A string of positive Covid tests in the Chelsea Women’s camp meant that last weekend’s scheduled London derby against Tottenham in the Women’s Super League was cancelled.
Several players were found to have the virus in the days after Benfica were defeated on Wednesday night last week at Kingsmeadow... a worry for both the Blues and the Portuguese club.
The affected players, who have not been named, have gone into isolation, but that runs into the three-week Christmas and New Year break that should have seen everyone in the squad return to their families.
Now the Tier 4 news, which covers all the players, complicates things further, and may mean some won’t be able to get home to see loved ones.
The news followed Chelsea being handed the toughest draw of all surviving teams in the Conti Cup quarter-finals... away to Man City on either 13 or 14 January.
The other ties are: Bristol City v Aston Villa, West Ham United v Durham and Crystal Palace v Leicester City.
Chelsea’s multi-national squad had planned to disperse to family homes around the UK, and fly away to Scandinavia, South Korea, Germany, Canada and Australia for the festive break, but everything is now in disarray.
West Ham Women’s match against Aston Villa, also due to be played on Sunday, was also been called off because of positive Covid results.
Chelsea Women are not due to get together again until Monday 4 January, to build up to the away game on Sunday January 10 against Reading.
That fixture’s viability will depend on a rigorous series of tests in the week leading up to the game, but the latest cancellation shows the predicament of the sport if any member of the players’ bubble contracts coronavirus.
Chelsea were anxious to stress that the men’s team had not been affected, despite shared use of some facilities at the Cobham training base.
Frank Lampard’s men got their act together on Monday night with a 3-0 win against West Ham which, after two defeats on the spin, restores them to fifth in the table.
Now there’s just the little matter of facing Arsenal on Boxing Day, and Lamps knows only too well how dangerous a wounded animal can be.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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