PFA confirm Premier League close to clearing major restart hurdle

Protocols for a return to full-contact training will be voted on by shareholders at their meeting on Wednesday.

PFA confirm Premier League close to clearing major restart hurdle

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has confirmed that “open and constructive” talks have taken place between players and the Premier League as Project Restart builds more momentum.

Richard Garlick, the Premier League’s director of football, is believed to have held three rounds of meetings with managers, captains and club doctors on Tuesday.

The talks were held in a bid to address any concerns ahead of a vote on whether to implement phase two of Project Restart on Wednesday.

Clubs in top-flight voted unanimously last week in favour of a return to socially distanced training, phase one of Project Restart.

Players have since been allowed to work together, maintaining a two meter distance at all times, in groups of five for 75-minutes a session, and have also been tested for Covid-19 during the process.

Protocols for a return to full-contact training will be voted on by shareholders at their meeting on Wednesday.

And it now appears that players are now firmly behind the Premier League taking another step towards games returning next month.

“The talks were very good, open and constructive and the players were given answers to some deep, searching and good questions,” PFA chief Taylor told the Mirror.

“The Premier League have been very responsive on this from answering questions on the BAME issue to listening to the players and managers who are at the top of their profession. The respect has been there and it’s been hugely appreciated.”

The Mirror also claims that Premier League managers are behind the implementation of phase two, but would like the resumption of matches to be delayed to allow sides to conduct more training and fitness checks.

Premier League clubs will decide on Wednesday whether to give the green light to return to phase two of training.

While all 20 clubs will then meet again on Thursday when they hope to set a return date as well as discuss fixture and TV issues.