A hyperphetical choice for next season.....

[RAF_Fulham]

Interested to get some thoughts, whilst I appreciate there is a lot going on in the world right now away from football I just wanted to get the football juices flowing slightly.

The idea of a season spent winning and potentially getting a title is a little bit appealing right now, it must be said!

[colinwhite]

 If the season is void then either the top 3 get promoted (leeds and wba are not certain yet ,as we) or the result is scrapped. If the season result can be scrapped then whats the point of playing at all ? So for me ,the most logical thing is  (by a slight margin ) that the result of the leagues occurs at the cut off point. This is not completely fair but then again what is ?

[Finnans Right Peg]

I voted for the season to be completely void .

For what its worth i think the season must be played out even if it delays next season .

We could scrap the cups for one season and have 2 or less international weeks and that would help us catch up.

If we scrap the season or promote and relegate as things stand the amount of claims and payouts would be unreal

[Whitestone]

I couldn't support any of the choices. At some point in time I would prefer to see a conclusion to this season.

[bobby01]

I think the remaining games for this season to be played next season and the points etc won until now used as a start point.
Simply put combine the two seasons.

[Wolf]

A vote for void, the other two options are frankly nonsensical. However, the fairest option is resuming the season whenever that might be. Some players might change but the clubs remain the same

[Southdowns White]

I would like to see the season finished whenever that will be even if it is October, November or December. That way everyone is where they should be so no complaining the promoted teams go up and the relegated teams come down. Once that is all over and done with I would like to see 8 leagues made up from the current English top 4 divisions, top half of each division and bottom half of each division. these games played from Christmas to the end of the season, depending on time either home and away or just play each other once. Players would have time to prepare for the Euros next year and also put themselves in the shop window for the transfer season.
There would be no promotion or relegation just a cup in recognition of winning.
The following season would start with the teams being where they should be and the whole system starts off again as though nothing had happened.
My plus points here are that the clubs and supporters have something competitive to play and cheer for twice in the space of one season, no one should be hard done by and miss out on anything and 8 teams will get to win a cup.

[Sgt Fulham]

People seem to think that once lockdown is removed everything goes away. It almost certainly wont be like that and there will be spikes (smaller and smaller each time) until we get a true herd immunity. I dont want to scaremonger, and this is strictly my opinion, but i dont see a normal season being played in 2020/21. For this reason i would prefer to stagger this season over two years and see where we go. I think we would stand a chance in the playoffs.

[toshes mate]

I sympathise with all the views, although I cannot conceive how the 'current' season can be revived in any way that can be regarded as meaningful.  Whenever the season were restarted it would be 'fake' compared to where it was when suspension took place.  Lumping this season's incomplete results onto next seasons would also produce an anomalous record which, in time, will be ridiculed.

There can be no 'normal' outcome however you try to fix it, and, in the absence of that solution, you either declare it null and void or base outcomes on the false premise that positions would have been retained to the end of the season.   

Sorry guys, but I think it is just one of those things you have to accept when they happen.  I'll maintain my opinion that society has, and not for the first time, engineered an unnecessary panic and allowed 'the unprecedented' to happen.  Perhaps the eventual inquiry into this epidemic will reveal when and why it went so horribly wrong.   

[Statto]

People seem to think that once lockdown is removed everything goes away. It almost certainly wont be like that and there will be spikes (smaller and smaller each time) until we get a true herd immunity. I dont want to scaremonger, and this is strictly my opinion, but i dont see a normal season being played in 2020/21. For this reason i would prefer to stagger this season over two years and see where we go. I think we would stand a chance in the playoffs.

I agree things are unlikely to go *completely* back to normal in the next few months, but there are plenty of options in between (a) no football at all and (b) a "normal season". For example playing some games behind closed doors, strongly discouraging over 70s from going, banning away fans to reduce travel, etc. Also worth noting that only a few weeks ago the government was saying outdoor events like football were actually quite low risk compared to, for example, going into the office for work. Calling off the football was more about caution and politics than it was about science.

[Southcoastffc]

With 9 games to go, a fair approach would be to apply the last (previous) 9 games points and goal difference  to the existing position.  Not ideal but fair.  I haven't looked at it so don't know what it'd do to us. A solution would be needed for play off places and I'd suggest a simple cup competition, names out of a hat so just 2 semi finals and the final. Won't happen though!

[filham]

Of the options given I am taking automatic promotion. Purely selfish as I enjoy nothing more than watching Fulham in the Premier League and all that goes with it. OK we would be in for a tough season but with a few sensible, if expensive , buys we could survive.

[Woolly Mammoth]

This current challenging and difficult time for all, whoever we are is not going to go away in a hurry. I imagine when it does it will be reduced in stages, which could be drawn out. As for football whether the season is eventually concluded or not, or if and when the season commenced or not remains to be seen.
But football for me who is like many a football fanatic pales into insignificance, I am no longer concerned about whether there is promotion, relegation or who wins what.
There are currently hundreds of people dying all over the country every day due to an invisible disease that fears no man or woman. Unfortunately many more people will fall victim, so we cannot take anything for granted.
As has been said in football terms one game at a time, so it's one day at a time for everyone's health and safety. Nobody knows what's round the corner and who could be hit the next, and when it will be safe to emerge with our families from wherever we are.
For all we know life and the way we live and take things for granted may never ever be the same again. But I would imagine that we should not be surprised if the start of next season is also delayed for the time being, and if that puts anyone's nose out of joint, then tell that to the dead and dying.

[RP24]

With 9 games to go, a fair approach would be to apply the last (previous) 9 games points and goal difference  to the existing position.  Not ideal but fair.  I haven't looked at it so don't know what it'd do to us. A solution would be needed for play off places and I'd suggest a simple cup competition, names out of a hat so just 2 semi finals and the final. Won't happen though!

I agree something like this or they could use the reverse fixtures as a guide.

My 2 pence would be to end the season as is and do the playoffs by what happened in the resulsts between the teams previously. Not sure how this would affect us as I havent looked but would be fair to those in automatics and playoff places. Of course you will have those that moan they could have got to play offs or not be relegated but in these times I think a different approach will be needed.

[toshes mate]

Just for perspective 'flu related deaths in England during our 2017/18 promotion season numbered 26,408.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Life did not come to a standstill in 2017/18 as it has this year, there were no lockdowns or over 70s confined to barracks, or lives and living disrupted with planned events and work for many cancelled. Shortages of various foods and bog rolls in shops, and police enquiring as to where you are traveling.
I do not recall a single match throughout the world being postponed for flu.
It is a completely different scenario and cannot be compared in any shape or form. If you are not convinced then you are welcome to ask my wife who works on the front line of the NHS who will be only too pleased to put you straight after clipping your ear for having the audacity to be asking her in the first place.
So stay safe by order.

[toshes mate]

@Woolly Mammoth

I have two nieces who are A&E nurses in central London, and three GP's in current practice in my extended families, all in London, and all have been wailing to any ear that cares to listen about the lack of investment in NHS front line provision for years. 

So please take your lectures elsewhere, TYVM. 

[Woolly Mammoth]

@Woolly Mammoth

I have two nieces who are A&E nurses in central London, and three GP's in current practice in my extended families, all in London, and all have been wailing to any ear that cares to listen about the lack of investment in NHS front line provision for years. 

So please take your lectures elsewhere, TYVM. 

Agreed about underfunding of the NHS which is plainly obvious. As for lectures you are far too sensitive if that is what you deem a lecture, considering you spend your entire life on here lecturing anyone you don't agree with. So come off your high horse and don't urinate down my back and tell me it's raining.

[ALG01]

What happened to a choice that says

finish the season properly because it is the most rational thing to do and represents the line of least resistance.

[RAF_Fulham]

What happened to a choice that says

finish the season properly because it is the most rational thing to do and represents the line of least resistance.

I wanted a steer away from that, as the longer this goes on the higher the chance we won't  see an end to it.

Some interesting thoughts and votes coming in - Interesting that the split between watching a mostly winning team (play off spot) and a mostly losing team (Prem struggle) is 50/50 as I write this.