Why Sheffield United's players might have spotted an unfamiliar figure watching their return to training
When Sheffield United’s players reported for work on Tuesday, after being summoned back to the Steelphalt Academy for small-sided training sessions, they might have noticed a strange figure patrolling around the complex and scribbling down some notes.
As part of ‘Project Restart’ - the Premier League’s action plan to ensure the season is completed - an independent observer could shortly be assigned to each of its 20 member clubs. Their job, as the game edges closer to a return following the coronavirus crisis, is to enforce the protocols they all helped draft during Monday’s summit meeting governing hygiene, social distancing and the amount of time people are allowed to spend on site.
Ten weeks after the game entered lockdown because of the pandemic, manager Chris Wilder and his squad began drifting back to Shirecliffe this morning; 24 hours after PL teams voted to lift the ban on training.
But with fixtures scheduled to resume next month, they also agreed to allow their coaching programmes to be monitored amid fears some could seek to gain an advantage by only loosely implementing a rule declaring individual footballers can only be coached for a maximum of 75 minutes at a time until the guidelines are relaxed.
Richard Garlick, an experienced sports lawyer and one of the PL’s most influential figures, revealed the decision to impose spot checks on clubs after this week’s teleconference.
Although these will eventually be performed on a ‘surprise’ basis, some within the game believe the scheme could eventually be expanded with monitors posted at training grounds whenever they are in use.
“We are looking at bringing in our own independent audit inspection team that we’ll scale up over the next few days, which will give us the ability to have inspections at training grounds to start with on a no-notice basis,” Garlick confirmed.
Captain Billy Sharp was among the first wave of United players to visit the Steelphalt Academy following Monday’s vote.
“The health and wellbeing of all participants is the Premier League’s priority,” a PL spokesperson said. “And the safe return to training is a step by step process.”
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