SPFL 1 of 4 European League members to conclude season as 21 to resume

As many as 21 top-flights around Europe plan to resume the 2019/20 season

Scotland are just one of four European League members to have called an early finish to the season.

Of the 30 members, 21 nations have approved plans to return to action or are already playing.

Most notably the Bundesliga has already resumed, while the English Premier League plan to pick the 2019/20 campaign up from 17 June.

The SPFL terminated the Championship, League One and League Two on 15 April with Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers crowned champions respectively on a points per game basis. Partick Thistle and Stranraer were relegated.

The Premiership was concluded more than a month later after “clubs expressed their clear and unanimous view that there was no realistic prospect of completing the outstanding fixtures from Season 2019/20,” according to chief executive Neil Doncaster.

It saw Celtic win their ninth consecutive league title, while Hearts were relegated to the Championship.

Focus shifted somewhat to the 2020/21 campaign with the hope of getting it back up and running at the start of August when a new lucrative five-year broadcasting deal with Sky Sports will begin.

The Scottish Premiership is one of only four top-flights in the European League membership to finish the season early. Picture: SNS

At the same time, there are still discussions taking place regarding league reconstruction and whether teams can afford to begin the season behind closed doors.

While Scottish football looks forward, 21 European nations plan to resume their top-flight season, or have already started.

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine have all been approved or already approved for the 2019/20 season to be played to completion.

Scotland, along with France, Belgium and the Netherlands are the European League members to cancel their season.

Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Wales and Gibraltar have also gone against Uefa’s recommendation to extend the campaign to play it to a conclusion.

Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland, Latvia, Finland and Kazakhstan are yet to be determined.