Chelsea given green light for friendly games ahead of restart

Premier League teams have been given permission to hold friendlies ahead of the competition’s restart later this month, as long as they abide by rules laid out today by the competition’s organising body.

The Telegraph had the the full report on the news, and named all of the restrictions that would be put on clubs wanting to organise games in advance of the new season.

These are largely as you’d imagine – clubs can’t travel more than 90 minutes from their training ground (this shouldn’t be an issue for a London based club like Chelsea), players must travel on their own, games will be refereed by coaching staff rather than neutral refs, and so on.

These games could be played at the stadium or at the training ground, but given the state of the facilities at Cobham, it seems more likely to be the latter.

That will also allow Frank Lampard to try things out more secretly, with none of the other teams in the league knowing how he has set up in training.

 

“It could just add on a year or two at the end of my career” – Which English sportsman says the enforced break has done him a favour? Find out here.

 

Chelsea News