Welcome to a new season like no other in history. We might have missed the World Cup this summer, but that only means it’s all to look forward to in a delicious football feast ahead. Appetisers include some star arrivals, EFL madness and much more...
Words Chris Flanagan, Joe Brewin, Mark White, Ed McCambridge, Andrew Murray, Greg Lea
01 THE MOST UNIQUE SEASON... EVER
There have been 123 seasons in Football League history, stretching back to 1888. Not one of them had a whacking great World Cup in the middle of it... until now.
OK, so people weren’t exactly thrilled when the first ever winter World Cup was declared, after FIFA suddenly realised it was 40 degrees during Doha’s summer. Who knew? And let’s face it: we’ve missed having a World Cup this summer – June weekdays are actually quite barren without looking up what time Ecuador versus Senegal kicks off.
But the winter edition is on. Not only does that give us all something to look forward to, it also adds a genuine novelty factor to this domestic campaign – even if two years of COVID mean an interrupted season won’t be quite the shock it was once expected to be.
Who’ll profit most of all from the Premier League shutting down on November 13, eight days before the Qatar opener? While many exert themselves in the most important tournament of their lives, Mo Salah, Erling Haaland and others absent from this World Cup will be resting, ready to terrorise again when action resumes on Boxing Day, eight days after the final in Qatar. Might clubs with fewer players involved lower down benefit?
And that’s before you factor in the top sides playing six European group games by November 3: two seasons ago, a similarly condensed Champions League group phase had a knock-on effect in the Premier League, when Man City sat seventh in December.
The Scottish Premiership also stops on November 13, resuming on December 17; England’s Championship returns one week earlier, maybe with the odd player missing if their country has got as far as the World Cup quarter-finals. Lower down, there’s no break at all – will Jonny Williams make the Wales squad and miss a host of crucial League Two fixtures? Swindon wait nervously.
For the first time, though, fans can watch four televised World Cup matches a day and still go to their local team on a Saturday. Take your smartphone and keep an eye on Poland versus Saudi Arabia from the terraces.
Through to the Champions League final on June 10, thousands and thousands of hours of football lie ahead. Make the most of it – there won’t be another season like this one.
