English Premier League clubs on Thursday agreed to restart the 2019/20 season on June 17, a move that has been widely expected since the deadly COVID-19 has shadowed the global sporting world.

It is a provisional restart date provided that all safety requirements are in place, the English top-flight said in a statement.

Two rearranged games of Aston Villa versus Sheffield United and Manchester City versus Arsenal are to take place on June 17, followed by a full match round beginning two days later.

Shareholders on Thursday also approved a proposal that would see all 92 remaining matches broadcast live in the country by the League's existing broadcast partners.

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

"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."

"It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home," he added.

'Football is back soon'

The Premier League has come a long way towards football's comeback.

The league was put on hold indefinitely four days after the last Premier League match - Leicester versus Aston Villa - was played on March 9 with 92 of its 380 fixtures left to play.

Since then, the English topflight has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation but no comprehensive plan for a season's resumption had been put forward until "Project Restart" was unveiled at the end of April by the league.

The plan, which targeted a June 9 restart date with an extension of the season no further than July 27, marks a momentous step for English football seeking a gradual return to some semblance of normalcy.

Training grounds of some clubs including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were opened ever since though only individual work were allowed.

On May 11, the UK government announced top-level sport in the country could restart behind closed doors from June 1 but spectators may not be able to attend venues until a coronavirus vaccine is found.

Following the road map for exiting the lockdown, the government issued phase-one guidance on May 13 on how elite athletes can safely return to training.

On May 19, the league's shareholders voted unanimously to return to small-group training starting the same day with strict inspection methods put in place to ensure clubs adhere to new safety guidance.

On May 25, the government released phase two of its guidance to allow for "close-contact" and "competitive" training, provided individual sports "have the appropriate carefully controlled medical conditions in place."

Two days later, all 20 clubs of the league unanimously agreed to resume contact training, a giant step toward the resumption of the 2019/20 season.

With the league's statement to provisionally restart the season on June 17, the light at the end of the tunnel can finally be seen.

England captain Harry Kane, who plays for Tottenham, tweeted: "Football is back soon."

(Cover image: Premier League ball during the Leicester City training session at Belvoir Drive Training Complex in Leicester, the United Kingdom, May 26, 2020. /VCG )