Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THREE STEPS TO FOOTBALL HEAVEN
Premier League plan ticks off first stage and is confident next two will be agreed to fix a restart date of JUNE 19
WE might finally get a date to put in the diary.
Three key meetings will take place this week with the hope that the Premier League can get the green light to restart on June 19.
Players, managers and clubs will all be consulted in a crunch week but the general feeling is that English football’s top flight will follow Germany, Italy and Spain on the road to recovery.
The Premier League had a three-step plan for a return in June. With the first hurdle already passed, it’s likely the next two will be overcome with little opposition.
Players and managers will hold a meeting with the Premier League and representatives from the PFA and LMA today.
They will be sounded out about phase two of training – which will see players begin contact training from as early as Thursday – following assurances from medical experts.
Players have already seen the German Bundesliga resume without a hitch and hopes are high of a similarly straightforward resumption here.
There was a key conference call last Friday which included Premier League officials, the PFA, medical expert Professor Jonathan Van-tam, Watford captain Troy Deeney, who is against a resumption, and ex-england striker Ian Wright. All were briefed on potential risk to BAME players.
It is understood Professor Van-tam – who spoke at a players’ meeting two weeks ago – tried to give assurances that the risk for young, fit black players was low, even if it was higher than for white players. Government experts believe it is significantly higher for BAME members of society on a socio-economic level but for super-fit footballers the risk is 0.04 per cent for black players compared to 0.02 for white players.
Now most players want to return. They have seen the Bundesliga resumption go to plan and now they are ready to follow suit. One club source said: “They have seen it work in Germany and now believe it can happen here.”
The players and managers may still push for a later restart date as many would prefer June 26 but Premier League bosses – who have publicly stuck to June 12 – do not want to delay much further and want to get going. The compromise may be June 19.
Tomorrow the Premier League’s 20 clubs will get together again in a much brighter, more positive frame of mind and are expected to vote through a return to phase two of training.
Even the doubters are understood to be on board and the vote could be unanimous, which would be a huge boost for the
Premier League.
Thursday’s Premier League meeting will then discuss a date for the return, something every football fan will look forward to. They will then at long last be able to discuss the fixture schedule, TV dates and also tackle the question of what happens if the season gets curtailed.
But the mood is upbeat this week as the worst of the crisis appears to be over.
At long last football is on the way back.