Project Restart: Which leagues are returning and when?

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 10 June 2020

Ahead of top-flight football beginning to return around Europe, Sports Mole looks at when and where the major leagues are set to come back.

Elite-level football is slowly beginning to recover after the coronavirus pandemic, which brought most leagues to a halt in March.

Plans have been put in place for various leagues around Europe to return, but others have been cancelled already with various ways of deciding the final standings.

Here, Sports Mole rounds up which leagues are on their way back and when they will return.

Premier League

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp talk to each other during the match in January 2019 © Reuters

The Premier League will return on Wednesday, June 17 with Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United and Manchester City vs. Arsenal.

The first full gameweek of action then takes place that weekend, with the headline fixtures including Everton vs. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester United.

Championship

Leeds United's players celebrate Tyler Roberts' goal against Hull City on February 29, 2020 © Reuters

The Championship will return on the same weekend as the first full gameweek of Premier League action - June 20.

Fulham vs. Brentford will be the first game back - the lunchtime kickoff on the Saturday - before a full schedule over the rest of the weekend.

League One

Coventry City manager Mark Robins pictured on January 14, 2020 © Reuters

The League One season was cancelled on June 9 after clubs finally agreed to decide the table on a points-per-game basis.

Coventry City and Rotherham United have been promoted to the Championship, Oxford United, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town and Wycombe Wanderers will take part in the playoffs and Tranmere Rovers, Southend United and Bolton Wanderers have been relegated.

Peterborough United dropped out of the playoff places by 0.02 points due to the method of deciding the final standings.

League Two

Swindon Town manager Richie Wellens in November 2019 © Reuters

League Two has also been decided on a points-per-game basis, with Crewe Alexandra, Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle automatically promoted to League One.

Cheltenham Town, Exeter City, Colchester United and Northampton Town will compete in the playoffs, while Stevenage are set to be relegated out of the Football League - although that could change if Macclesfield Town are hit with a further points deduction.

La Liga

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their first goal on March 7, 2020 © Reuters

The Spanish top flight returns this Thursday - June 11 - with a Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis.

The action will resume with a two-point gap between Clasico rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund's Manuel Akanji in action with Schalke's Daniel Caligiuri in the Bundesliga on May 16, 2020 © Reuters

The Bundesliga paved the way for the rest of Europe's top divisions to return, having now been back in action for almost a month.

The German top flight returned on May 16 and now has just four gameweeks of the season remaining, with Bayern Munich two wins away from an eighth successive title.

Serie A

Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo reacts on February 2, 2020 © Reuters

Like the Championship, Italy's Serie A will return on June 20 with two matches - Torino vs. Parma and Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari.

Juventus once again lead the way at the top of the table, but they are only one point clear of surprise title challengers Lazio.

Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe pictured in February 2020 © Reuters

Ligue 1 took an early decision to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 season, with the final standings being decided on a points-per-game basis.

However, this has proved controversial and a French court has now suspended the automatic relegation of Amiens and Toulouse, while Lyon have also objected after dropping out of the European places.

Paris Saint-Germain were crowned champions while Ligue 2 sides Lorient and Lens were promoted, potentially resulting in a 22-team top flight next term.

Eredivisie

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag pictured on November 5, 2019 © Reuters

The Dutch top flight took an alternative path by declaring the 2019-20 season null and void in April, although the standings as they were stood for European spots.

No champions were declared and there will be no promotion or relegation, but Ajax and AZ will be in the Champions League next season while Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and Willem II will take part in the Europa League.