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Playing behind closed doors could be here to stay

Photo of Sean Whetstone Sean Whetstone | 13:50 19/05/20

Premier League clubs have been warned by medics they may have to play behind closed doors for 12 months or more.

The Premier League’s chief medical advisor  Doctor Mark Gillett warned that top-flight footballers could be playing without fans for up to a year before a vaccine is widely available.

“It’s very clear the public and social health situation is not going to change in the next six to 12 months,” said Gillett.

“It is important that people understand that they will have to see these cultural changes.”

And Gillett also expressed reservations over whether the Premier League would emulate Germany’s model by putting players in self-isolation before games.

“The advice we are getting from government is that if you are going to isolate you have to do it for 14 days,” he said. “So you will need to be in a hotel environment for 14 days to make it truly effective.

The news could mean clubs missing out on season ticket and general ticket revenue next season.

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Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called Moore Than Just a Podcast A Blogger on West Ham Till I die a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,

I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.

Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!

Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

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5 comments

  • Hammer_Rite says:
    May 19, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    antibody giving 2 months immunity?Haven’t heard anything about that.?
    I’ve just started taking hydroy-chloroquine because donald recommends it.😉
    Seriously though knowing when this is going to end is like asking how long is a piece of string.

  • Kevin says:
    May 19, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    That would kill football as we know it . No need for stadiums or a crowd of supporters .
    Put the players In Space Suits and bring them out when needed . 🤣🤦 if we want football to continue we should abandon this season , full stop .
    And just why would we want to change the manager ?? . Senseless nonsense everywhere you look .
    Tired of commenting , but this season must be halted now before we have players and their families infected .

    • Alan says:
      May 19, 2020 at 5:16 pm

      Abandoning this season isn’t going to change the fact that games will also be played behind closed doors next season too. People have to come to terms with that I think.

      • Hugh5outhon1895 says:
        May 19, 2020 at 5:58 pm

        Not sure Alan. Sean and I were discussing earlier the fact that an antibody giving 2 months immunity at a time is now apparently ready and never bfore has the world worked so in tensely on finding a vaccine.

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