Sheffield Wednesday braced for EFL ‘tipping point’?

Football clubs around the world are still waiting to see when exactly they’ll be able to get out on the field again, but one CEO in the English Football League isn’t sure Sheffield Wednesday and co will finish the season at all.

It’s now been almost two months since football was brought to a standstill in England due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has caused havoc across the world, with the Owls’ 5-0 defeat a Brentford seeming like a lifetime ago.

While the general consensus from the EFL – as well as the Premier League – has been to finish the current campaign before planning for 2020/21, Coventry City CEO, Dave Boddy, is now concerned that it might not get wrapped up at all, stating that the ability to test players for Covid-19 lies at the heart of the problem.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Boddy said: “We have always supported the premise of finishing the season, for sporting integrity, but as each day goes by it is looking unlikely…

“I think it is looking like next week, maybe Wednesday could be the tipping point. That will depend on what Boris (Johnson) decides in terms of lockdown on Sunday and what we can and can't do.

“The biggest problem we have is that, when we return to training, testing will be key. We will have to test our players every time they arrive at the training ground.

“It is a contact sport. We can't isolate people. We can do running separately but we can't get them back to the level they need to be for match conditions without contact… Unless we can put testing in place, I don't think a return can happen."

Clubs across the country are now reeling from the lack of football and consequent lack of matchday income that is such a big part of their revenue, and the testing kits required to start up the season again would take another bite into whatever funds they do have available to them.