Former Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler believes his old side have already won the Premier League and deserves to be crowned champions even if the season doesn't restart.
All Premier League fixtures were postponed until April 4 at the very earliest on Friday morning, as Premier League bosses met in London to discuss how they could stop the spread of coronavirus on such a rapid scale.
Premier League clubs will meet again on Thursday to discuss potential contingency plans should the league fail to restart in early April, with UEFA meeting on Tuesday to ponder what's next for European competition
Some from within the game have suggested that the season be voided which would mean that Liverpool would be denied the Premier League title, despite being just two wins away from securing it.
But while Fowler has expressed that nothing is more important than than the health and safety of people, he also believes that even the most bitter of rivals fans would not argue that, if the football season were to end now, the Reds shouldn’t be given the trophy as clear winners of the competition.
“I don’t think there’s a fan in the country who doesn’t recognise that Liverpool deserve to be champions, that they are effectively the Premier League winners already," he wrote in a column for the Sunday Mirror .
“And I don’t think there are many – even the most bitter of rivals fans – who would argue that, if the football season were to end now, they shouldn’t be given the trophy as clear winners of the competition. Yet winning the title in such circumstances would tarnish the triumph somehow. No doubt.
“I played through a large part of those 30 years when Liverpool were desperately trying to bring another league trophy home, so I know how much it means.”
He added: “For anyone arguing that Liverpool SHOULDN’T be champions, if the season isn’t completed, then look at their record. They’ve dropped five points all season. FIVE. Hell, I once scored 16 goals in a game for a schoolboy team I played in – got more than 100 goals in total if I remember correctly – and yet I’m pretty sure we dropped more than five points that season.
“They are the worthiest of champions. It’s the greatest season ever in top-flight English football history. They are record-breakers, and they are arguably the best team to have won the Premier League. And, yep, I’m saying they’ve won it."
While Fowler concluded: “I would hate to see an asterisk beside Liverpool’s title triumph in the record books – because it would tarnish it, even if it everyone knows they are worthy winners.
“But it’s not just Liverpool . Those teams fighting to be promoted want the chance to make it happen. Those teams scrapping against relegation want it to be completed too. I hope they get the chance. And I hope everyone reading this stays safe and looks after themselves and their families.”
