Our Sunderland writers deliver verdict on whether League One season should be suspended

Our team of Sunderland writers deliver their verdicts on whether the season should carry on or be halted until the situation is brought under control, with five clubs battling outbreaks including SAFC, Portsmouth, Ipswich Town and Peterborough United.

Richard Mennear

If 2020 has told us one thing it is to expect the unexpected.

And while the EFL are currently determined to keep the League One season going, we all know the situation and landscape can change very quickly.

We saw that back in March.

News today of Portsmouth being hit with more positive Covid-19 tests, with multiple additional cases detected, will cause great concern at EFL Towers.

Four other clubs are battling outbreaks including Sunderland who have closed the Academy of Light for 10 days and postponed three games. Hopefully no further games will have to be postponed but clearly the situation is very fluid.

With five teams postponing multiple fixtures, the EFL have a decision to make.

Carry on or suspend?

If the situation remains as is, then I'd be in favour of carrying on and teams will just have to catch up and contend with a congested fixture list in the new year.

However, should another couple of clubs suffer a similar fate then a decision will have to be made. And swiftly.

The problem is how hard it is to restart once you do suspend as the situation won't seemingly improve drastically anytime soon. If the season was suspended again then there would also be very real fears it would go the same way as last season.

Either way, the EFL needs to show decisive leadership, pay for more testing at clubs on a weekly basis and set a clear threshold for when games should be postponed, to avoid the farce we had on Wearside last week.

Phil Smith

Whether a suspension is required will depend mainly on whether the recent outbreaks can be contained, or whether more clubs suffer the same issues in the weeks ahead.

The EFL will be determined to keep the fixture list moving and my instinct is that if football can be kept going, it should.

It is clearly going to be a tough few months ahead and keeping the game going would be a boost for so many.

The obvious caveat is that should only happen if players are kept safe.

It's hugely concerning to see Ipswich Town identify the new, more transmissible strain of COVID-19 as the key factor in their recent outbreak.

This is something that the EFL will have to monitor very closely and I do feel there are some changes to the protocols that could be made very quickly.

Their current procedures held up well in the early parts of the campaign but like everything else, there is a need to react to new circumstances.

One obvious move that could make a big difference in protecting players and staff is to increase the levels of testing across the lower leagues, which at the moment are sporadic and certainly not fit for purpose when the virus is growing.

There may be some other aspects of their protocols that can be amended to reflect the new reality we're moving into.

Perhaps the biggest concern is that this season started without clear funding for testing, without a bailout secured and without clear protocols around postponements. etc.

That makes these decisions harder but it's clear that some response from the EFL will be required quickly.

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