We all let out a collective cheer when it was confirmed that the premier league was coming back (albeit in a much quieter form without crowds) after almost 13 weeks away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top tier of our beloved sport returned yesterday with two games – Aston Villa vs Sheffield Utd and Man City vs Arsenal.
Although the Villa match ended 0-0 it was still great to see some familiar faces of the premier league and watch the action.
The Man City v Arsenal match brought more goals with City winning 3-0, but it took both teams a little while to settle and once the first goal was scored City seemed to find their groove.
Overall, a positive reaction was seen to a long-desired return of the premier league leaving audiences ‘hungry for more’. We don’t have long to wait with 2 more games tomorrow and a total of 8 over the weekend too – But why was it deemed the Premier league should return and why now?
Unanimous Support from all clubs
Following a week of non-contact training in the final week of May, every single Premier League Club voted to resume contact training unanimously.
Lock Down Eased
In recent weeks the number of new infections of COVID-19 was gradually falling with that lockdown restrictions in England have began to be slowly eased, this key development aided the decision that the Premier League agreed it was safe to resume with the right safety procedures – much like the Bundesliga. In Germany.
For example, Premier League players and staff will continue to be tested twice a week, with anyone who tests positive self-isolating for a period of seven days.
The UK government also gave the go-ahead for elite competitive sport to resume behind closed doors from 1 June.
The Euros Delayed
Many players were mentally and physically preparing for the Euros, however with the tournament being delayed a year this gave the space for games to be fitted in and many players were expecting to be playing anyway.
The Financial Incentive
It will come as no surprise there is a financial element that forms part of the consideration to resuming the Premier League this month – least not the threat of an increased or at least restructured rebate to TV companies if fixtures are not completed.
Deloitte forecasted that the cost of the rebates could be as much as £500m for Premier League clubs to broadcasters add on top of that loss of matchday revenue, lower merchandise sales and the potential loss incurred by the delay could have been as high as £1bn.
Hopefully the above gives you some insight as to the major occurrences and reasons that impacted the decision for the Premier League to be reinstated. No matter the reasons for the return we as fans and an audience are overjoyed to have it back. Here is to the summer of (quieter) Football.
