The Earliest Date You Can Expect To Watch The Premier League Again

On Monday, the Premier League agreed to take the first step to restarting the Premier League by approving the start of training in small groups of up to 5 players. The motion to proceed required 14 votes out of 20 to pass but it was accepted unanimously.

Small sided training kicked off this morning (Tuesday) and required teams to maintain social distancing and avoiding contact with other players – essentially fitness training and small-group ball work. A cap of 75 minutes has been placed on each season and the BBC reported that the Premier League is looking to have independent audit teams conduct “no notice” inspections across the 20 Premier League teams.

Players are required to get changed into training gear at home and travel to training individually. The testing of players took place on Sunday and Monday and results are expected sometime on Tuesday. A week ago three Brighton players were the latest Premier League players to test positive for COVID-19.

If phase one is successful, teams will move to phase 2 which would include contact in larger groups. Phase 3 would be normal training while adhering to required medical protocols.

How long it will take to move to phase 3 and return players to an adequate level of fitness, we don’t know for sure. However, it was a little over 5 weeks from the time Bundesliga teams returned to training (April 6 was the earliest) to the first matches held on May 16.

Using the same timeline would see a return of Premier League fixtures on or around June 27. The return date that was initially floated was June 12 but that no longer looks practical.

The two Bundesliga divisions also had the advantage of a blueprint to work from that had been developed and announced by the end of March. The stakeholders in Germany quickly lined up behind the 50-page concept of operations document produced by the Sports Medicine / Special Match Operations Task Force .

However, the Premier League is operating in a country that was slow to react and to mobilize resources in the face of COVID-19. England’s peak excess deaths from the disease is the highest in all of Europe.

The Premier League statement made mention that full consultation will continue “with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as protocols for full-contact training are developed.” The fact that such protocols are not already in place and agreed to should be a cause for a concern and can only reinforce the view that rather than working from a plan, the Premier League is developing a master plan on the fly.

The Football Medicine and Performance Association (FMPA) was quick to respond to the Premier League’s return to training announcement. The Association comprises doctors, physiotherapists and sports therapists within football. A survey undertaken by the FMPA found that close to half of its respondents within the Premier League raised concerns regarding their roles and responsibilities when it came to training returning.

The last match played was on March 9 when Leicester beat Aston Villa 4-0 and teams have either 9 or 10 games left to complete the season.

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