Have the PL given up on the idea of everybody jetting off around the world to play a neutral 39th game now then? Or will that be fitted in January in the break............after a couple of years so everybody has forgotten it is a break. Only 10 years ago they first proposed that one: 2 weeks in the middle of January eh? Hmmm:
Proposal
The Premier League, the top-level football league in England, contains 20 member clubs, with each playing the others once at home and once away for a total of 38 games per season. The proposal envisaged each team playing one further match, a total of ten extra matches, over one weekend in January.
Two matches would be played in each of five cities, one each on Saturday and Sunday. Cities would bid for the right to stage matches, but would not be able to specify which teams would be involved. The matches would be held at staggered start times, with venues in different , making it possible in theory to watch live television coverage of all ten. There are conflicting reports about whether the draw for the extra fixtures would be or not.
The week prior to the international round would be free of matches, to allow for travel and acclimatisation The week after the international round would see each team face one of the teams which had played at the same foreign venue, to avoid any disadvantage for teams with a longer round-trip. Possible venues suggested for international-round matches were Australia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Gulf States, and North America.
All are wealthy regions where interest in English football is strong relative to the level of the domestic game. Venues would have warm, predictable weather, unlike England in January.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore initially said there would not be more than one international round per season, stating "I stress that on my watch, there will be no 40th game. The value [of a 39th game] is in its uniqueness, in that festival weekend, so there's no point in diluting it". Subsequently, he suggested the initial plan would last six to ten years and might be altered.