Co-owner of League One club gives insight into when 2020/21 campaign is likely to get underway

Clubs have been in regular dialogue with the EFL in recent days to discuss when the 2020/21 campaign will get underway.

It comes after League One football was suspended in early March due to the coronavirus pandemic which, after much deliberation, was eventually curtailed - with final standings settled with a points-per-game model.

There was a split in opinion among club owners and chairmen surrounding whether or not to continue playing and that appears to be the case once again regarding next season’s campaign.

While a number of clubs are keen to return to action, it’s understood that many others would rather keep football in hibernation until all crowd restrictions are lifted.

Speaking on his podcast ‘Hard Truths’, Peterborough United co-owner Darragh MacAnthony said: “I did ask Rick Parry (EFL chairman) if he was going to take the bull by the horns and announce a start date and issue the first set of fixtures rather than have another vote among clubs.

“And the impression I got from the meeting was that the season would start on August 29 or September 12 and if I was a betting man, I would guess the date in September.

“There were a couple of the usual dissenting voices who don’t want to play until crowds come back, but they were told the TV deals would be in jeopardy.

“I understand where those chairmen were coming from, but it’s time to get the party started again and do what we are all paid to do and that’s play football.

“The EFL are working on getting some sort of crowd into grounds for when we start. It could be between 20-25 per cent of capacity to start, but I reckon we could get up to 35-40 per cent quickly and then 100 per cent by January as there has been better news on the virus front.”