Scottish Premiership return scheduled for August if country is in Phase 2 of lockdown easing

The new Premiership football season could begin behind closed doors from August 1 as the Scottish Government gave provisional backing to a plan to restart the game.

Following a presentation of the Return to Football plan by Scottish football’s Joint Response Group (JRG), sport minister Joe FitzPatrick gave the go ahead for the resumption of football, rugby and racing.

It would be conditional on the country being in Phase 2 of lockdown easing, and health protection measures being in place.

It means a suspension on football is set to be lifted by the Scottish FA on June 11 to allow Premiership clubs to resume training.

Today’s presentation was made by the chief executives of the SFA and Scottish Professional Football League, Ian Maxwell and Neil Doncaster.

Their strategy is based on a three-step approach: Return to Training, Return to Playing, Return to Supporting.

The JRG hopes that the Premiership season for 2020-21 can begin as scheduled on August 1 and 2, but behind closed doors.

FitzPatrick said: “We understand the importance of sport to the people of Scotland, and the desire of many to see it resume.

“Earlier today I met with senior representatives from football, rugby and racing to consider in detail how those sports will resume when it is safe to do so.

“When we are in Phase 2 of our pandemic route map, and suitable health protection measures are in place, then elite football, rugby and racing should be able to resume behind closed doors.

“As we are currently unable to say exactly when Phase 2 will commence, any proposed dates for resumption behind closed doors must be provisional and subject to wider public health considerations. However, I know everyone involved will welcome some clarity to assist planning.”

SFA chief Maxwell said: “I would like to thank the minister and the National Clinical Director for Scotland for their receptiveness to our proposal. Return to professional football has been the culmination of weeks of hard work from across the game from people whose workloads and demands have already been increased to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on their clubs or areas of work within Scottish football.

“In particular, I would like to thank our Chief Medical Consultant, Dr John MacLean, for his invaluable input throughout this process. As a JRG member and co-chair of the medical sub group, he has overseen creation of a comprehensive strategy for testing procedures and safe ‘return to training’ and ‘return to playing’ protocols that have given confidence that the Scottish Premiership can kick-off in August.

“As the governing body, we will continue to engage with government and key stakeholders to provide a similar plan for the return of the game at all levels of Scottish football. While acknowledging that the current testing regime required to be observed will be prohibitive for most clubs out with the Premiership at this time, we are aware that there are hundreds of thousands of players across the Scottish football landscape looking for clarity on when they can return to action.

“In particular, the paused Scottish Women’s Premier League is keen to restart and we will be discussing with stakeholders the process to restart the women’s senor game in line with the government’s route map out of lockdown.

“Conversations will continue in the coming weeks to outline a pragmatic approach for the whole game and we will communicate those developments at the appropriate time.”

SPFL chief executive Doncaster said he was “delighted” that the next Premiership season would be going ahead on the dates planned, and that dialogue would continue with lower league clubs with their seasons still up in the air.

He said: “We now have a firm target of starting the 2020/21 Premiership season on the weekend of August 1 and that’s a major step forward. We will continue working with the Championship, League 1 and League 2 to gauge their ability to start the season and if so, when – which may vary hugely between clubs.

“We clearly welcome the prospect of resuming matches, but we have to take all necessary steps to ensure we can have a sustainable league campaign. That means a safety-first approach, with games initially played behind closed doors and a range of measures to protect players and staff.

“The return of crowds is something we all want to see and we will be working with clubs, Government and medical professionals to return safely to playing in front of fans as soon as we can.”