Premier League given green light to restart fixtures on June 17

PREMIER League football is set to return on June 17 after a two-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Aston Villa will play Sheffield United on that date, a Wednesday, while Manchester City take on Arsenal, the league announced following a shareholders’ meeting of the clubs yesterday.

Both are rearranged games, and will mean all 20 clubs have played 29 matches heading into the weekend of June 19-21, when the rest of the top flight will be in action. The restart is conditional on safety requirements being met.

The last Premier League match before the shutdown was Leicester versus Aston Villa on March 9, with all English professional football being suspended on March 13.

The clubs also agreed that all 92 matches would be broadcast live by the league’s partners – Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC

Sport and Amazon Prime.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “We have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday, June 17.

“But this date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority.

“Sadly, matches will have to take place without fans in stadiums, so we are pleased to have come up with a positive solution for supporters to be able to watch all the remaining 92 matches.

“The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters. It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home.

The news means the BBC will be televising Premier League matches live for the first time since the competition’s founding in 1992.