The Premier League has postponed all matches that were due to be played between Saturday 10 September until Monday 12 September as a sign of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96.
The cancellation of matches in a season cut short by the Winter World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on November 20, means finding a place to play the games is no easy task.
Here we look at canceled games, other at-risk combinations, and possible solutions.
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What games have been postponed?
All matches in the seventh round of matches.
Ole: How did the Premier League stop?
Bournemouth vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Arsenal vs Everton
Crystal Palace vs Manchester United
Fulham vs Chelsea
Leeds United vs Nottingham Forest
Leicester City vs Aston Villa
Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton vs Brentford
West Ham United vs Newcastle United
Are there other games at risk of being delayed?
The Queen’s funeral is expected to take place on Monday 19 September, which will not affect the Premier League as the two-week international break begins on the same day. But matches that were scheduled to be played the weekend before that, from September 16-18, are under threat.
Police resources will be required for the days leading up to the funeral, meaning that football matches may not take place for safety reasons.
This is particularly the case in the London area (matches in in bold) – especially the two scheduled to be held on Sunday. Chelsea against Liverpool could, logistically at least, go ahead every day and play on Saturday, but Arsenal play in the Europa League on Thursday night, so they can only play on Sunday.
Friday 16 September 2022
Aston Villa / Southampton
Nottingham Forest x Fulham
Saturday 17 September 2022
Wolverhampton Wanderers – Manchester City
Brighton & Hove Albion BB Crystal Palace*
Newcastle United x Bournemouth
Tottenham Hotspur / Leicester City
Sunday 18 September 2022
Brentford x Arsenal
Chelsea x Liverpool
Everton x West Ham United
Manchester United / Leeds United
* Brighton’s match against Palace on Wednesday has been postponed due to a planned train strike. This industrial strike has now been called off, but there is no news that the game will be back on September 17th.
The Premier League and the Premier League could choose to postpone all matches as a sign of respect before the funeral, but this is unlikely.
What about games in European competition?
Arsenal, Man United and West Ham played their Europa League and Europa League matches on Thursday. Arsenal were already playing against FC Zurich when news of the Queen’s death broke, while United and West Ham were preparing to start the match.
There has been speculation that next week’s matches in these two competitions, as well as the six matches featuring British clubs in the Champions League, could be called off. But all of these relationships will go ahead as scheduled.
Tuesday 13th September
Liverpool vs Ajax
Rangers vs Napoli
Sporting Lisbon vs Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday 14th September
Chelsea vs FC Salzburg
Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celtic
Thursday 15 September
Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven
RFS vs Hearts
Sharif vs Man United
When will the postponed matches be played?
That’s the big question, and there’s no available date in 2022.
Every midweek after the next international break is used to start the World Cup; Four rounds of European matches, a full set of Premier League matches and the third round of the Carabao Cup.
English football resumes in the middle of the week of December 20 – just two days after the World Cup final – with the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, followed by three blocks of Premier League matches over the Christmas period.
This list shows how crowded the schedule will be in 2023, with only three middlemen vacant until the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, May 28.
January 10 – QF Carabao Cup
January 17 – FA Cup R3 replays
January 24 – Carabao Cup SF L1
January 31 Carabao Cup SF L2
February 7 Replay of the R4 FA Cup matches
February 14 – European competition knockouts
February 21 – European competition knockouts
February 28 – R5 FA Cup
March 7 – European competition knockouts
March 14 – European competition knockouts
March 21 – international break
March 28 – international break
April 4 – vacant midweek
April 11 – European competition QF
April 18 – European competition QF
April 25 – Premier League matches
May 2 – vacant midweek
May 9 – European competition SF
May 16 – European competition SF
May 23 – vacant midweek
Teams that have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup in a previous round can use those match days if necessary, although the matter becomes complicated if that league match is to be shown on TV as it should not be scheduled in front of the broadcaster. Cup competition.
The mediators in late January dedicated to the Carabao Cup semi-finals offer a solution – but there are still four clubs left out.
2:06
Fans at Thursday night’s European match featuring Manchester United, West Ham and Arsenal paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II after her death.
So just play games in the middle of a vacant week?
It’s not that simple because these vacant midwives exist for a reason. Clubs participating in the Carabao Cup Final (February 26) as well as the FA Cup Quarter-finals (18 March), Semi-Finals (22 April) and Final (3 June) will need to rearrange their league matches scheduled for these dates, primarily what slots are vacant there.
It is a particular problem for teams that go far in a European competition where there is no room for maneuver. Four rearranged matches don’t fit into three midweek matches, so if a club reaches the domestic cup finals, and reaches the semi-finals of a European competition, there are simply no dates available to rearrange the league matches as they are. . This made the problem worse.
The Premier League should consider these dates and consider the worst-case scenario. She can’t get into a situation where she’s running out of appointments, so she’s looking for the best way to avoid the unintended consequences of this month’s postponements.
Can’t some games be played on European circuit breakers?
There is a Memorandum of Understanding between the leagues and UEFA which states that matches should not be played at the same time as Champions League matches, if at all possible. In 2013, UEFA fined the Premier League £1.1 million for doing so, and deducted money from solidarity payments. This has been mitigated in recent years, although periodicals are still advised to avoid clashing if possible.
Last week, Lorient played for Lyon in Ligue 1 in a match postponed from the start of the season. It was scheduled for Thursday to avoid a clash with the Champions League, as it will kick off as early as 7pm local time, so it will only be at the same time as the first group of European matches.
Therefore, the Premier League could use European intermediaries if it feels there is no other place to put the games.
Of course, this is not good for any of the teams in Europe: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
It is these seven clubs that are posing the problems for the schedulers – and four of them play in London next weekend and another match could be called off. They will likely go far in both local cups too.
So what is the solution?
Some creative thinking may be required – especially if any of the upcoming weekend’s matches have to be postponed for security reasons. The obvious solution is to cancel the FA Cup replays in the third and fourth rounds again. This has happened in each of the last two seasons due to congestion caused by COVID-19 postponements and will unlock additional midwives required to prevent any further issues in the future.
If FA Cup replays remain in place, it is unlikely, if not impossible, that these dates can be used for re-arranged games because the availability of teams will only be known so soon.
There is no chance of the Carabao Cup being called off, but there could be pressure to make the semi-finals back and forth to open midweek.
The swap around the FA Cup Final (June 3) and the final day of the Premier League (May 28) will add an extra midweek on May 30 – although the Europa League final takes place on Wednesday of that week. There will also be additional logistical issues, as Wembley is booked into qualifying for the weekend of May 27-29, meaning that a solution is highly unlikely.
Can the season be extended?
no. After the FA Cup Final on June 3, the Champions League final is scheduled for June 10 and immediately thereafter there is an international block dedicated to Euro 2024 qualifying matches.
