Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Prem kicks off again
From famine to feast! 100 days without Premier League football will end on June 17 when top-flight returns with 92 games in 39 days
STRAP yourselves in for 92 games in 39 days. The Premier League will start again on Wednesday, June 17, and will finish less than six weeks later on Sunday, July 26. The FA Cup final is scheduled to be played, behind closed doors at Wembley, on Saturday, August 1 as the final game of the season.
From having no football for three months, we are suddenly treated to a bonanza with all remaining 92 Premier League games to be shown live on TV.
Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon and the BBC will share the games, with the BBC showing four live fixtures in what will be a Premier League first for terrestrial television.
Sky also announced they will show 64 games – making 25 free to air – as the Premier League confirmed a TV schedule that means viewers will not miss a kick.
There will be a game on a Friday night, Monday night, and four each on Saturdays – at 12:30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 8pm – and Sundays at 12pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm, plus double-headers on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 6pm and 8pm, as revealed in Mirror Sport.
The details of the push to get the season finished were thrashed out in a five-hour meeting of the 20 clubs but even then it went into extra time. Clubs are not happy about the prospect of having to play games at neutral venues, with Liverpool potentially having to face Everton in Manchester. The Premier League leaders may have to play away from Anfield until they clinch the title, and London derbies could also be moved. But the TV bonanza suggests that clubs were keen to appease the TV companies who are demanding a £340million refund even with the season going ahead because they say the
games are no longer what they signed up for.
Half the rebate (£170m) will be paid by the end of July, with the bigger clubs paying a greater share as they get more TV games and cash. The rest of it will be spread over the next two years, with the clubs hopeful it will be swallowed up by a promise of more live TV games.
Mirror Sport understands the clubs were lavish in their praise for Sky for being flexible.
Sky’s director of strategy Jonathan Licht is understood to have been the driving force behind the compromise and scheduling. Sky showing the Merseyside derby free to air will surely strengthen the argument for allowing it to be played, as originally scheduled, at Everton's Goodison Park.
It is understood that the clubs were unanimous about finishing the season and the mood was constructive.
Having seen the Bundesliga return with no obvious problems, clubs were happy to set a date for resumption – June 17 – after initially wanting more time to train and prepare.
They also discussed the dreaded prospect of the season finishing prematurely (should the pandemic worsen) and have decided that the table will be decided on unweighted points per game if they cannot finish.
The fact that the Premier League have tried to get the two outstanding fixtures – Pep Guardiola (left) and Manchester City v Arsenal and Aston Villa v Sheffield United – out of the way first shows that it is still a threat.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “We have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday, 17 June.
“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.
“We will continue to work step by step with all our stakeholders as we move towards resuming the season.”