Leyton Orient (H), Tuesday 13th Oct, 7.00pm

Extra cost if midweek night game of floodlights etc, who picks up the cost.

it just needs a few more players from different clubs, testing positive, for the season to be cancelled. The authorities have to use commonsense when deciding these matters.
We just started the season, cancelling it now, or the near future, would devastating.

An interesting choice of words in that EFL statement - the match is “suspended” rather than the usual “postponed”. I wonder why they chose that word.

I noticed that too…possibly means it won’t get played!!

PT I regard you as the voice of reason on here.

How do you think this is playing out?

Personally I don’t think I can handle another 6 months of this insanity.

I think that the EFL will carry on as they are, and then once the ‘proper’ winter starts setting in if there is widespread cancellations then I think the EFL Leagues will have to be null and void, unless they get to 50% of the season being played and go with unweighted PPG again.

PL will continue regardless, as will all top leagues IMO as this will give EURO 2020(1) the ability to go ahead.

Firstly thank you.

Secondly, I think it is nearly impossible to conceive that the Orient situation won’t be repeated time after time as the next few months unfold. League One and Two players aren’t multi millionaires so will be living in densely populated areas (especially the London based players) with their kids mingling like all kids mingle. The only thing that may mitigate it is the fact that League One and Two clubs aren’t testing and so in many cases might just be able to continue in blissful ignorance. Without turning this into another Covid thread, it is a signal of the minimal impact of the disease on fit and healthy young folk that Orient played a professional football game last weekend, staging a marvellous comeback at the end, whilst many of the team were carrying this “dreadful disease”.

So unless there is a concerted “don’t get yourselves tested” missive from within lower league clubs (which would cause a huge outcry if publicised), I’m pretty confident that Orient represents the first of many postponements which if current 14 day quarantine guidelines are followed will cause carnage to a programme which is condensed and tight anyway.

This will add further hardship to clubs who are already staring into the abyss, especially as it looks like it might be a season without any fans attending any fixtures which will push some clubs from staring at the abyss to entering into it.

This could lead to the EFL doing one of two things. It could either “make like theatres” and mothball. Call the season off. Everyone furloughed or made redundant. Or it could lead to a filthy deal with the EPL. The ups and downs of last season make the EPL very close to being the club it wanted to be. The likes of Wigan, Watford, Bournemouth, Swansea gone with Leeds and Villa back. So to fund this season the EFL might consider selling one or two of the promotion spots to the EPL I.e move to one up and one down this creating the protectionist racket the EPL was made for. And/or it could sell league spots to ELP reserve/youth teams. And/or it could buy itself out of its League Cup obligations. The EPL has a cash reserve of £1.5bn. I think Arsenal has the highest proportion of matchday revenue to overall turnover at just 17% so the EPL is hurting but not so much it couldn’t afford to take £250m out of its reserves to “save lower league football” whilst at the same time just applying another squeeze to something it has been slowly strangling for near thirty years.

Whichever way it goes it looks very bleak. Personally, I’d take the mothballing option as difficult as that may be for the players and everybody employed in the industry. Be a shame for us as we’ve got a half decent team. But it’s not football without supporters. There is no point to it at all. It’s reason for being absolutely gone. But I can’t help feeling that the EFL will take money from the EPL - the EFL are administratively very weak so it wouldn’t surprise me if it made the type of concessions I mention but for a “loan” rather than a straight buyout.

Hope I’m wrong but I can’t see this season playing out and one way or another the game in the lower league being permanently diminished as a result.

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It might be because it can’t be played at all at the moment, not just on Saturday,until Orient get the all clear. It couldn’t for instance be played a few days later, like a lot of postponed games are.

It Should be 3 points to Walsall and the fixture cancelled … simple

No way can I see them doing that, chances are this will happen time and again for the rest of this season, maybe even an entire pause on fixtures at some staged. Not really fair to penalise Orient now then give everyone a pass later.

Also, that would incentivise teams to keep a break out quiet for fear of losing points.

Can’t see how you could penalise orient in this situation, no one deliberately goes out to catch covid.
I can’t see the season being played out tbf.

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The Daily mirror has this story on the terms of the premier league potential support for the EFL:

Like you say this will continue and if it does the season will never end!! :joy::joy:

They seem to want a lot for a low interest LOAN of less than £200m.

Hadn’t seen that before my response to Geordie. But an obvious and cynical move by a cartel to secure its position. They hold all the money and therefore all the aces.

It is actually really sad. I hope I’m around long enough to see the whole racket blow up in their faces.

I think that’s exactly what will happen to be honest. Same as last season.

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Where there is crisis, there is opportunity it seems for some. Closed shop, flood the lower leagues with B and C teams as it will give the large clubs excuse to have vast reserve teams.

Dear me that really is dispicable on behalf og the PL if that’s what is in the pipeline.
Not exactly “all in it together”? Opportunism on the back of the coronavirus, seems that is the new “epidemic”.

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So Spurs have been awarded the game?

What’s the difference?

Apparently it’s the difference between postponed and cancelled.

They argued there isn’t a chance to replay the Caribao Cup game, so Orient Forfeited. I imagine they’d be far more worried about completing a league fixture at a later date.

Edit: https://twitter.com/mickeybeardmore/status/1309441735307808770?s=21