All Premier League and Football League games could go behind closed doors

The Government is set to move to the “delay” stage of its action plan to deal with the spread of the virus and reports in the national press this morning claim Premier League and Football League games in England could all go behind closed doors in a bid to ensure the season is completed.

The Times report: “All football matches in England will be played behind closed doors under government plans to combat coronavirus that could be triggered as early as today.

”A meeting of the government’s Cobra committee this morning is expected to move its response to the pandemic from the “contain” phase to the “delay” phase. That will result in a crisis plan being unveiled for football.”

The fixtures, it’s claimed, will not be postponed, though they will not be shown in pubs.

A series of proposed measures include all Premier League season-ticket holders and ticket holders for individual games will be able to stream coverage of matches into their homes, no games shown at pubs to avoid crowds of people gathering, and season-ticket holders and ticket holders for individual games at Football League clubs will be allowed to watch matches on iFollow streams.

Sunderland travel to Blackpool on Saturday in League One. Newcastle take on Sheffield United at St James’s Park on Saturday.

Middlesbrough host Swansea City at the Riverside.