The Premier League clubs have spending weeks making preliminary arrangements for the Restart of the League campaign, including the reintroduction of contact training this week.
But it has now been given the official go ahead by the government that top level games can resume behind closed doors.
Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said on Sky: “The wait is over. I can now make it official: football is coming back.
“Live British sport will shortly be back on in safe and carefully controlled environments.
“This guidance provides the safe framework for sports to resume competitions behind closed doors. It is now up to individual sports to confirm they can meet these protocols and decide when it’s right for them to restart.
“This is a significant moment for British sport. By working with clinicians every step of the way, we are creating the safest possible environments for everyone involved.”
It was very fitting that this decision was taken on the same day that the report on the last round of COVID-19 testing showed that there was not one positive result in 1130 test carried out on EPL staff and players.
The Premier League chief executive Richard Masters was understandly happy that all the governing body’s plans were now coming to fruition: “The Premier League welcomes the Government’s announcement today.” he said.
“We have provisionally planned to restart the Premier League on 17 June, but there is still much work to be done to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
“This includes consulting with our clubs, players and managers – along with all our other stakeholders – as the health and welfare of our participants and supporters is our priority.
“If all goes well, we will be thrilled to resume the 2019-20 season in just over two weeks’ time.”
So it looks like football is coming back, and a lot sooner than any of us imagined it would. And if we can continue with zero postive tests amongst the participants, perhaps we will all feel a little safer about the health of the players…
And we face Man City away. Any chance of us getting 3 points from the match?