Gamechanger – Sources: Huge Leeds & West Brom update as new plan revealed
Leeds United and West Brom have been given the biggest boost yet their promotion dreams can be fulfilled as football chiefs sketch out new plans for the season’s return, Football Insider understands.
The return of the top divisions is edging closer amid Premier League and EFL plans to resume action in the second or third week of June.
Sources from the ruling bodies have told Football Insider that there is growing hope the season can be completed by early to mid August.
Leaked plans from the EFL have revealed all 71 clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two have been told not to resume group training before 16 May.
Chairman Rick Parry does not specify a season return date but strongly suggests plans for a resumption around four weeks later.
It will mean cramming the fixtures, including the play-offs, into an eight-week, 56-day period and almost certainly playing them behind closed doors.
The 2020-21 season would then start around three weeks later, possibly in early September.
It is a gamechanger for Leeds and West Brom, whose promotion dreams have been iced since the suspension of football a month ago.
Their senior players have been training almost every day during the lockdown, but they are now set to be given annual leave before returning for ‘pre-season’ in just over five weeks’ time.
Elite clubs in the Premier League, Championship and across the Football League are likely to take similar measures before group training can recommence.
The EFL has insisted clubs operate in line with current UK government advice on the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK has been in lockdown for nearly three weeks and it is widely expected that will be extended until at least the end of April.
In other Leeds United news, a blockbuster club deal is on hold even though the contract has been ‘signed’.