Has the start of the new season been announced yet?

I don't think I've even seen any rough estimates on when the new season might kick off, anyone know?

I haven't heard a squeak.

Yes, they have given us two date that could start the season, one in August and one in September

I mean who really knows, but I can't see how L1 and L2 can or will commence until fans are allowed otherwise we'd have completed our fixtures like the divisions above.

So maybe a start will be under reduced capacities but almost no L1 clubs play under 50% capacity, about half do in L2 (using the soccerway site as reference). Maybe no away fans until matched can be played in front of 'full' crowds. Match going will become a literal lottery, though I'm sure some fans will be preferred over others.

Interestingly some European leagues (including Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia and Bulgaria) are already playing in front of limited crowds (restrictions include 25% capacity, max 500, max 1000) but in the main these are teams with big stadiums and shite crowds so very few match going fans actually miss out.

it will be between mid september to early october no later or earlier. i'm hoping its mid september August will be pre season month.

EFL 2020/21 start date proposal made,

The first possible restart date considered by the EFL is August 29, the final weekend of August. That date is only two weeks later than the 2020-21 season would have stared without the coronavirus pandemic halting sport.

Should that prove too soon, it is understood the EFL have a back-up date of September 12, a month later than a regular league campaign would begin.

These early dates would allow club football to push on during the coronavirus pandemic with expanded television coverage helping to provide more broadcast income for struggling sides with games still forecast to be staged behind closed doors.

Get football back on the telly to save live sport. Wierd times we live in. I would support it in the short term but can't see how they can show every game and most fans won't pay much per view for lge 1 and 2.

Tgwu wrote:

EFL 2020/21 start date proposal made,

The first possible restart date considered by the EFL is August 29, the final weekend of August. That date is only two weeks later than the 2020-21 season would have stared without the coronavirus pandemic halting sport.

Should that prove too soon, it is understood the EFL have a back-up date of September 12, a month later than a regular league campaign would begin.

These early dates would allow club football to push on during the coronavirus pandemic with expanded television coverage helping to provide more broadcast income for struggling sides with games still forecast to be staged behind closed doors.

they could start our seasons then im sure but it would mess up the flow of the season as a whole to have us finish before the championship and premiership when we got to partake in the cups.

If we were to start the season with maybe 4,000 being allowed in (less than 25% capacity) one contentious way of maximising revenue would be to have no consessions? Make all tickets say £20 then hopefully get a thousand or so paying £10-£12 to stream the game at home.

That would bring in close to £100k for a home game, which in the current climate ain't to be sniffed at.

Mid September

One thing's for definite, there will be no L1 and L2 football played without fans being allowed in.

Sunderland could return to League One action next month - and with fans in the Stadium of Light
according to one chief executive.

Third tier clubs met with the EFL on Thursday to discuss the next steps for the 2020/21 season after the early curtailment of the most recent campaign, with a restart date high on the agenda.

And Shrewsbury Town chief executive Brian Caldwell has confirmed that two return dates – August 29 and September 12 – are currently under discussion.

Neither are without their issues, though. Were the season to resume in August, there are concerns over how clubs could cope without assistance from the government’s job retention scheme. A September restart, meanwhile, would lead to a more crowded fixture schedule.


“If we were to vote on the 29th of August that would mean nine midweek matches instead of the normal five, with no runs of three league midweek games in a row,” explained Caldwell, speaking to Shrewsbury’s official website.

“If we were to vote on the 12th of September this would firstly mean a broken start to the new campaign as some Clubs may have players away on international duty for up to ten days. On top of that, midweek matches would become 11 instead of five therefore meaning that there could be three midweek games back to back. Part of the issue is the loss of furlough from an earlier return on 29th August.

“Either option will cause a back load which is why it’s important to try and get crowds in if we can.”

And it’s that return of supporters will prove key for club when voting on the season start date.

There are hopes that whenever the season begins, some level of crowds could be allowed to watch games – with Caldwell confirming that the EFL have been holding discussions with the government.

“The EFL stated that they have been in discussion with the government for several weeks now regarding fans returning safely to grounds with social distancing measure still in place,” he added.

“They are currently looking at this around reduced capacity in stadiums

“The EFL are working closely with the SGSA on a study to look at crowd flows and social distancing to help ensure some form of fans can return to games safely on a potential reduced attendance.

I think the main thing for fans to take away from this is that everything is being done to try and ensure fans can return to matches as soon as possible providing it’s safe of course. It was mentioned that they are working closely with government and the relevant authorities with the goal of hopefully having the possibility of fans even on reduced attendances returning for the start of next season all being well.

“The EFL updated Clubs on the potential for streaming of matches but stressed that streaming is a Plan B and all efforts must be put towards allowing fans to return to matches safely,” he continued.

“Streaming is not being viewed as a replacement for fans in the stadium but as an alternative.”

Tgwu wrote:

Sunderland could return to League One action next month - and with fans in the Stadium of Light
according to one chief executive.

Third tier clubs met with the EFL on Thursday to discuss the next steps for the 2020/21 season after the early curtailment of the most recent campaign, with a restart date high on the agenda.

And Shrewsbury Town chief executive Brian Caldwell has confirmed that two return dates – August 29 and September 12 – are currently under discussion.

Neither are without their issues, though. Were the season to resume in August, there are concerns over how clubs could cope without assistance from the government’s job retention scheme. A September restart, meanwhile, would lead to a more crowded fixture schedule.


“If we were to vote on the 29th of August that would mean nine midweek matches instead of the normal five, with no runs of three league midweek games in a row,” explained Caldwell, speaking to Shrewsbury’s official website.

“If we were to vote on the 12th of September this would firstly mean a broken start to the new campaign as some Clubs may have players away on international duty for up to ten days. On top of that, midweek matches would become 11 instead of five therefore meaning that there could be three midweek games back to back. Part of the issue is the loss of furlough from an earlier return on 29th August.

“Either option will cause a back load which is why it’s important to try and get crowds in if we can.”

And it’s that return of supporters will prove key for club when voting on the season start date.

There are hopes that whenever the season begins, some level of crowds could be allowed to watch games – with Caldwell confirming that the EFL have been holding discussions with the government.

“The EFL stated that they have been in discussion with the government for several weeks now regarding fans returning safely to grounds with social distancing measure still in place,” he added.

“They are currently looking at this around reduced capacity in stadiums

“The EFL are working closely with the SGSA on a study to look at crowd flows and social distancing to help ensure some form of fans can return to games safely on a potential reduced attendance.

I think the main thing for fans to take away from this is that everything is being done to try and ensure fans can return to matches as soon as possible providing it’s safe of course. It was mentioned that they are working closely with government and the relevant authorities with the goal of hopefully having the possibility of fans even on reduced attendances returning for the start of next season all being well.

“The EFL updated Clubs on the potential for streaming of matches but stressed that streaming is a Plan B and all efforts must be put towards allowing fans to return to matches safely,” he continued.

“Streaming is not being viewed as a replacement for fans in the stadium but as an alternative.”

i cant take that club seriously anymore thanks to that netflix series. £3M rising to £4M for Will Grigg honestly lmao.

Cheers chaps

Tgwu wrote:

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i honestly think they will vote for the september option. August will be used as their pre season i guess.

They've had more than long enough off and in our case am sure Ryan Lowe has our players fit throughout
First option...get on with it. Cant keep waiting for crowds to return salaries continue to be paid whatever

September 12th is the likely date

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Where ATD goes the Herald follows

Plymouth Argyle have delayed putting 2020/21 season tickets on sale until they can provide as much information as possible about them.

There is still so much uncertainty surrounding football due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

A start date for next season has not been set, although an announcement is expected soon from the EFL on that.

Clubs have been asked to vote on whether it will be August 29 or September 12.

Social distancing requirements are also likely to mean reduced capacities at grounds at the start of the season.

The prospect of games being played behind closed doors seems to be lessening because it would simply not be financially sustainable for clubs in League One and League Two.

Argyle chief executive Andrew Parkinson has told Plymouth Live that 2020/21 season tickets will go on sale ‘very soon’.

They will provide much-needed revenue for the club, who have seen their income almost dry up after not playing any games since early March.

Parkinson said: “When we had the Fans’ Forum recently we did say it would be imminently. We are hoping to get season tickets on sale very soon.

“But we want to be able to answer as many questions around season tickets as possible so that when they are launched it’s an efficient process.

We have got to, first of all, understand the date of when the season will start, and we have got a clearer indication now.

“Then we have got to understand what the measures will be for people coming in, and where people might be able to sit and what facilities they will be able to get.

“Will they be able to sit with their friends, or with family members in a bubble? There are all those sort of things.

“Over and above that, if people can’t get to games or don’t want to get to games and still want to purchase a season ticket then we have got to think about whether they will be covered on iFollow (the EFL live streaming service) or not.

“Again, we don’t know the answer to that. So, basically, what we are trying to do is gather as many facts as possible before we are then able to go out (with the season ticket launch).

“It’s clearly not going to be a long time off, it’s going to be soon,” Parkinson continued.

“But we need to make it easier for fans to understand whether they want season tickets or not, or what they are prepared to do, so that we can launch them in a very effective way.”

Depending on how many fans are allowed inside grounds, there is the potential for Argyle to sell more season tickets than they have available seats.

So that is another factor which the club would have to take into account before the season tickets are launched.

The Argyle chief executive believes there will be a high demand for season tickets when they do become available as the Green Army will again want to play their part.

Parkinson said: “The fans have been absolutely amazing during this lockdown period in terms of supporting the club - whether that be the retail store, whether it be the crowdfunder that was launched.

“They have been behind the club all the way and season tickets won’t be any different.

“I think there will be a huge appetite for those and we want to make it as easy as possible for people.

“Other clubs have gone on sale already, but we are trying to approach it in what is the best way for fans here.

“I’m sure when we do go on sale we will have a tremendous response.”

There has been speculation of reduced capacities of between 20 to 50 per cent at grounds when the season does get under way.

The EFL are continuing to hold talks with the Government about what the guidelines will be.

Parkinson said: “Every stadium, no matter what size, will present its own different challenges.

“I know the EFL are doing some tests with different sized clubs – those with 20,000 capacity stadia but also those with 7,000-8,000, to try and look at the complexities that will need to be considered.

“We have got great outside space at Home Park which, hopefully, will allow us to be quite innovative in how we face some of those things.

“Equally, inside the stadium we will have certain difficulties to overcome but we will manage to do that in some way I’m sure.”

Taking the club statement from the Brent Herald

Plymouth Argyle’s Green Army could be back at Home Park from October 1, subject to coronavirus guidelines.

Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip told Plymouth Live: “The sooner we can get that Green Army back inside our stadium to support us, the better.

“I stress it has got to be safe to do that, but boy oh boy do we know the power of the Green Army for our team.

“So we want them back at Home Park as fast as possible.”

Dewsnip admitted there could be an issue about whether League One and League Two would start the 2020/21 season if no fans were allowed inside grounds to begin with.

Many figures within football have stated it would not be financially viable for clubs to return to action if that was the case.

Argyle’s players are set to return for pre-season training next week.

The EFL clubs will vote on a start date for the 2020/21 campaign at a meeting on Friday.

Two dates have been proposed by the EFL – August 29 and September 12.

September 12 is thought likely to be chosen, not least for the fact that August 29 is less than six weeks away.

relegated to league 1. Wigan. Charlton. Hull

Tgwu wrote:

relegated to league 1. Wigan. Charlton. Hull

well at least the green army will get a decent pie in wigan......if they are allowed there of course.