The English Premier League should be over now. At least in theory had there not been a lockdown. The tournament is supposed to end by May. With Liverpool Football Club’s 25-point lead look all but insurmountable, the Merseyside club needed to win about three more matches to put this championship in the bag.
Then the world stopped due to Covid-19. With the world in near total lockdown, hardly anything runs today. Sports leagues—save for Taiwan’s professional baseball league—are at a standstill. And rightfully so.
Everyone is eagerly anticipating when the quarantines are lifted so we can all pick up the pieces of our lives. Who knows what life will be like then? We will all crave for normalcy, but that is wishful thinking. Maybe in a year or so?
I remember when the Boston Red Sox finally lifted the World Series trophy in 2004, a friend of mine waxed eloquent and thankful as the tears flowed freely. I sure know what it is like although I didn’t have to wait 86 years for that.
My alma mater, Ateneo de Manila, had to wait one year before it lifted up another collegiate trophy. The New York Yankees—and at one point in my life, I lived in New York City—took 18 years before they claimed another World Series trophy. My New York Islanders have not won a Stanley Cup since 1983.
Like I did in 1987 for Ateneo, and in 1996 for the Yankees, I want to let go of my pent up emotions, when Liverpool finally hoists that coveted trophy. I have to admit that I vacillate between staying humble and telling Chelsea to stick it. Forgive me. Losing does that. I do know, I’ll have my fun while staying humble.
So many times in the past has Liverpool botched the job as they finished second. Last season they came within two points of piping Manchester City for that crown.
Liverpool has not won an English domestic league championship since the 1989-1990 season. Since that time, Manchester United supplanted them as England’s most successful club. Chelsea and Arsenal have won titles. Hell even Blackburn and Leicester have Premier League trophies to their name.
I have had to endure listening to the taunts from the other clubs as they created their own history.
It is humbling I must admit. I remember when Merseysiders used to chant to Chelsea fans, “You have no history.” Talked about karma. As the other clubs added to their trophy shelf Liverpool agonizingly fell short. Yes, there have been a couple of Champions League, FA Cup, and League Cup silverware, but it is the domestic title that is important. So that is why I—along with millions of other Liverpool fans—cannot wait to claim this.
Since current Team Manager Jurgen Klopp came on board, Liverpool has won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the Fifa Club World Cup. A Premier League trophy will look pretty neat next to those three and complete on of the most successful eras since that 1989-90 season.
You can bet, I got upset at pundits like Rio Ferdinand who opined for voiding the season. Him being an ex-Man United player, it sounds all the more bitter and tactless. I suppose he can surrender all his earnings from the past several months, right?
It isn’t only LFC lifting up the trophy. If you invalidate the season, how do player contracts work? Those fighting for contracts might not have anything to show? How do the European leagues work? Who was promoted and relegated?
But more than the football answers, one must first and foremost look into safety. The safety of all the people who will be playing and coaching or even maintain the facilities is paramount.
As I understand it, the leagues will be played out no matter the delay. The Sun noted that the Premier League is set to continue this May albeit to empty stadiums. The Guardian, also in the same day, opined that finishing the season is pointless and common sense and safety must prevail.
For me, this decision must be arrived at by several parties and not only the people running football. In the event, their respective curves have not flat lined, how do the football league proceed? Will there be criteria to decide how what follows?
I’ve been waiting for 30 years. What’s a few more months.