Explained

The death of Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest serving monarch, The football calendar came to a halt this weekend.

Every game in the UK at every level – from Premier League to grassroots – was postponed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday as a mark of respect, despite a number of other major British sports choosing to play on.

A 72-hour shutdown ends today (Monday) but the threat of further interruption to this already-congested football season remains ahead of the Queen’s state funeral in London next Monday.

The AthleticThis article examines the main issues facing football as it tries to get its season back on track.

When will football resume?

After three days of no football being kicked, Wales finally got around to it. ScotlandTonight brings with it a resumption of the Premier League game between Northern Ireland and England. The Premier League match between Leeds UnitedAnd Nottingham Forest remains off, but there will be competitive matches played further down English football’s pyramid.

The Football Association which was central in postponing the weekend’s action as a tribute to The QueenThe FA Trophy First Qualifying Round Tie Game Committee has approved four FA Trophy ties to proceed as planned. There will also be a game each in the National League North and National League South, which make up the domestic game’s sixth tier.

The National League’s fifth-tier League Confirmed on SundayTomorrow’s games will be played without interruption.

If tonight is a little bit of action, Tuesday will see the taps turn back on.

Tottenham Hotspur Have been confirmedTheir Champions League group game away to Sporting Lisbon in Portugal is “going ahead as planned”, while Liverpool’s game at home to Dutch club Ajax in the same European competition is another expected to be played.

However, Scotland serves as a reminder that this week is still difficult.

RangersHad been due to host Napoli Tuesday night in Champions League However, UEFA confirmed that the fixture was rescheduled for Sunday at 24 hours. “due to severe limitations on police resources”.

It will not be permissible to support Napoli at Ibrox Wednesday in order to reduce the need of large police force.

UEFA said that Rangers supporters would not be allowed to attend Naples’ return game at the end of October.

Thirty EFLThe Championship will host games. League OneAnd League Two on Tuesday, and Wednesday will bring more Champions League action, including Graham Potter’s first game as ChelseaRed Bull Salzburg coach Manchester CityYou can play at home Borussia Dortmund.

Like the Europa LeagueEuropa Conference League ties Manchester United, West Ham and Scotland’s HeartsOn Thursday, none of them is believed to be at risk.

Arsenal’s Europa League match at home against PSV Eindhoven on Thursday, however, is off, with UEFA announces the decision was made owing to the “severe limitations on police resources and organisational issues related to the ongoing events surrounding the national mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”.

More logistical problems will come at the weekend as London prepares for the Queen’s funeral.

What are the complications?

It was confirmed on Saturday that the Queen’s funeral will be held on Monday, September 19, and it is expected to be a commemorative event like no other.

This will be the UK’s first state funeral since the death of former prime minister Winston Churchill in 1965 and huge numbers of people are expected to travel to London to pay their respects to a monarch whose reign spanned 70 years.

This demands unprecedented security and policing operations. The funeral will not allow for the staging of sporting events.

Tottenham is due to host LeicesterSaturday night will see Arsenal host Brentford in the London derby. Chelsea visit Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. A question mark hangs over the practicality of hosting games in the capital when policing resources are already stretched ahead of the Queen’s funeral.

It has been estimated that 10,000 police officers will be on duty in London, mirroring the numbers used when the city hosted the 2012 Olympics Games, each day over the next week, with the local Metropolitan force’s numbers supplemented by colleagues drafted in from other parts of the UK.

“By the end of the week, you start to click into what will be — I would say almost certainly — the biggest security operation the country has ever seen,” former Metropolitan Police commander Bob Broadhurst says.

Dignitaries and heads of state from around the world will attend the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in central London.

The city is also expected to host hundreds of thousands of people who will see the monarch’s state of affairs from Wednesday.

London football matches could be postponed next weekend (Photo: Getty Images).

Not only will fixtures due to be played within the capital be most at risk, but also there will be doubts about other games such as Manchester United at Leeds on Sunday. Due to the fan rivalry, this fixture requires a large police presence and may require officers from nearby forces to be drafted in.

The Premier League and all the clubs involved in the matter will eventually have it taken out of their hands. They would then be forced to postpone the matter once again unless they meet safety protocols.

The AthleticIt was reported that In the unlikely event that a London club is unable to host a match at home this weekend, it was considered to reverse the games.

Who decides who will police a football match.

Each club has a safety advisor group (SAG), that ensures everything is in order for home fixtures to be safe. The safety officer will be employed by the club. However, it may also include local authorities and emergency services.

The advice put forward by each club’s SAG will determine if a fixture requires policing and, if so, the levels needed.

The EFL asked all clubs that are due to host home games this week to assess the policing situation. If there are issues, SAGs will contact them.

As the required level of police support falls further down the divisions, it is likely that there won’t be any more interruptions in the vast majority cases. Each fixture will be evaluated individually. However, many EFL clubs are happy for each fixture to proceed as it is without additional police support.

Clubs are unlikely to ignore the advice of their SAG, and they will often hesitate to do so if problems arise.

“Whether matches go ahead is a matter for the footballing authorities,” the Metropolitan Police said on Saturday. “If fixtures do take place, the Met will work with the relevant partners and ensure that appropriate policing plans are in place.”

Why are reversing fixtures unlikely to be popular?

Time is not an ally. It would take less than a week for a club to prepare everything to go ahead and play a home match instead. There is not enough time.

Policing problems would not be over, even if a fixture scheduled for London is flipped to the away team’s stadium, and bringing together the necessary staff — a figure in the hundreds at every Premier League ground — will be difficult at short notice.

If clubs were asked to host a match that took only a few days, there would be issues with ticketing and catering.

The logistics of reversing fixtures could pose many logistical challenges (Photo: Getty Images).

Are there other options?

Few people have that kind of appeal.

When COVID-19 was ravaging the country, fans couldn’t attend Premier League or EFL games. This made it a difficult norm. However, the cost of lost revenue was significant.

A club without its supporters would lose out on large sums of money, as well as the sporting advantage that comes from being backed by their fans.

There would instead be an inevitability that games would be postponed for a second weekend running and, in the Premier League’s case, played instead some time in early 2023.

Already clogged by the World Cup in Qatar — the Premier League stops for six weeks in mid-November — does not have space for midweek rearrangements due to spaces taken up by European competitions and the Carabao Cup.

The week starting January 16 will provide the best opportunity to reschedule games that were postponed.

Any Premier League club that is unable to play on the next matchday due to another postponement of the pre-World Cup international break, will be without playing for four weeks.

(Top image: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images