Alan Cawley reckons League of Ireland should restart in September and says live streaming wouldn't work

Former League of Ireland star Alan Cawley believes the league should not restart until September.

Paddy Power columnist and pundit Cawley reckons streaming games live behind-closed-doors will give critics 'more ammunition to run the league down'.

Cawley wrote: "Time is on our side when it comes to resuming the League of Ireland season.

"To me, this talk of getting football matches back as soon as possible, and having games behind closed doors, is a non-runner.

"It’s a totally different argument in England, because they’re three quarters of the way through their season – but we’re only five games in. So it’s not a case of like-for-like between us and the Premier League.

"In our case, I think the clubs would be happy to hold off until September, when everybody is in a much safer environment. "

Sligo Rovers and Finn Harps have raised concerns about the idea of games behind-closed-doors, with Premier Division clubs divided on the issue.

Mirror Sport reports today that clubs have been briefed on the possibility of using four regional hubs to host games.

The financial viability of such a plan for smaller clubs could be a major stumbling block, as well as the challenge of keeping players safe.

Cawley continued: "I miss it more than anybody. I know the FAI are trying to come up with different ideas to get things restarted – I’m not trying to pour cold water on that.

"There are just so many variables and too many question marks in restarting the season early, or behind closed doors.

"There’s talk of streaming the games live, but that won’t work either.

© INPHO/Tommy Dickson Shamrock Rovers have stated they hope to return to playing as soon as possible

"I know there is a phased plan now in place but, from a practical and safety point of view, I’m just not sure how we can carry this off.

"The majority of the grounds can’t cater for live streaming. Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, and Derry City are a few of the bigger ones pushing for it, but the smaller clubs are the complete opposite.

"I know Niall Quinn is trying to come up with new ideas, and that there’s an untapped market there. The problem is that most of the grounds won’t have the facilities to have three or four cameras.

"And if you have just one camera, in the middle of the pitch, the quality isn’t going to be great. People aren’t going to pay to watch that.

"There’s also talk that the clubs will want to be compensated if these games are streamed live, and that the compensation will have to come from FIFA or UEFA. I’m not so sure about that, either.

"It’s fine when RTE are showing one live game a week, but having a game streamed live on the other six nights? The quality just isn’t going to be good enough.

"And, by showing streams of poor quality, you’re giving people more ammunition to run the league down.

"I know the bigger clubs are pushing for this to happen, because they want to get back up and running and they probably could cater for it – but the likes of Sligo Rovers, who have better facilities than most, have said that they’re not playing behind closed doors. Finn Harps have said the same."

Cawley sees no reason to rush back while social distancing measures are still in place and hopes that matches can safely return in September.

He added: "When you get into the whole safety element of it, that’s another story. How are you going to do social distancing? How are you going to test all the players and get them onto the pitch?

"Playing a football match while maintaining social distancing, how’s that going to work? It’s just not feasible.

"The one advantage that the League Of Ireland has on every other country is that our season has only just started, we’ve only played five games.

"So I don’t see the rush in getting games back on when there’s still a major health and safety issue. We should wait until September. By that stage, the phased plan will hopefully be well and truly over, and we’ll be in a much better situation."