It will take 300 people League game, including

FOOTBALL matches are close to coming back – but not as we know them.

The Premier League season will resume in less than two weeks in a bid to provide the nation with a much-needed boost following the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

But for all those involved in attending games again the landscape will look completely different, according to outline plans revealed by Premier League bosses.

All top-flight clubs have been sent suggested protocols that need to be put in place at stadiums when the competition returns.

Villa Park and the Etihad will be the first grounds to host games again from June 17.

The proposals are still subject to change and will be discussed at a Premier League board video conference call today.

All games will take place behind closed doors, with some being staged at neutral venues, and League officials are desperate to limit the number of people going to matches to a maximum of 300.

In a clear indication of how venues will look when matches start up again, it’s understood each club will be allowed a maximum of 20 players, which includes a playing squad of

18 with two on standby.

A dozen members of a club’s medical and coaching staff will be allowed into grounds.

The number of directors and executives will be limited to no more than 10 for each side, meaning some leading individuals will be forced to miss out.

It has also been proposed that teams of match officials will be made up of a referee, two assistants, a fourth official and one more sat in the stand. The officials will be stationed in a different part of the ground to the players.

Plans have been put forward for VAR staff to be based in separate rooms at their Stockley Park base.

It is understood almost a third of the 300 people allowed into venues will be made up of personnel from the host broadcasters. All 92 of the remaining topflight games will be screened live on various stations, in a bid to persuade supporters not to travel to stadiums in groups and break social distancing rules.

It means broadcasters such as Sky, BT Sport and Amazon will become more crucial and influential, leaving League chiefs with little option but to allow them to have a generous number of staff at matches.

Four doping control officers would be among the others permitted along with six opposition scouts, one from each of the next three sides those playing are set to face.

Two press officers from each club would also be present.

The proposals also outline plans pre and post-match press conferences.

Managers like Liverpool’s title-chasing Jurgen Klopp (left), along with chosen players, will give their thoughts via a video conferencing platform.

That will be made available to all media present, which will be a significantly reduced number compared to normal circumstances.

Under the ‘Matchday Operations Plan,’ stadiums would be split into three coloured zones of red, amber and green, all of which would allow different numbers of people inside them at any one time. for