How football might go behind closed doors after coronavirus-enforced break

Football remains on lockdown in this country until April 30 at the earliest, with fears abound that the global pandemic could mean that the return date is put back even further to June.

Within the game, there is a growing view that finishing the season behind closed doors – while far from ideal – is the most practical solution to an unprecedented crisis.

In a weekend interview, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, who originally cast aside talk of playing in empty stadiums, said that it was something he would now accept in order to finish the current season and not compromise the sporting integrity of leagues.

Meanwhile, a report in the Daily Telegraph revealed on Saturday that Premier League bosses have drawn up plans to resume top-flight matches from June 1 to be completed within a six-week period up to July 11 – four weeks before the scheduled start of next season.

The report stated that all games will be played behind closed doors, with the government needing to ‘sanction the presence of emergency crews’ within stadiums.

The plan is understood to comply with broadcasting requirements for this and next season, so that campaign would be allowed to begin on time.

Lower down the football pyramid, there is also a realisation that for clubs deprived of valuable match-day revenue, staging games in empty stadiums and charging supporters wishing to watch games online would be one practical solution.

Dr Rob Wilson, of the Sheffield Hallam University Business School, told The Yorkshire Post: “I was on a phone-in and a caller said: ‘wouldn’t it be a good idea to play behind closed doors and put every single game on the internet’.

“It would enable people to watch it and basically buy a ticket to watch the game online with that money then going to the clubs.

“It is the match-day revenue which is the problem for lower-division clubs. The idea was based on broadcasting revenue going straight to the club to recover some of that lost revenue. I thought that was quite a good idea.

“It needs a pragmatic approach and clarity of thought.

“If we need to go into some lockdown situation for a while and not have any physical contact, then you have got to protect the players in that context.

“If you assume that you could keep the players in a vacuum and that they were all ok, then having fans not mixing is likely to help regarding not spreading the virus.

“Finishing the season has to be the objective. As soon as you start cancelling games or voiding seasons or taking the tables as they are, it will unravel and be crazy.”

Speaking at the weekend, Southampton chief executive Martin Semmens suggested that playing games behind closed doors could be a way forward – adding that the British government were eager for football to resume in the United Kingdom when it is deemed safe to do so in time.

That said, there is an acknowledgement that at the moment – and for a period of time yet – the use of police or NHS resources in stadiums is something that cannot be justified.

Semmens commented: “We have to do what is right and safe for the general public.

“When everybody is safe and we’re not using up NHS and police resources, the government would like us to get back to playing because we are entertainment and a sign that the country is coming back to normal.”