Chelsea and the Premier League are a long way from normality

Project restart is in its early stages as Chelsea and company prepare to return but the Premier League is a long ways away from normality.

The first step of returning to football is occurring in England with clubs allowed to train in small groups. The next step, if Germany is any indication, is gradually increasing the size of those groups until games can be behind closed doors.

Then those matches will be played and one season will run right into the next. Therefore, next season is likely behind closed doors. That state should not be expected to go away any time soon as the Premier League’s own medical chief says this may go on for another year.

Clubs worldwide already seem to be getting itchy about the lost revenue simply from not playing matches. The Bundesliga’s restart has surely only made the Premier League clubs more eager to return. But the prospect of a full year without fans and the associated revenue? That is game changing.

It is not necessarily wrong either. There is little point in lifting restrictions on the lock down only to fall right back into another round of COVID-19. There may come a point where being more cautious is simply the smarter play.

But it will hurt the clubs from top to bottom. Many have already struggled with how they will pay their staff. Some have opted to pay everyone at full, but that was when they thought normality would return sooner rather than later. If the Premier League is not returning with fans for upwards of a year, many will lose their positions.

The knockdown effects will only continue from there. Teams will be unlikely to hit the transfer market as hard. TV companies who paid big bucks for the rights to air the games will be scrambling to show as many as possible regardless of league. Streaming services will also be angling to get in on things.

But without a stadium of fans, it is simply not the same. Having the Bundesliga back was fantastic, but many pointed out the eeriness of the empty stadiums. If every game feels like a high octane preseason match, will people still tune in?

Then there is the not so small matter of the Euros and other international competitions. With those matchups being so rare as it is, does UEFA really wanted to hold the tournament without fans? Or what about the Champions League which is going to be stuck trying to cram in one year’s competition while starting the next? The prospect of an empty stadium for the Champions League final is very real.

Players are training but football will take a long time to look as it did in March, if it ever looks that way again. It will be good to have Chelsea back, in whatever version, but that normality will be a long time coming as things stand in the world.