Leeds United, Coronavirus, reasonable steps, grim possibilities and futility - Graham Smyth

This isn’t, unfortunately, a column about Cardiff City and the mental pain they inflicted on everyone associated with the Whites back in December, and the opportunity Leeds will have, this Sunday, to complete the story arc and lay to rest the ghosts of December 14.

Coronavirus is already dominating the football news cycle and it appears almost inevitable that it will play merry hell with the football calendar.

Fixtures have fallen victim to it at home and abroad and the revelation that a club owner contracted it – and inadvertently took it to Nottingham Forest’s game against Millwall – brought it all very close to home. Coronavirus has visited the Championship.

Forest have, reassuringly, said the results of all at the club who have been tested came back negative.

Life at Leeds United has already altered due to the risk of infection; Thorp Arch is a no-go area for the club’s academy teams and the women’s team, the first-team players’ interactions with fans has been limited and they were unable to attend any of the LUFC Foundation events on the EFL’s Day of Action this week.

Marcelo Bielsa’s press conference has been moved from Thorp Arch to Elland Road as a precautionary measure, as Leeds try everything that is sensible and reasonable to avoid infection spreading to the squad.

Clubs are doing their utmost to ensure they have a healthy team, even if some measures have an air of futility.

Players might not have shaken hands before the game at Elland Road on Saturday, but they played 90 minutes of contact sport and, although the usual crowd of supporters were not able to greet Leeds on arrival, players were still met by a small welcome committee of mascots.

The players and staff have families and partners, children who go to school, so you cannot ever entirely eradicate the risk of infection.

Bielsa himself has been spotted out and about in Leeds, coming into close contact with members of his adoring selfie-seeking public.

Life goes on for the Argentine and the rest of us, because the latest government advice suggests we go about our business.

Yet, when you cast your eye to events in Europe and elsewhere and see the havoc this virus is causing, it’s difficult to imagine that life and football in the UK will not be disrupted.

All of the possible scenarios the game could be facing in the coming weeks are a bit grim.

If football goes on as normal and people pack stadium concourses and toilets before games and at half-time, there will be those in the at-risk categories, or those whose loved ones have compromised immune systems who may feel obliged to miss out. The authorities and clubs will also be trusting that fans exhibiting symptoms, potentially suffering from the virus, will indeed self isolate and not attend a match that could bring about Leeds United’s long-awaited dream return to the Premier League.

All the very best with that.

But, if games go behind closed doors, fans will go to the pub in their droves and stand in close proximity, sharing the same air. They will swarm the streets around grounds if there’s even the slightest chance that the players inside could make history, because who wants to be alone or miss out on a party at such a monumental time? And that will create policing headaches, not to mention the health and safety implications.

And which player wants to score the goal that takes Leeds to the promised land, in silence? It would mean so much less, without the fans there to delight in it. Football is nothing etc etc ...

A delay would cause all manner of administrative issues, not least for clubs with players out of contract or heading back after loan spells.

It would surely mean the cancellation of Euro2020 and have ramifications for the transfer window and the start of next season.

And to shut up shop seems likely to swamp the game’s decision makers with legal action.

Taking league tables as they stand to decide promotion and relegation would be lovely, for Leeds, but for those missing out on the cash benefits of going up, or denied the chance to claw their way out of the relegation zones, it would be grossly unfair and legal letters would fly.

Deciding against promotion or relegation would provoke a similar reaction from those who have invested so heavily in attempting to achieve their 2019/20 goals.

In lower leagues, a lack of fixtures at a time when cash flow can be problematic would be financially horrific, and even Championship clubs would take a hit.

Ultimately the FA and the EFL might be able to wash their hands of the decisions that are reached, because they are being advised by the government who, in turn, are being advised by experts.

For the time being, football will hold its breath and the show will go on.

And, unless told otherwise, Leeds will roll into Cardiff and attempt to cleanse their collective psyche of nasty mid-season memories.