Will Bournemouth vs Luton game be replayed following Tom Lockyer’s collapse?

Tom Lockyer, a defender for Luton Town, went into cardiac arrest during the Hatters’ Premier League match against Bournemouth on Saturday. The 29-year-old collapsed in the center circle midway through the second half, with the score level at 1-1.

Lockyer was taken to the hospital after receiving extensive treatment from members of both medical teams. According to reports, he was awake when he was carried off the field of play on a stretcher.

It comes just over a year after Lockyer collapsed on the field during the Championship play-off final. Lockyer underwent heart surgery following the incident and was cleared to play following Luton Town’s promotion to the Premier League.

According to reports, the center-back is recovering in hospital and is responsive. Everything you need to know about what happens next is right here.

When was the Bournemouth vs. Luton game called off?

Lockyer collapsed in the middle of the Vitality Stadium pitch shortly after the hour mark. The clock was then stopped at 65 minutes, and the game was called off 20 minutes later because neither team wanted to continue.

Luton had taken the lead early on through Elijah Adebayo, but Bournemouth equalized through Dominic Solanke. The match was abandoned after the final 30 minutes by referee Simon Hooper.

Luton later confirmed that both sets of players and staff agreed that they were in no condition to continue the game after witnessing their colleague being rushed to hospital under extremely serious circumstances.

Will the game be rescheduled?

If a football match is abandoned at any point during the game, it is replayed in its entirety in England. There is little precedent in this country for matches to be replayed from the minute of the abandonment and with the same scoreline.

It means Bournemouth will play Luton Town in a 90-minute match with the 1-1 scoreline reversed. The Premier League maintains that its priority is Lockyer’s health, but the rules on replayed games are clear, and the conditions of the match at the time of the incident are extremely unlikely to be maintained.

According to the Football Association’s rule book, “an abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or the organisers determine otherwise.”

According to Premier League rule L15, any match abandoned with the consent of the referee will be replayed.

To complete the Premier League table at the end of the season, all 20 Premier League clubs must have results from their 38 matches.

When will the game be rescheduled?

Because neither club is in European competition, rescheduling the game is made slightly easier. The Premier League and both clubs have several midweek options available to them.

Given the sensitivity of the situation and its proximity to the busy Christmas schedule, we may see a replay early in the New Year. The league’s board has the authority to change the date and time of a replayed game.

What did Luton say?

“Our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatters captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher,” Luton said on social media platform X. He received additional treatment inside the stadium, for which we thank both sides’ medical teams once more.

“Tom was transferred to hospital, where we can reassure supporters that he is stable and currently undergoing further tests with his family at his bedside.”

“We thank Bournemouth and the medical staff on both sides for their immediate response, which was absolutely incredible,” they added.

“We are sorry to all supporters present that players from both sides were in no state of mind to continue with the game after seeing their much-loved team-mate and friend taken off like that, and staff could not carry on with managing the game in such circumstances having had to deal with the situation.”