The English Premier League 2019/2020 season is set to restart on 17th June 2020, as teams agreed on midweek restart duo to some games at hand before the coronavirus pandemic.
The English Premier League restart on June 17th would see Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal taking on one another, before a full round of fixtures would then be played on the weekend of 19-21 June.
There are 92 matches still to play, and the first to take place will be those the four teams involved have in hand.
Clubs are still discussing the idea at a meeting which will conclude later on Thursday but it is understood all have agreed in principle at this stage.
The English Premier League was suspended on 13 March because of the pandemic and it will be 100 days after Leicester City’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on 9 March that competition will resume, with games now behind closed doors.
The current schedule that has been put forward to clubs will see the final round of fixtures played in the first weekend of August, with the FA Cup final following a week later.
Premier League squads have been training in small groups so far, limited to a maximum of five players, but it was agreed on Wednesday that the next phase can now be introduced with contact once again permitted. A statement from the Premier League confirmed:
‘Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to resume contact training, marking another step towards restarting the Premier League season, when safe to do so.
‘Squads are now able to train as a group and engage in tackling while minimising any unnecessary close contact.
‘The Premier League’s priority is the health and wellbeing of all participants. Strict medical protocols are in place to ensure the training ground is the safest environment possible and players and staff will continue to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week.
‘Stage Two of the Return to Training protocol has been agreed following consultation with clubs, players, managers, the PFA, LMA and the Government. Discussions are ongoing as work continues towards resuming the season, when conditions allow.’