How Should the 2019/20 Premier League Season End?

There’s been no shortage of debate about how, given the current pandemic, the 2019/20 Premier League season should end.

Some people think the season should be wrapped up by playing the fixtures as soon as possible – even if that means eating into next season.

There are others – and no shortage of Everton fans, no doubt – who think the season should be deemed null and void, and that we re-start next season without promotion or relegation… or league titles. I wonder what the appeal of that might be?

Then there are a couple of more complex options.

Some have proposed to conclude the season by awarding teams their average points per game for the rest of the games this season. This would only see minimal adjustments to the Premier League table, with any sides boasting games in hand possible climbing a couple of places.

Another more complicated strategy – although one that could certainly be entertaining – would be to have play-offs to conclude the key positions for the season (e.g. the Champions League, Europa League and relegation spots).

There’s no doubt about it: it’s messy.

But a survey conducted by sports website, SQaF.club, has tried to gauge the opinions of football fans, who are, admittedly, not exactly lacking in bias.

The survey asked “How Should the 2019/20 Premier League Season End?”, with the four options previously mentioned being offered.

This is how people responded:

SQaF

There was no overwhelming majority. But, interestingly, just 42% of people felt that the remaining fixtures should be completed. Among them would be Liverpool fans waiting for their first ever Premier League title, but also Sheffield United supporters too who would see the Blades go to Europe next season.

That also means 58% of respondents believed the Premier League season should be concluded in an unconventional fashion. Of the alternatives, 33% want the season completed voided, 14% felt an average points system was the best solution, while 11% voted to have play-offs for key positions.

Although voiding the Premier League season may seem unlikely, there is a bit of precedence now given that the Football Association controversially decided to do exactly that for levels 3-7 of the non-league pyramid.

It does seem to show that the FA clearly think voiding the season is the most responsible thing to do. But money talks… especially in the richest league in the world.