Just cancel the whole season I reckon. Keep the mourning going till May

And totally baffled as to why the game against PSV wasn’t switched so that we’d play away this week and home later.

Not certain anyone's noticed, but Chelsea's CL match at home against Salzburg on Wednesday hasn't been postponed. Odd that. Still London.

That will be two of the past three seasons totally distorted and buggered up. The World Cup was always going to have a massive impact. This has just blown it out of the water.

Totally pissed off.

And totally baffled as to why the game against PSV wasn’t switched so that we’d play away this week and home later.

I think the logistics of ticketing and PSV having to organise themselves to host a game they didn't expect to be hosting would cause too much of a problem even if they said no away fans it would be a logistical nightmare to do all that is required in the space of a few days

What might have made sense is if both clubs agreed to play the game with a vastly reduced attendance due to exceptional conditions or even behind closed doors.

I think the logistics of ticketing and PSV having to organise themselves to host a game they didn't expect to be hosting would cause too much of a problem even if they said no away fans it would be a logistical nightmare to do all that is required in the space of a few days

Born Hamilton NZ ; April 1945

..... got to say your drinking needs a bit of fine tuning Andy ; instead of sniffing fumes and simpering with your little finger stuck out try imbibing 3/4 of a 1100 ml bottle of Captain Morgan .

Thanks for your enjoyable post Andy. I imagine you have come across it, but if not Jerry White's book Campbell Bunk is well worth a read.

As for me, born 1950 in South London; raised the son of a Smithfield Meat Market father and an early morning office cleaner mother - the most giving of parents who backed me in whatever I chose to do. I have two wonderful younger sisters; a wife of getting on for 47 years (a proper Bermondsey girl); one son who lives in Canada with his beautiful wife and our almost two-year old granddaughter - the jewels of our lives. I was fortunate to attend an achieving comprehensive school off the Old Kent Road where the teachers were good enough to get me to University College, London. After the obligatory larking about in the late 60s and early 70s (including travel to Franco's Spain and Salazar's Portugal) my career was in local government, most latterly as a manager of capital projects. Now retired, I am quite pleased with some of the schemes I worked on, especially the parks, sports and leisure ones - you will have heard little of any of them, but perhaps the Peckham Library might ring a bell?

Arsenal of course through my dad and grandad - Millwall too (you had too in my neighbourhood) and latterly Dartford FC. I love all varieties of music but can't play a note; enjoy cinema, books, most sports and am a self-published local historian, from which I get nothing but pleasure. Still believe Pele is the greatest of all time and that the Gunners will one day win the league again.

What might have made sense is if both clubs agreed to play the game with a vastly reduced attendance due to exceptional conditions or even behind closed doors.

Outrageous.

And yes… we had noticed.

Forfeiting it would just be the cherry on the cake wouldn’t it.

Shame this isn’t all happening two months from now during the World Cup. Or even during the International break.

Brentford is going ahead at 12pm Sunday

Pleasantly surprised, aka amazed.

That strongly suggests that the Met didn’t fancy the Dutch turning up en masse on Thursday then.

Van Nistelroy and crew most likely will find a forfeit preferable. Especially Arsenal.

I agree. Bloody inconsiderate of her maj to peg it when she did. Surely one of the staff could have checked the fixtures.

Chelsea at home on Wednesday is ON
Arsenal at home on Thursday is OFF
Chelsea at home on Saturday is OFF
Spurs at home on Saturday is ON
Brentford at home on Sunday is ON

not sure I follow the logic but good to have a game!

Edit - Meant the fact it is Arsenal who'd have to forfeit if no open slot to have the match is available.

As a matter of principle Arsenal should not have to forfeit the game. Under any circumstances. I’m sure the game will be fitted in somewhere or in my view Arsenal should get compensation from the police if it’s them who has insisted on the postponement of next Thursday’s game.

It isn’t a national emergency. The country isn’t being bombed. A 96 year lady has died, and not even unexpectedly.

They seem to be cancelling games which they anticipate would need higher policing.

Why else would such as Brighton vs Palace get the chop?

Bernard I'd read after I posted this that Arsenal most likely won't have to forfeit at all. Being they've already played in one EL match, which was against Zurich. Like you and everyone else, hopefully a neutral ground can be found, even if it isn't at the Ems, to move things along. Unfortunately, there's no predicting when a person will die.

If that is the reason, and it makes sense for it to be, it still doesn’t quite make sense why our game v PSV requiring Police for 60k fans is off when spurs can stage a game for 60k fans two days closer to the funeral and Chelsea can host a European game for 45k fans the day before.

I thought the Brighton palace game was cut because of the rail strikes originally, they’ve kept it cut because of policing I’d guess.

Bernard I'd read after I posted this that Arsenal most likely won't have to forfeit at all. Being they've already played in one EL match, which was against Zurich. Like you and everyone else, hopefully a neutral ground can be found, even if it isn't at the Ems, to move things along. Unfortunately, there's no predicting when a person will die.

Many deaths are unexpected but there are often very good indications when a person will die. My wife works it a hospice and the clinical staff know when anyone is ‘on their way out’ as they’re put on end of life care and the family is called to come and be with him or her whatever the time of day or night.

For example, Steve Braddock was sent home to die because that’s what he and his family wanted. The Queen was on her way out and I’m sure it was obvious to even the non-clinician Liz Truss when she was appointed Prime Minister.

The reaction to a 96 year old lady’s sad passing has in my honest been way over the top. Have the BBC and ITV covered anything else for four days? It is time to move on and, importantly, there are far more visible ways of showing her the respect many feel she deserves. Black armbands and minute silences, or even singing the national anthem before games as they did at the test match against South Africa would in my view be a better way of remembering her, showing respect, or even enabling people to show grief.

Everything that I have read today strongly suggests that there is a real chance of it having to be forfeited. Same as Tottenham had to when affected by covid.

That would make it difficult to come top in the group. Finishing second gives you an extra round to play, and that would be against a side dropping out of the Champions League.

That simply isn’t acceptable. What game did Tottenham forfeit because of Covid?

This one, where it dumped them out of the competition.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/tottenh ... efa-ruling

So when Chelsea are allowed to play a home European tie tomorrow, why aren’t Arsenal allowed to play their home European tie on Thursday, which is four days before the funeral? Why does an extra 24 hours in the midweek before the funeral make such a difference, especially when Premier League games are being played this weekend?