It’s been a long time coming, but Premier League football will finally return on 17th June with Sheffield United facing Aston Villa at Villa Park in a German Bundesliga style return to football.
For supporters, there is very little to cheer about, with the exception that games can finally be completed, with matches forced to be played behind closed doors, as reported on the Yorkshire Live website.
The Telegraph also claims that, in a meeting today, it has been agreed that the 2019/20 season will resume on 17th June, which would make it the latest a season has ever finished. The German Bundesliga has resumed to action in the last week or so, with fans excluded from the stadium, giving players a rather surreal experience, especially when they celebrate whilst also maintaining social distancing.
Whilst the Premier League, and most likely SkyBet Championship is set to resume and finish off their season, the remainder of the Football League, in League’s One and Two have had their season’s abandoned, with a points average system deterring final positions, and thus, still maintaining a promotion and relegation system.
Currently, only two fixtures have been named, with Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United and current Premier League Champions Manchester City hosting Arsenal. These two fixtures were originally postponed back in late February 2020, when both City and Villa reached the League Cup Final.
COVID-19 had temporarily ended the season, and there is still no guarantee that the season will still be finalised with the completion of the 38 games played by each team. But the fact that these games’ are scheduled gives a positive sign that the season might be completed in earnest, even if there will be no supporters in the stadium.