The SPFL announced yesterday that football was suspended until further notice. I think they are hoping to resume in just a few weeks, run into the slot vacated by the sure-to-be-cancelled Euro 2020 competition, and thus complete the season a little late. I think that's wildly optimistic - the peak of this thing is estimated to be 10-14 weeks away, so I'd expect them to be shut down for months.
That raises the question of what to do about the season, if it cannot be concluded in any reasonable time-frame. Do they just conclude it as-is, declare Celtic the champions and Hearts relegated? Or do they declare the season void, and start afresh with things as they stand?
The problem is that there is no fair solution. And for Dundee United and Hearts, in particular, any decision that is taken will have profound financial implications - relegation for one means promotion for the other, and vice versa.
So here's what I propose:
1. Whenever it is considered safe and appropriate to resume football, pick up the league season as it stands, no matter how long that takes. Play out the final dozen or so matches with all reasonable speed, and thus complete the season.
2. As soon as it becomes apparent that the league cannot be completed by the start of June (when contracts tend to expire) open a transfer window, to run until the season resumes. Yes, this means that the squads that come back are not the ones who have played so far, but I think we just have to accept that. (Besides, technically there's nothing to stop a team recruiting an entirely new squad in January, so that's a possibility anyway.) They might want to put a spending limit on clubs for this window.
3. While the season remains paused, suspend any and all penalties associated with entering administration, provided the club has come back out by the time the season resumes.
4. However, in the unfortunate case where clubs simply fold in the interim, treat this as would be the case anyway - they're assumed to lose all remaining matches by some known scoreline (3-0, I think?), and that's that. That really sucks, I know, but we'll just have to deal with it.
Then, once the current season has run to a completion, have a fairly short close-season, and then set up for the next season of competitions.
However, for that season, depending on the time that needs to be made up, either contract or extend the season to suit. (For instance, if they need to make up a month, they could have everyone play each other twice, then have the split, then have two sets of post-split matches. Or they could remove all cup replays. Or whatever.)
The benefit of that is two-fold: firstly, it means there's no need for a ruling that will massively impact either Hearts or Dundee United (and also both gives Celtic the benefit of the lead they have deservedly built up without putting a big asterisk beside their 9-in-a-row). Secondly, by deferring any compromises until next season they allow everyone to play on with a level playing field, because the rules are agreed before they take effect.
At least, that's what I'd do.
#12: "Sharpe's Eagle", by Bernard Cornwell
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