Premier League clubs unanimously agree to return to training

Premier League clubs voted unanimously on Monday to begin “small group training” on Tuesday, thus getting Step One of Project Restart underway.

The timeline of said project now calls for two weeks of socially distanced training, which is then set to be followed by three weeks of full contact training before matches would resume on June 19. Testing will be conducted throughout, starting tomorrow morning if not earlier already.

As good as that news is, it’s even better that there was unanimous agreement, especially after the last several weeks of internal strife being reported across the media. And while there are plenty of issues still left to resolve and protocols to create, the league at least appear to be moving forward as a collective unit.

Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to return to small-group training from tomorrow afternoon, the first step towards restarting the Premier League, when safe to do so.

Step One of the Return to Training Protocol enables squads to train while maintaining social distancing. Contact training is not yet permitted.

This first stage has been agreed in consultation with players, managers, Premier League club doctors, independent experts and the Government.

Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible.

The health and wellbeing of all participants is the Premier League’s priority, and the safe return to training is a step-by-step process.

Full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as protocols for full-contact training are developed.

-Premier League