Covids long term implications on football

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ShorehamRevolution

ShorehamRevolution

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Although it’ll all cost Sheffield United a lot of money we’re in the fortunate position of going through this as a premier league club that’s receiving premier league money.
If we were a championship side I’d be severely worried about the financial implications which brings me onto the wider issue of football in general.
How many fans up and down the country will not go to as many games again they’ll probably be some that won’t ever go again. I’ve lost interest in neutral football at the minute and even during Sheffield United games my concentration isn’t all there at times. My guess is that when crowds are allowed in fully for a fair few months the crowds will be huge and sold out but that’ll waiver as clubs hike prices for merchandise, tickets etc and with the economy on its knees and jobs going to be few and far between people will have no choice but to not attend couple this up with people who can afford to go but who’ve taken up new hobbies during the past year I personally see a bleak future for football in general.
As for the blades it’s extremely important for us to bounce straight back into the Premier League as it’s more or less nailed on we’ll be a championship side next season. I’m hoping we’ve got some clauses in contracts regarding wages for when we go down plus I hope we’ll get some good fees for players that will move to premier league sides to progress their careers.
 

The championship teams are charging £10 a game to watch the matches on top of the money that they get from sky which I'm guessing is just keeping them afloat.

We've got a load of terrible players on high wages but the parachute payments from the Premier league should see us through next season until hopefully covid is a thing of the past

I think a drop to league 1 for Wednesday this season would put them into administration
 
At this point I think it's very difficult to predict when meaningful crowds will return.

I can envisage small crowds like previously of 10% or whatever but I'm not hopeful of even 50% crowds in the next couple of seasons.

If there are restrictions on things like pubs and travel then that will put some off who go for the day out, some will have financial pressures they didn't have a year ago, and some will no doubt be frightened to go even if vaccinated.

I'm trying not to think too much about it because it saddens me.

I've been to somewhere between 30 odd to 40 odd games a season for decades and I've literally no idea when I'll be able to go again, let alone sit with the same mates I have done throughout that time.
 
bartman said:
On Foootball Focus today, Roy Hodgson said the problem is that football is becoming the norm without fans.
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A lot of things are becoming the norm to quite a few people.

If normality is to return to life then it's at least a year away and it makes you wonder how many will go back to their old habits.

I know people who are already saying I won't do that any more or I've realised how much I can save by not doing that etc.

Will be interesting to see how football reacts.
 
ShorehamRevolution said:
Although it’ll all cost Sheffield United a lot of money we’re in the fortunate position of going through this as a premier league club that’s receiving premier league money.
If we were a championship side I’d be severely worried about the financial implications which brings me onto the wider issue of football in general.
How many fans up and down the country will not go to as many games again they’ll probably be some that won’t ever go again. I’ve lost interest in neutral football at the minute and even during Sheffield United games my concentration isn’t all there at times. My guess is that when crowds are allowed in fully for a fair few months the crowds will be huge and sold out but that’ll waiver as clubs hike prices for merchandise, tickets etc and with the economy on its knees and jobs going to be few and far between people will have no choice but to not attend couple this up with people who can afford to go but who’ve taken up new hobbies during the past year I personally see a bleak future for football in general.
As for the blades it’s extremely important for us to bounce straight back into the Premier League as it’s more or less nailed on we’ll be a championship side next season. I’m hoping we’ve got some clauses in contracts regarding wages for when we go down plus I hope we’ll get some good fees for players that will move to premier league sides to progress their careers.
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If you factor in the parachute payments, our refusal to pay silly wages and the relegation clauses - we should be fine. Contrast that with Fulham who apparently offered Josh King 80k per week on a 3 year deal with no relegation clause. And he turned it down, preferring Everton who presumably offered more! The quicker football returns to sanity the better, average footballers such as King should be on nowhere near the above.
 
Matt Hancock said this morning that we can expect to have restrictions through winter for the next 3 or 4 years until death rates are similar to flu. Football being a winter sport, you have to wonder how that will be affected. His may be a pessimistic view, but those words don't fill me with confidence of full stadia any time soon. If that does turn out to be the case, I'd be all for a switch to summer seasons temporarily. It would also help the World Cup next year.
 
Working Class Hero said:
Matt Hancock said this morning that we can expect to have restrictions through winter for the next 3 or 4 years until death rates are similar to flu. Football being a winter sport, you have to wonder how that will be affected. His may be a pessimistic view, but those words don't fill me with confidence of full stadia any time soon. If that does turn out to be the case, I'd be all for a switch to summer seasons temporarily. It would also help the World Cup next year.
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I'm tempted to take what Hancock says with a pinch of salt these days but that scenario wouldn't surprise me.

Obviously the vaccine isn't 100% guaranteed but considering it's supposed to have a much higher effect than the flu vaccine, even with tweaks for variants, it makes you wonder why it would take that long if the vaccinations are as reliable as we're told.
 
Davalon said:
I'm tempted to take what Hancock says with a pinch of salt these days but that scenario wouldn't surprise me.

Obviously the vaccine isn't 100% guaranteed but considering it's supposed to have a much higher effect than the flu vaccine, even with tweaks for variants, it makes you wonder why it would take that long if the vaccinations are as reliable as we're told.
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Oh definitely, the government's predictions seem to have been more wrong than right! But assuming he is right, it can't be good for football in winter.

I think it's probably a case of playing catch up for a few years, with other countries still being behind us with their vaccines. And as a result of that, different variants popping up and vaccines having to catch up until it's at a manageable level. Presumably that will only require minimal restrictions, but you just know football will cop for it. I don't know really though, I don't profess to be an expert. Just speculating about the situation if he does turn out to be correct.
 
Life as we knew it say January/February 2020 , will never be the same again , people have lost loved ones , people have lost jobs , businesses have gone to the wall , just walk down the high street its dead what's left open , pubs have gone, a lot of social activity that people used to do has stopped and a lot may never return. People will say do you remember the good old days before covid .
This fucker has changed life in so many ways and will continue to do so for a long time .
 

Working Class Hero said:
Oh definitely, the government's predictions seem to have been more wrong than right! But assuming he is right, it can't be good for football in winter.

I think it's probably a case of playing catch up for a few years, with other countries still being behind us with their vaccines. And as a result of that, different variants popping up and vaccines having to catch up until it's at a manageable level. Presumably that will only require minimal restrictions, but you just know football will cop for it. I don't know really though, I don't profess to be an expert. Just speculating about the situation if he does turn out to be correct.
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Not sure on logistics but changing the season to incorporate more summer months could be a good temporary fix.

I don't know how football outside the PL can survive a few years without proper crowds.
 
wavy-blade said:
Life as we knew it say January/February 2020 , will never be the same again , people have lost loved ones , people have lost jobs , businesses have gone to the wall , just walk down the high street its dead what's left open , pubs have gone, a lot of social activity that people used to do has stopped and a lot may never return. People will say do you remember the good old days before covid .
This fucker has changed life in so many ways and will continue to do so for a long time .
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I desperately hope I'm wrong but fear you're right.
 
wavy-blade said:
Life as we knew it say January/February 2020 , will never be the same again , people have lost loved ones , people have lost jobs , businesses have gone to the wall , just walk down the high street its dead what's left open , pubs have gone, a lot of social activity that people used to do has stopped and a lot may never return. People will say do you remember the good old days before covid .
This fucker has changed life in so many ways and will continue to do so for a long time .
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And to add to that Burnley are fucking winning 3 0 😡
 
Drunk blade said:
The championship teams are charging £10 a game to watch the matches on top of the money that they get from sky which I'm guessing is just keeping them afloat.

We've got a load of terrible players on high wages but the parachute payments from the Premier league should see us through next season until hopefully covid is a thing of the past

I think a drop to league 1 for Wednesday this season would put them into administration
Click to expand...

Have to disagree on the “We've got a load of terrible players on high wages”. We’ve got some players that have underperformed that much is true (McBurnie, Brewster and Ramsdale who’ll do well in the Championship), also must have close to, if not the lowest wage bill in the EPL
 
Depends how you view it, but it’s a real leveller, and a hark back to ‘the good old days’ that I’m sure some of you older folk with rememember. Obviously as a man in my 20s I would know nothing of this :)

Look at next year. We could potentially have a 2nd tier league that consists of: Luton, Barnsley, Accrington, Peterborough, Lincoln, Brentford, Rotherham etc.... I mean when I was a young one this was division 4.

Ofcourse it’s changed the direction of the game in so many ways, but the small positive to come from it is that it appears to have become a leveller such that ‘smaller’ clubs that could never have dreamt of getting so high in the football pyramid and that pleases me. If even for a short period in modern history, the league table is decided in merit rather than the size of their bank balance and I wish the game had more of that going forward.
 
This is clearly a nasty virus and, to a relatively small section of society, potentially lethal. I regret every tragic death caused by Covid. However, if we don't start to take a less risk averse approach and begin to live life again while taking sensible precautions re personal hygiene and keeping away from others when we are unwell, what is going to be left? Our theatres, hospitality and travel industries have been decimated and so, sadly, has grass roots and lower league football. I think the game will wither if it is not opened up again in the not too distant future. The only positive I can foresee is the imposition of a more sensible and sustainable wage structure and an end to the obscenely high salaries of many of the players.
 

HD8 Blades said:
Have to disagree on the “We've got a load of terrible players on high wages”. We’ve got some players that have underperformed that much is true (McBurnie, Brewster and Ramsdale who’ll do well in the Championship), also must have close to, if not the lowest wage bill in the EPL
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Why will they do well in the championship? ... Brewster looked shit against a team that Watford have just put 6 past... People who think brewster and McBurnie are going to rip the championship up are deluding themselves
 
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