#i ordered some online dw but. they come on friday </3

[thefootballworks]

Football is null and void

So, the Championship season is possibly starting again on 20 June 2020. I've put it in my diary but excuse me if I don't get excited about it. I mean, what is the point? I keep hearing all about "the integrity of the competition" but what sort of competition takes a three-month break? What is the integrity of having a nine-game season and that is what this will be. Because when Wigan Athletic, Millwall et al step out to play that first game it will be a completely different end to the season that finished when the virus came a calling. I assume Wigan Athletic will be walking out - at an appropriate social distance - with players of Stoke City into an empty DW Stadium on 20 June. Both teams may even be able to increase their matchday squad from 18 to 20 and may be able to bring on five substitutes. According to the EFL this date of 20 June all depends on: "(The) strict proviso that all safety requirements and Government guidance is met; and that clubs receive clearance from their local authorities in order to stage matches at their home grounds." Now given that the Government guidance has been pie-in-the-sky since day one and changes by the hour who knows what will happen. But let's consider we do kick-off on that date. First things first there will be no crowd there - so that's that. End of, don't even bother. But, but… We can watch it on television, on a laptop. We can watch it on our phones while sitting on a park bench. We can tweet about it, we can get angry at decisions that don't go our way and we can also just not bother… And that's just us - the fans. But, of course restarting the Championship season has nothing to do with the fans. It's about the "integrity of the competition." Well, without fans, there is no competition. "Yeah but what about those teams at the top, those teams at the bottom?" Sod it. Unlucky. And I would say that if Wigan Athletic was top of the pile and not just two points above a relegation place. Oh this two points off the bottom lark. Yes, we sit two points off the bottom but if the competition had run its course then there is no way we would have finished the season in that position. We were unbeaten in six. That's what a football season is about. There are ups and downs. Times of form and times when you can't buy a win. But when you get to the "business end of the season" - there's an apt phrase - it is all down to form and keeping your nerve, building on each result, keeping the dressing room as one. It's about going into training on a Monday with a smile on your face, it's about being with your best mates, doing it for the gaffer and most of all winning for the fans. It's about putting a penalty away at Bramhall Lane, coming from behind to beat Arsenal or scraping a 1-0 to beat QPR to secure safety Good Friday, just gone. It's not about playing at Oakwell with 36 people in the stands. As it is, all that good form from Latics is out the window - it is now down to a nine-game season with no bugger watching. Whoever goes up or goes down the season will be tainted. You could go points-per-game (PPG) but all the above could talk you out of that. A season is a season. There are ups and downs and every team has the right to play their way out of trouble or to a league title. Where is the fairness if you lie third in the PPG scheme of things but out of your last nine games you've got five games at home against the bottom five in the division. You'd fancy your chances of improving your PPG and possibly even winning the title or nicking second-place to get promotion. You could also just have your leading scorer back and banging them in and, and… You could have another one hundred reasons why PPG may not work. No, in my view, the whole thing should have been null and voided two months ago when it was realised that this virus wasn't "just the flu." Null and void and start a new season when fans can safely go back in the stadium and a full schedule can be completed. Of course, Liverpool, Leeds and others would complain but if you can't see past football the that's your problem not mine or anybody else's. Bill Shankly was a brilliant manager, a fine man and had some great soundbites but he got it wrong when he said, "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that." He got it very wrong. Yes, Liverpool will complain, Leeds United will complain - as will many others. It was reported that South Shields - who sat atop of the Northern Premier League Premier Division when the season ended - were talking about employing a QC to argue against The FA's decision to null and void their season. Now if South Shields can afford a QC then they could equally just throw that money into next season's budget and win the division at a canter! And there's the rub… The FA null and voided all leagues at Step 3 to Step 7 in the non-League pyramid. A) they were correct to do this and B) that - I'm guessing - is their view on all football. Again they are correct in this thinking. The Football Association gets untold stick but they get many things right - especially at non-League level - but they have lost control of the mega-clubs. Those mega-clubs with their mega-debts that are so important to our national game and - if you believe some people - our national mental health as the return of the Premier league will boost morale. I can tell you - without any doubt - watching on television Burnley v Watford in an empty Turf Moor will do absolutely zilch for my morale. The FA were toothless to null and void the Premier League and - in turn the English Football League - due to the money involved. The TV money, the endorsements, the sponsorships, the online betting companies. No the games must be played for the "integrity of the competition." Even the FA Cup has to be played. The FA Cup in front of no fans. I wonder if the semi-finals will be played at Wembley? They've even set the date of the final for 1 August 2020. Wembley, fans not streaming down Wembley Way, not singing Abide With Me, not enjoying the London sunshine, not taking in the atmosphere. Imagine winning the cup with a last-minute Ben Watson header. A Ben Watson header at the end where his fans are not at. Just imagine that. Yes it would be better than losing but… Just imagine that. All because of money. All because clubs desperately need that money to continue competing with mega clubs like themselves. Mega-clubs like themselves with mega-debts. Dare we even mention the Champions League and, yes, but what about the other clubs further down the league that may - and possibly will - go bust? What like Bury? I'm sorry about this but I have dealt with Bury FC - in a work capacity - and I can honestly say I have never dealt with a worse company. Arrogant, ignorant, amateur, and those are just the polite words. Never have I dealt with anybody like it and considering I've worked in the clothing, construction and advertising industries that is really saying something. Obviously, I will feel sorry for the fans of these clubs - I may even be one of those fans - but I equally feel sorry for all the independent bars and restaurants, cafés and clothing shops that haven't opened for the "integrity of the competition" that will find themselves out of business. However, we will see what happens. The build-up begins right now. The banter begins, the stats and shots-on-target. Unless you lived through World War II this is the most worrying time we have all lived through, the number of dead would fill Elland Road to capacity and some more. We all love football. I've even been watching Bundesliga matches on the telly. I can't wait to go to Barrows Farm to watch Billinge and the DW to watch Latics. But only when it's safe. Safe for me and just as importantly the players. I mean the platers appear to be the last to be considered in all this re-opening of football. Then there's the problems that will occur when a player (or players) test positive. Do the teams than all self-isolate. A plays B. A then play C and B plays D, Then a player from A test positive. Does that mean all players from A, B, C and D need to self-isolate? Then there's the case of players refusing to play - which in my book is fair enough; add in players contracts running out, loan players being recalled by their parent clubs. I mean why wouldn't Brighton recall Leon Balogun from Wigan. He's been magnificent and Brighton are battling for their own lives. Oh and here come the agents at the training ground gates. What a mess! Football is important. It needs to come back but let's be sensible, eh? But it isn't that important. The 2019/20 Premiership and Championship seasons may about to be completed but it's null and void to me.