Premier League return date set

Today the Premier League confirmed that a provisional date has been set for a return to football for all top flight clubs.

Wednesday the 17th June is the agreed date as long as safe working arrangement can be put in place for all players, staff and support workers. The first two games will be the postponed fixtures of Villa vs Sheffield United and Man City vs Arsenal.

Following that, and commencing on Friday 19th June, there will be a full programme of fixtures boy over weekends and during midweek. Kick-offs will be staggered so that every game will be televised between now and the end of the season:

Friday: 20:20

Saturday: 12:30; 15:00; 17:30; 20:00

Sunday: 12:00; 14:00; 16:30; 19:00

Monday: 20:00

Tuesday: 18:00; 20:00

Wednesday: 18:00; 20:00

Thursday: 18:00; 20:00

The move follows a stringent period of testing of players and staff, with the recent batch of testing showing just four positive results.

The was enough to convince all involved to press the go button on the plan that will see games played at home stadiums, with the proposal to host games at neutral venues scrapped.

As for broadcasting, there is coverage galore. Free games on the BBC (four) with another 25 free to view on Sky Sports. With all 92 remaining games covered the remainder of the games are spread across Sky, Amazon Prime and BT Sport.

A decision on the remaining FA Cup games will follow with Newcastle United’s quarter final against Manchester City likely to be played during June.