Premier League Clubs Want Home & Away Matches: We had plenty of developments on Monday afternoon as the UK Government announced that elite sport can resume behind closed doors from June 1st. This leaves the door open for the Premier League to return; however there are a lot of issues to be resolved before we see football in England again.
The clubs met via conference call on Monday after the governments new guidance was issued on restrictions. Premier League Chief executive Richard Masters has said that “Everybody would prefer to play at home and away if at all possible, and it’s clear to see some clubs feel more strongly about that than others. We are in contact with the authorities and listening to that advice, while also representing club views in those discussions.”
Watford, Aston Villa and Brighton have already come out publicly against the neutral venue plan for Project Restart, but there appears to be more clubs against the plan now. The good news for Liverpool fans is that there is a “a really strong collective will to complete the season” but they’re going to have to find a way to play home and away games to please the clubs towards the bottom of the table if the season is to finish.
Home and away fixtures would clearly bring a lot of problems for policing along with everything else that would have to happen in each stadium for a game to take place. That request might be too much for the UK government to give the go-ahead to, and we’ve also had calls for no relegation given the situation. The clubs towards the bottom of the table have more to lose than those at the top, with Liverpool effectively having already won the league – just not mathematically.
Masters also admitted that a void season was discussed for the first time at the meeting, however the main goal is to finish the season. Some clubs are clearly frustrated about the situation, and the Premier League will need to find a solution for the clubs at the bottom of the table if they are to agree to finishing the season.
