How could the coronation of King Charles III affect English football matches?

The date for the coronation of King Charles III, and the Queen Consort, Camilla, was officially announced by Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The monarch will be 74 when the coronation takes place. As per the BBC, royal sources have indicated that the ceremony will be "shorter, more diverse and with a much smaller number of guests" compared to the near three-hour coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

It will take place on a Saturday, with no official confirmation yet of whether the coronation will be a bank holiday. Sky News claim that the coronation will likely take place in the morning.

In the sporting world, there have been doubts from fans over the status of English football matches on the day of the coronation of King Charles III. But when is the coronation, where will it take place, and how could it affect football in England?

King Charles III coronation: When is it?

The coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023, Buckingham Palace have confirmed.

He became King on September 8, meaning he will have been in the role for nearly eight months by that time.

King Charles III coronation: Where will it take place?

As is tradition, the coronation will take place in London's Westminster Abbey, as it has done for over 900 years. The BBC say the current capacity of the Abbey is 2,200 guests, with that figure the maximum number of guests expected to be present.

How could English football matches be affected by the coronation?

Sport could again stop for the weekend of May 6/7, as it did following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

There is currently a full programme of Premier League and EFL action scheduled for the day of the coronation of King Charles III, but this does not yet take into account the planned TV schedules this far in advance, so these dates are not confirmed.

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Given the fixture backlog due to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Premier League officials, in particular, would have to think carefully about when to rearrange the games if they are postponed on that weekend.

The season ends on the weekend of May 29, with three midweek slots available between the coronation and the final day.

The Daily Mirror requested information from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) over possible postponements, but were told that they were yet to have discussions over possible guidance.

If the full schedule is not postponed, matches in London could still be in doubt over security reasons, with more police expected to be required around Westminster Abbey.

Fulham (versus Leicester), Tottenham (versus Crystal Palace) and West Ham (versus Manchester United) all have home games scheduled for May 6 at the time of writing.