The Premier League restart is set to be delayed by a week as chiefs iron out concrete plans for the resumption of top-flight football in England

Premier League bosses are preparing to insert a series of “buffers” to ensure the season gets completed.

The 20 clubs will take the first major steps this week on Project Restart by voting for a return to training with the hope of the first games by June 19.

However, they are already bracing themselves for potential delays and problems along the way with enough time set aside in the timetable that they can overcome setbacks.

The hope is they can finish the Premier League by August to fall into line with UEFA’s masterplan to complete domestic seasons in time for the Champions League final to be played on August 29 as that has become the focal point as the end of the 2019/20 season.

And clubs could then get as little as THREE WEEKS before the 2020/21 season starts as the plan is to press on into next season to try and save the football calendar from falling too far behind.

The Premier League season is set to restart a week later than initially planned(Image: PA)
There is already an issue with the restart date as that is set to be pushed back from the original target of June 12 to June 19 on the back of the talks with club captains and Professional Footballers’ Association and the Premier League last week.


Premier League bosses also feel that if clubs go back to training this week that resuming training on May 18 does not give them enough time and they need a full pre-season, especially if the first tentative steps back are under strict protocols.


The first training guidelines means players work on their own, they turn up in their cars already changed into their kit and training ground buildings are shut and have as little as 75 minutes so it will take longer to get back into proper shape and be match fit.