Image Credit-Premier League
The world is a quite frightening place at the moment. Our normal everyday lives have been turned upside down as we continue to battle with COVID-19. The virus has already had a devastating effect, taking the lives of thousands of people around the world. In times like this, football really doesn’t matter at all. However, it’s a pastime and a form of escape for so many people and so it’s vital that journalists and fans alike continue to talk about it.
It’s not clear as of yet when it will be safe to resume playing. April seems fanciful bar a dramatic turnaround in the fight against corona virus. The FA have little option but to keep pushing it back until the threat of the virus is significantly limited. In some peoples eyes, including those of West Ham owner Karen Brady, the only solution is to a declare the 19/20 season null and void. That would essentially render all of the games played over the course of the season utterly meaningless. As a proud Arsenal fan, the thought of Liverpool’s march to the title being cruelly stopped in its tracks through no fault of their own would admittedly be quite funny. However, putting aside one’s bias, it would be completely unfair, not just to Liverpool but also to the likes of Sheffield United and Wolves, both of whom found themselves competing for a Champions League place. It would perhaps be even tougher to take for Leeds and West Brom who were looking increasingly likely to clinch promotion. Of course, the word ‘unfair’ in this context is in itself null and void in the grand scheme of things. The virus has obviously had a much more devastating effect and been far more unfair on the elderly lady who died because the person she sat next to on the bus was in the pub the night before. However, even in the most difficult of circumstances we should thrive for justice and fairness, even in something as small and unimportant as football.
Liverpool achievements this season have been truly outstanding. I’ve spoken before about how they are an admirable team, a team that has been built relatively ethically by a manager whose vision has been put into practice. To force them to surrender a trophy they so richly deserve and to render all of the wonderful goals that they’ve scored completely meaningless would be a miscarriage of justice. Wolves are 6th in the table, just 5 points off Chelsea in 4th. They may never get a good a chance as this to finish in a European place. Similarly, Sheffield United are in 7th, level on points with Wolves and have been a huge surprise package since their promotion to the Premier League last season. The feats they have achieved this season should matter. Leeds have been out of the Premier League since 2004, an era which has included relegation to League 1. They have rarely looked close to achieving promotion back to the country’s finest league, …until of course the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa. Last season was heart-breaking for a Bielsa side that had become renowned for their stylish, attacking football. This season, they may finally get their reward for all their hard work and they deserve a shot at the big time. Much like Liverpool, they are side in the vision of their manager. As well as halting the progress and preventing the achievement of some excellent sides, it’s also a get out of jail card for sides that have been fighting down the bottom of the league table, Karen Brady’s West Ham being one of those sides…….
Declaring the 19/20 season null and void would make next season feel rather false. Any failure or success would be precipitated by the fact that the previous season didn’t actually happen. We’d be watching ‘the holders’ Liverpool attempt to regain a title they never won. If Norwich have a good season and survive, it would also have been because they were given a second chance, a chance that no other team has ever gotten before. These are unprecedented circumstances but it’s important that we are as fair as we possibly can be. That is why it’s more important that we finish this season than it is to start next season. Whether that means cancelling next season or playing just one set of fixtures is anyone’s guess.
One of the other solutions that has been suggested from some is that we make the current standings final. However, that would have an opposite effect and equally unfair result. Liverpool would be given a title they never really won while the battle for the Champions League, which is still very much ongoing would be ended with Cheslsea granted a place they never really earned. The idea of relegating a side before the season is over would be ludicrous and would have detrimental effect on the teams down the bottom.
This season must be finished even if that means sacrificing next season. In times like this, a debate about how the football season ends seems trivial but for so many, it’s a form of escape from the real world. It goes without saying that we absolutely cannot return to playing, either behind closed doors or with a crowd of 60,000 people watching, until we can guarantee the safety of players, staff and fans. However, when normality finally returns, and it will return, then Liverpool deserve the chance to lift their first Premier League trophy, Wolves and Shefiield United deserve the chance to finish in a Champions League or European place ,Norwich, Bournemouth and Aston Villa deserve a chance to survive and Leeds and West Brom deserve a chance to achieve promotion. To do that, it is imperative that we complete the 19/20 season.
TheGoonerStation 