Phil SumblerAs football heads into the Boxing Day figures we face a reality that, at the time of writing on Thursday evening, 18 of the 40 fixtures scheduled across the top four divisions for that day have already been cancelled.
Each of those fixtures have been called off due to at least one of the teams involved being unable to fulfil the fixture due to a rise of positive Covid cases within the squad. This has come off the backdrop of the UK declaring more than 100,000 positive Covid tests two days running – the highest two days of positive cases since the start of the pandemic.
On top of that you have clubs where cases have caused matches to be called off already and – prior to the Millwall v Swansea game being called off on Thursday – we heard Millwall boss Gary Rowett talking about players returning to games at different time and how that causes disruption even at the stage where you are able to field a team then you still feel at a disadvantage.
Earlier in this week both the Premier League and the EFL vowed to carry on where it was safe to do so. It has been expected that the Premier League would postpone at least one round of games whilst the EFL CEO Trevor Birch said “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.”
Unfortunately, at the time, there was simply not enough support, certainly within the Premier League, to support a break but as we close in on more than 50% of matches being postponed surely it is time to revisit that.
A circuit break from matches – even if it was just one of the scheduled fixtures over the Christmas period – would assist with several things. It would give players who have previously tested positive for Covid the chance to return to full fitness and also reduce mixing within squads (and across squads) thus reducing further the chance of any further spread of the virus.
Opponents to a break in fixtures will point to the fact that players would still mix outside of football and the reduction in spread would be minimal but it does feel like the game should be doing something at the moment to help preserve the fitness and health of those within squads but also within backroom staff at the same time.
Clubs in Scotland agreed earlier this week to bring forward their winter break which will create a natural circuit break but also helps with the decision of the Scottish government to restrict crowds to just 500. Whilst this maybe easier in Scotland due to a natural winter break anyway it does mean that the situation has a chance to calm itself down which will help in the longer run.
One of the issues is the longer the leagues let the current situation carry on the fixture backlog that they are trying to avoid will be in place anyway. Take the Swans as an example. We are already two games adrift thanks to successive postponements. There is nothing to say that we may not slip further behind given we know there are positive cases within the squad already. If we lost either of the two remaining festive games we would effectively be three weeks behind the curve in terms of matches played.
Because of the reluctance to create a circuit break within the game we are creating uneven playing fields where it is the lottery of who you are due to play and whether they have had an outbreak that is creating consistency within the division. Once again we refer to the words of Gary Rowett:
“You’ve got certain players that will have had symptoms and not have been able to do too much training remotely. Some players will be able to do a little bit of training and perhaps be in a better position with no symptoms.
“It’s just a blend, you have to take it day by day and prepare the ones that are ready and okay and can get that training volume.
“To be honest, you probably have to lean towards those players more than the ones that have had Covid and will have been out for 10 days, because at least you know physically what you’re going to get.”
We should also not lose sight of the impact of these late postponements on fans. Clubs can refund organised travel but not public transport or even hotel costs and the like. Fans are making plans to travel but right now there is a less than 50% chance games will go ahead and that feels as unfair on them as it is on players that games are called off at relative short notice.
It is because of all these factors that a circuit break feels like the best – and most obvious solution – at the moment and it is time that the leagues realised that rather than just trying to carry on “as best they can”
