Bournemouth vs Luton Town was abandoned on Saturday when Luton defender Tom Lockyer collapsed in the centre circle during the second half of the game, just months after something similar had happened to him during last season’s Championship play-off final.
Following the scary incident, Lockyer was attended to by paramedics and staff, when the score was 1-1 with the clock paused at 65 minutes. The defender was removed from the field of play on a stretcher surrounded by the medical team, and there was a standing ovation from the crowd. He was rushed to hospital but a Luton statement later confirmed that he was in a stable condition and the following day said that he was awaiting test and scan results to determine next steps.
The match was abandoned, as confirmed by the Premier League, who released a statement reading: “The Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town FC has been abandoned due to a player medical incident. Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer and all players involved in today’s match.”
In Luton’s statement, they said that the players from both teams “were in no state of mind to continue with the game” after seeing Lockyer collapse and a follow-up post confirmed that he had suffered a cardiac arrest but was now “stable” in hospital.
Once it is hopefully confirmed that Lockyer is fully on the mend, thoughts will turn to the outcome of the match itself and its impact on the Premier League table. Here’s everything you need to know about what will happen next:
When was Bournemouth vs Luton abandoned?
Lockyer collapsed in the centre circle just before the hour mark at the Vitality Stadium and the clock eventually paused at 65 minutes as he received treatment. About 20 minutes after the initial suspension, the game was officially abandoned, as confirmed by a Premier League statement.
What was the score at the time?
At the time of Lockyer’s collapse, the score was 1-1. Luton had taken an early lead through Elijah Adebayo but in-form Bournemouth equalised on 58 minutes as Dominic Solanke found the net. The final 30 minutes or so were unable to be played due to the medical incident.
Will the match be replayed?
In short, yes. The laws of the game, as posted on the FA website, say that: “An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers determine otherwise.”
The result as it was won’t stand and, given that we are not even at the halfway point of the Premier League season yet, there is plenty of time to squeeze in a replay. There needs to be a result from the match to ensure that all Premier League teams play an equal 38 games across the season.
Will the score be 1-1 or will the match restart?
This is a good question and the Premier League are yet to confirm either way, although they are likely to release a statement in the coming days. In all likelihood though, the match will be restarted at 0-0 and they’ll play a full 90 minutes.
The FA rules suggest as such, saying: “In the event of a competition match not being played or abandoned owing to causes over which neither club has control, it should be played in its entirety on a date to be mutually agreed by the two clubs and approved by the competition. Failing such agreement and notification to the competition within [ ] days the competition shall have the power to order the match to be played on or before a given date.”
It is obviously in Bournemouth and Luton’s interests to get the game replayed and they will liaise with the Premier League over a suitable date.
When will the replay be?
Again, we don’t know yet but there are a few possible free midweeks where the match could slide in. Luton and Bournemouth’s playing schedules aren’t as packed as some teams’ given that they aren’t in European competition.
In theory, they could replay the game this midweek (either Tuesday or Wednesday) as both teams are already out of the Carabao Cup, so don’t have a quarter-final to play. That date may be too soon from a logistical point of view, however.
If so, we will have to wait until January to see the replay, given the packed schedule over the festive period. The midweek of January 9/10 is currently free for both sides, as they won’t have a Carabao Cup semi-final to worry about, as is the January 16/17 midweek – providing neither team needs an FA Cup third-round replay. The January 23/24 midweek is also free, as are most midweeks in February or – if both sides crash out in the FA Cup third round – then the fourth-round weekend of January 27/28 would also be freed up, although we won’t know if that’s the case until they have played their third-round fixtures on the first weekend in January.
