that the UEFA competitions restart after the completion of domestic leagues,” said the letter. “A joint management of calendars is strictly required as the conclusion of the current season must be coordinated with the start of the new one, which may be partly impacted because of the overstretch.

“The calendar working group will indicate as soon as possible, and ideally by mid-May, which of the plans can be enacted for the completion of the season without leaving anyone behind.

“It is of paramount importance that even a disruptive event like this epidemic does not prevent our competitions from being decided on the field.”

On Thursday the Belgian League called off its season, awarding the title to Brugge. In England, rugby union's Championship did the same.

Were that to happen in English football's second tier, Leeds would be champions and promoted to the Premier League for the first time since 2004, and Rotherham United would return to the Championship at the first attempt. Barnsley would be relegated to League One.

It would be more complicated than in Belgium, however, because not all teams have played the same number of games. That would leave the leagues open to legal challenges from teams relegated or denied promotion, and from broadcasters and other sponsors over unfulfilled contracts. UEFA warned they could bar leagues from their cup competitions if they end the season without permission.

The will of the English leagues is to play to a conclusion, but there is an increasing worry this may not be feasible. Simply declaring the competitions void, as some have called for, would reprieve Barnsley, but deny Leeds and Rotherham.

Sheffield United's position is perhaps the most complicated, seventh in the Premier League with a game in hand. The top six plus the FA Cup winners – or the top seven if the FA Cup winners are part of this group – will qualify to play in Europe next season, assuming the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League take place in the same format.

Manchester City have been banned from European competition over financial fair play breaches, which in theory opens up an extra place, but that could change were they to successfully appeal before the end of the season, or get a stay of execution until their case is heard.

Winning their game in hand would take the Blades up to fifth, which would be a Champions League spot were City barred from next season's competition. Sheffield United have never qualified for Europe.

Continuing the season would allow Doncaster and Bradford to push for the play-offs in Leagues One and Two, but would leave Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and Hull City with relegation battles on their hands.

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