It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for!
The Premier League’s Project Restart has been given the go-ahead by all of the clubs involved, and so the season will resume on June 17 with the two outstanding games needed to bring every team up to 29 fixtures played: Manchester City vs Arsenal and Aston Villa vs Sheffield United.
Then, the remaining 90 matches will be played behind closed doors in a hectic summer of football starting on the weekend of June 19-21, with staggered start times and the possibility to play every day of the week where required.
Here’s the proposed make-up of the ‘football week’:
| Day | Game Times |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Friday | 20:00 |
Based upon the above, the season would come to an end on Saturday July 25. It is assumed – as yet confirmed – that if the campaign is completed, then relegation will be upheld, and the bottom three will be demoted to the second tier as normal.
The Championship is currently in its own talks for a formal resumption, with a start date of June 20 mooted, and the clearest sign that the campaign will resume was Luton Town’s announcement of Nathan Jones return as manager – the Hatters are in a relegation dogfight of their own. Meanwhile, Leeds United and West Brom are closing in on a top flight return.
There are revised dates being discussed for the FA Cup quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, and these are likely to be announced in the coming days.
And thirdly, it has also now been confirmed that the Champions League and Europa League will return in August. Manchester City and United, Chelsea, Wolves and Rangers are all set to play their respective ties between August 6-8, according to plans set out by UEFA.
All of the above is subject to the government signing off on the safety aspect of the plan, and that the measurements of the current situation confirm that all is at a manageable level.
How Can I Watch the Premier League?
For the first time in three decades, BBC One will broadcast live Premier League games for free on the channel.
In addition to that package of four games, there will also be live editions of Match of the Day, and another set of four live fixtures will be shown on Amazon Prime – you can stream those free as well if you take advantage of the firm’s free trial offer.
Sky Sports will be showing the bulk of the Premier League games, and they have also announced they will make 25 of their fixtures free-to-air for anyone with a digital TV. That will include the Everton vs Liverpool game on the opening weekend, when the Reds can take a giant leap towards a first Premier League title.
BT Sport owns the rights to the rest of the package of games, but they are yet to confirm or not whether any of those will be shown for free to non-subscribers or not.