England set for eight games before end of 2020 with FA hopeful fans can attend

Chief executive Mark Bullingham also revealed Wembley could host the 2023 Champions League final instead of 2024

England will cram in eight games from September to November and the Football Association are hopeful that supporters will be able to attend by then. The body’s chief executive Mark Bullingham confirmed that work has started on the latter, and that there are ongoing conversations with the Premier League over how to handle pre-season given that it will be disrupted by the early September Nations League games.

Bullingham was speaking after Uefa confirmed the European calendar earlier that afternoon, and it does mean that any England player who reaches the Champions League final on 23 August will only have 12 days of “pre-season” between that and the international team’s opening Nations League game away to Iceland on 5 September.

The FA chief also stated that Wembley could yet get the 2023 Champions League final rather than 2024, so that the centenary is celebrated there. The move of this season’s final means all venues have been put back a year, but it is felt the German federation would be willing to swap Munich 2023 for 2024, given the FA’s support for Euro 2024.

“After such a long gap with international football, it’s great we are going to have eight games, particularly as we look forward to next year and of course the year after,” Bullingham said. “So it’s brilliant Uefa have managed to confirm those games. While we look ahead to September, we are hoping we are hoping to be in a very different situation than we are now as a country and we hope at some point we can start having crowds back. We know they are the lifeblood of football and we want to get them back.”

Bullingham offered some detail on how the initial discussions are going.

Rashford celebrates with Kane against Kosovo (Getty)

“Even a few weeks ago we were expecting that for a very long time but now we are starting to have the conversations,” he added. ”I can’t give you any timescales or whether it will be a restricted capacity or anything like that. But I can tell you that we are starting to have the conversations with government and other bodies. So from our point of view we view that as a positive as well.

“We’re looking at loads of options. We’re even getting people to map out what traffic flows look like in stadia, explore what it could look like with one-metre, two-metre social distancing and so on.

“Look I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m a medical expert, but like all of us I’ve learned a bit over the last few months. What I would say is that it’s pretty apparent that when you’re in a stadium watching a game it’s actually a pretty safe environment, you’re all facing the same way. You’re in the open air. It’s obviously a place where the virus struggles, compared to being indoors.

“All we’re being told is that’s a far safer environment, for example, than being in a pub. Being in a stadium itself isn’t an environment that’s necessarily a bad one. The issue is getting people in and out, and creating a lot of extra journeys across the country. So there’s a lot to be worked through, not just in terms of capacity but where do people come from and how do you handle it.

“So we would love to get fans back as soon as we can. We’d obviously love to get full stadiums as soon as we can. But we’ll work with whatever the government can come up with. What I’d say is that we’re starting to have the conversations which in itself is positive.”

That schedule could create havoc for Premier League clubs, especially those who go far in Europe, but there is currently a spirit of compromise.

Southgate is set to take charge of eight games before the end of the year (Getty)

Bullingham said: “One of the things that’s happened really well during the pandemic is the workings between ourselves the EFL and Premier League. We speak twice a week and we’ve managed to work well together to get this season away.

“It’s going to be a compressed season next season we’ve got a lot of work to do on that. Clearly we want to work with the clubs and the leagues. But our starting point is that the international windows are where they are. They are important for us, important for the country and important for the players.”

Bullingham also pointed out that they are key to the grassroots funding, with that money never more needed than this year.

As regards the 2023 Champions League final moving back to Wembley for the stadium centenary, Bullingham said that was a possibility. The German federation would likely be open to it, given England backed their bid for Euro 2024.

“Yes, that’s a possibility,” admitted Bullingham. “What Uefa wanted to establish was that the Champions League was not going to take place in Istanbul this year and they agreed with everyone who is due to host finals so they’ll host them at some point in the future. We’ll continue to talk to Uefa and other hosts about what’s best for us and them and see where we get to on that.”