Premier League and EFL set to carry on through Covid-19 outbreak, but FA Cup replays are scrapped

The Football League has joined the Premier League in saying it plans to continue playing through the latest Covid-19 outbreak despite Monday's flurry of postponements.

Bradford City, Harrogate Town and Barnsley will all be out of action because of the virus, but none of the top four divisions are planning a "firebreak" to even out the fixture list, and the League Cup quarter-finals will be played as planned if possible this week. The FA Cup will, however, scrap third and fourth-round replays to help ease the congested fixture list.

Read More
Now Barnsley FC suffer Boxing Day postponement as Covid-19 runs through EFL's Fe...

Ten Premier League and 16 Football League matches were called off last week with Leeds United's game against Arsenal the only Saturday match to take place in the top division. The only Leeds first-teamer known to have contracted the virus is Diego Llorente, who will miss the Boxing Day trip to Liverpool through isolation.

PLAYING ON: Leeds United v Arsenal was the only Premier League game to take place on SaturdayPLAYING ON: Leeds United v Arsenal was the only Premier League game to take place on Saturday
PLAYING ON: Leeds United v Arsenal was the only Premier League game to take place on Saturday
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Some of those clubs who have played on despite having been without key players through negative tests - most notably Chelsea, who this week dropped four points in the title race - have complained the situation is unfair and unsafe but a majority of clubs voted in favour of continuing in Monday's virtual meeting.

Shortly after the Premier League's decision became known, their counterparts in the Football League (EFL) followed suit.

Football League chief executive Trevor Birch commented: “We will continue to work with clubs, authorities and other agencies to monitor the Covid-19 case rate and be prepared to respond accordingly, yet for now the view remains that we can continue to deliver games safely where clubs have sufficient healthy personnel in place, on and off the pitch.

“With club mitigation measures, the mass adoption of booster jabs and Covid certification now required for larger crowds, we are sure many fans will continue to feel confident in attending matches over the Christmas period and we look forward to welcoming them.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

His organisation confirmed its plans to play games "where it is safe to do so, and the set squad criteria can be fulfilled by Clubs. While the League acknowledges there will likely be future postponements to navigate where Covid-19 cases are identified, there is optimism that disruption can be minimised following implementation of RED protocols, a daily testing regime and ongoing vaccination rollout."

Until the latest outbreak, clubs had been left to exercise their own judgement about whether to postpone matches because of Covid-19, on the understanding they would have to pay for an investigation into the circumstances with punishments if they caled games off frivolously. The Premier League clarified its rules to the clubs in Monday's meeting.

Appendix 17 of its 2021-22 handbook states that cases will be judged on on a case-by-case basis, but the general guidance is if 14 or more players are available, matches will not be rescheduled.

Only Covid-19 cases are taken into account in this instance. Leeds had only nine senior players - two of them goalkeepers- available on Saturday but seven were injured (plus under-23 centre-back Charlie Cresswell), and Junior Firpo was suspended.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur - who on Monday were thrown out of the Europa Conference League after being unable to play their final group match because of the virus - have three games in hand on the top three, who have all played 18. Their problems have been compounded by the fact November's scheduled Turf Moor game between them fell victim to snow.

Some had suggested that whilst the Boxing Day and New Year's Day fixtures went ahead, the round of matches in between could at least been put on hold to reduce the physical demands on players at the busiest time of the English football calendar.

As well as Liverpool, Leeds are due to host Aston Villa on December 28 and Burnley on New Year's Day. Firpo will be back from suspension at Anfield, and coach Marcelo Bielsa said it was possible Patrick Bamford and Dan James may have recovered by then, but beyond that, the prospects of their injury list shortening in time seem bleak.

Whether some or all of the top-flights Festive fixtures will be able to take place in front of full crowds is a decision that is out of their hands.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There are reports that the Government could introduce tighter restrictions on the population as a whole from December 27.

FA Cup replays, which have already been scrapped from the fifth round on, are a vital source of income for lower-league sides and an irritating annoyance to the Premier League's wealthy elite.

It shows the power of the Premier League that it can hold firm on its own games but pressure the country's governing body into scrapping matches in its showpiece competition. The Football Association has said replays will be back for 2022-23 but they are gradually being eaten away at.

In the 2019-20 season the Premier League had to pay a significant rebate to the television companies which pay to show its games after postponing the season by three months because of the Government's lockdown in response to the pandemic. Festive games are planned on Sky Sports and BT, and the entire round of games between the Boxing Day and New Year's matches are due to be shown on Amazon Prime.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.