Return of Premier League will lift the nation’s spirits, believes Sheffield United’s Enda Stevens

The Premier League’s Project Restart is working towards the top flight campaign resuming behind closed doors in June.

But a start date of June 12 is reportedly at risk after managers and player representatives expressed doubts about the viability of the planned resumption date at a video conference call.

Concerns over player fitness levels were cited as the major factor in the questioning of that particular date, although the overall tone of the meeting with Premier League medical advisor Mark Gillett was said to be positive.

A collective desire for football to return to action when it is deemed as safe to do were expressed by all parties, with TV rights holders Sky Sports and BT Sport also working towards a resumption next month.

Stevens said: “It will give a lot of people a boost.

“It is an entertainment business for people sitting at home and whatever way they can do it, it will probably keep people locked down and away from socialising outside. It is something which can really boost the communities and the cities at this bad time.

“Financially, of course, it is big business and clubs are losing money every week and need to build that back up and we need that normality sense back if we can.”

Meanwhile, Stevens’s team-mate and fellow Republic of Ireland international John Egan says that Blades players have no fears about football returning to action in the summer and have full confidence in the health and safety protocols put in place by the Premier League.

The centre-half, back in socially-distanced training with his Blades colleagues, said: “We want to be back playing games. It is our bread and butter and our job.

“Obviously, it is got to be safe to do that, but the Premier League will have specialists in every area to get the best advice they can.

“Once they have a plan and it is the safest way to do, we have just got to trust them.

“The general consensus is that we are ready to finish the league and we have a team who have trained really well while this has gone on and have the hunger to go back (playing) when it is safe to do so.”

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor