The Premier League is to restart on Wednesday, June 17. Executives from the 20 top-flight clubs gathered for a shareholders’ meeting today, and agreement was reached over the remaining rounds of games to be played.

Two rearranged matches – Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal – will be played first, before the first full round of games on the weekend of June 20 and 21.

The openers are games in hand for these four clubs, which will take all 20 Premier League teams up to 29 fixtures for the season.  

Another game will be played on Friday June 19, with the first full round of fixtures will start the following day, with matches staggered across the weekend. 

Newcastle’s first scheduled game is at home to Sheffield United.

The Magpies stepped up training on Thursday as contact was allowed between players after phase two of Project Restart was given the green light on Wednesday.

The clubs also agreed that all 92 matches would be broadcast live by the league’s partners – Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon Prime.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “Today we have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday, June 17.

“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.”

He added: “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 and in consultation with all our stakeholders as we move towards resuming the 2019-20 season.”

New staggered kick-off times will be used for the remaining 92 matches.
Games on a Friday will kick off at 8pm, while on Saturday the slots will be 12.30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 8pm.

Sunday matches will kick off at either 12pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm, with Monday games starting at 8pm.

Midweek games on Tuesdays and Wednesday will kick off at either 6pm or 8pm.
Clubs voted unanimously on Wednesday on protocols for contact training, another step along the road to resumption.

Four individuals connected to three clubs tested positive for coronavirus in the league’s third round of testing, with 1,008 staff from Premier League clubs tested.

One of the players who was found to have Covid-19 in the first round of tests – Watford defender Adrian Mariappa – is back in training, with his club sharing footage of him returning to action.