In the end, the national sport decided on a unified response to unprecedented circumstances, with football matches from the Premier League and WSL all the way to grassroots level cancelled en masse this weekend following the passing of the country’s longest-reigning monarch.
There was no formal obligation from the Government’s official guidance, which left the decision “at the discretion of individual organisations” following a call on Friday morning. But after several individual leagues confirmed postponements, the Football Association (FA) announced that, as a collective, the sport would not play on as a mark of respect for Her Majesty the Queen who, it said, “left a lasting and indelible legacy on our national game”.
