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EFL reveal when the new 2020/21 season will start

The EFL reveal when the much anticipated new 2020/21 season will start whilst there are rumours as to then the fixtures are out.

It comes with the the Championship playoffs and the final round of Premier League games left to play out with teams fighting for promotion and to avoid the drop.

The 20 current shareholder clubs of the Premier League have today held their last video meeting of the season, with dates now able to be added to diaries.

David Bottomley, the Chief Executive of League One side Rochdale, has also confirmed when the new English Football League campaign kicks off.

He said via the club’s website: “I can also make the comment that I believe within a few hours of you reading this, the EFL will have announced that our season will recommence on Saturday 12th September.

“Initially, it will be for three weeks behind closed doors and then from 1st October with crowds present. It will be an exciting season in League One, as we line up against eight teams that have played in the Premier League and ten that have played at the top level of English football, as well as multiple winners of both the FA Cup and League Cup, so there are good times ahead.

“The start date will also mean that our playing and coaching staff will return to training week commencing 3rd August, again in strange circumstances amidst COVID-safe procedures.”

After the EFL reveal when the new 2020/21 season will start, the dates were also revealed for the Premier League.

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There are confirmed plans to begin the upcoming campaign on the weekend of September the 12th. The final match round of the campaign will take place on May the 23rd.

It is understood the Community Shield will be confirmed at Wembley for the 30th of August, with players going on their first international break since November.

Clubs will be discovering the fixture lists less than a month before the the league season gets underway.

Reports claim that teams agreed that the fixture list should be agreed and published by August 21, which is under three weeks before the new term begins.

Premier League chiefs can only work out how the busy schedule will pan out once the Championship play-off Final is over with. There will be a maximum of 32 weekend dates rather than the normal 34.

It is likely that of a number of games initially scheduled for the FA Cup fourth and fifth round weekends being moved to midweek dates.

Premier League matches are unlikely to be possible in midweek between the end of October and the middle of December as it would clash with UEFA’s European competition group stage dates.

The earliest we could see midweek fixtures, would be in the last week of September or the start of October.

Though as ever before, the schedule will get increasingly hectic in December and January.

It was hoped that from October, large numbers of fans would be able to return to the stands for the first time since March, but that now looks unlikely after it was revealed that only a third of fans will be allowed in.

Boris Johnson last week confirmed that spectators could be able to return to grounds in England towards the end of the year, albeit after the Championship season resumes, if, as expected, on September 12.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also said pilots will take place from August 1 but any stadium reopening would be subject to coronavirus guidelines.

However, according to a draft document from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA), published in The Times, stadiums will be at a maximum of 33 per cent full and could be at as low as 17 per cent of capacity when fans return in October.

The document states: “It is emphasised that capacity assessments arrived at after optimising seat allocations will be permitted only if it can be shown that the entry, exit and emergency exit capacities and, where applicable, the concourse capacity, can support such numbers when social distancing is in place.”

While Peter Houghton, director of operations for the Football Safety Officers Association, told The Times: “Even Premier League clubs will not want capacities of 20 per cent or less for too long.

“Concourse capacities are going to be key to the amount of the stadium that can be used. Generally the older the stadiums the less space there is.”

The move is expected to come as a huge financial blow to clubs up and down the country with one senior football official telling the publication: “These guidelines are problematic and could well make football lose even more money.”

While Houghton added on the set-back: “It’s a massive issue for League One, League Two and National League clubs and I don’t know how many will be willing to implement it because of the costs involved.

“There’s the cost of signage, stewarding, temperature checks. Clubs will be asking if it is worth them opening.”

The report goes on to claim that clubs will be obliged to carry out risk assessments of their grounds and fans who apply for tickets will be required to carry out a personal risk assessment.

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