RateTheRef

All premier league football is off this weekend….

A very, very difficult decision. Whilst it would have been great to see full stadiums paying their respects prior to kick off as a very moving tribute, i can understand why decision to postpone this weekends fixtures has been made. I guess next weekends may be in doubt as it may be very close to the State Funeral. Rip Queen Elisabeth and thankyou for everything, god save the King.

It’s a joke of a decision to be honest

I particularly feel for those who have made travel and other arrangements for which they will be out of pocket. Clarity on next weekend will hopefully follow in good time - with large crowds in London and proximity to the funeral, I wouldn't be surprised if the Police request postponements of fixtures in the London area (as a minimum). I think it's safe to assume British clubs involved in UEFA competitions will play midweek.

I can see both sides of the argument.  There's precedence as all football was cancelled when the previous monarch died.  Then you have that the Queen was a patron of the FA and Prince WIlliam is their president, so it could be seen as disrespectful to go ahead.

George VI died on February 6 1952 and Football League fixtures were played on the 9th, 16th and 23rd, along with FA Cup games on the 23rd

I realise it is not quite the same, but on the afternoon of Winston Churchill's funeral on 30th Jan 1965, a full round of FA Cup games were played.

The official line of do's and don'ts during the official mourning period indicate that sporting fixtures should go ahead, with suitable respects to the late Monarch at every game. I'm OK with this weekend's fixtures being called off as a mark of respect to the Queen and Prince William, but I do believe that next weekend's fixtures should go ahead where possible. It may well be necessary to postpone Chelsea v Liverpool and Brentford v Arsenal on Sunday 18th and possibly Spurs v Leicester on Saturday 17th, and I'm OK with that, but the remaining PL fixtures should go ahead, this to include the previously-postponed Brighton v Palace fixture on Sat 17th.

Didn’t Mrs Thatcher have a state funeral? If so I don’t think anything was called off upon her passing?

Quote from: rustyref on Fri 09 Sep 2022 17:37

I can see both sides of the argument.  There's precedence as all football was cancelled when the previous monarch died. Then you have that the Queen was a patron of the FA and Prince WIlliam is their president, so it could be seen as disrespectful to go ahead.

On the flip side, many, many people will now lose money in a financial climate that they possibly can't afford to lose.  You would like to think that the train companies and hotels would refund even if they are non-refundable tickets / bookings, but I fully suspect they won't.  And at grass roots levels, I wouldn't be at all surprised if pitch owners and management companies won't refund bookings.

Talk Sport, who seemed to have inside information, were suggested that next weekend's program would fall as well, certainly at the top level.

I normally rely on your posts for good factual answers but I'm afraid that is categorically not true !

Well I certainly wasn't around then, but I've heard at least two different sources say that was the case.