Aberdeen urge SPFL to wait, it will make no difference

I’m delighted Aberdeen got on-board with the suggestion the SPFL refrain from making a quick decision to curtail the Premiership season.  In a letter to the other 11 SPFL teams, the League and SFA, they want to explore every way possible to complete the remaining league and Scottish Cup fixtures, while keeping a full 2020-21 fixture programme.

There is no reason for the SPFL, or our governments, to act quickly to cancel the season, and every reason to monitor what happens in countries where plans to relax lockdown have been prepared.

Chairman Dave Cormack outlined objectives and concerns, including the health of players and their ability to perform during a heavy fixture burden without affecting the outcome of games.  His optimism is commendable, but almost certainly misplaced.

Players are in a demographic considered among the safest from the worst consequences of virus, but playing football games will spread Covid among squads.  Fixtures cannot be fulfilled if your squad is ill with Covid, or isolating because they have been exposed to the virus.  Recuperation time from an illness with such consequences is also likely to be substantial for an athlete (this remains uncertain as no athlete has yet recuperated and returned to competition).

I would love to see the season end competitively.  We will not be able to attend games, but we would be able to watch Celtic win the title on the field, see Hearts relegated the way nature intended and watch Newco play their home games in Paisley.

Instead of cramming lots of games into the available time, I suspect the first year football returns will see lots of fixture cancellations and competition overruns.  We have yet to get our heads around where the world is right now, but there’s no reason Aberdeen cannot look into possibilities.  Wait until June, realise what you should have known for months and call it then.