When Hearts, Hibs and Edinburgh City could be back in action

The SPFL and Scottish FA will meet with the Scottish Government today to discuss the return of football which could see Hearts, Hibs and Edinburgh City return to action in August.

They will present plans for the 2020/21 season to begin on August 1 behind closed doors.

On Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon announced that sports such as tennis, bowls and golf can return as part of Phase 1 of the route out of lockdown.

Football is currently suspended until June 10, but it is hoped that by then the country has entered Phase 2 which would allow for the “resumption of professional sport in line with public health advice” and for teams to return to training with protocols in place.

The Scottish Government are receptive for football restarting once in Phase 2, report the BBC, and if the football bodies have a clear plan to manage a safe return.

The SPFL are keen for the season to get up and running at the start of August in conjunction with the start of the new five-year broadcasting deal with Sky Sports.

According to the Daily Mail, a detailed document will be handed over to Joe FitzPatrick, health and sports minister, and Jason Leitch, national clinical director, outlining a six to eight week plan for players to return to training.

In England, the Premier League have announced plans to restart their season in the middle of June with a target of finishing at the beginning of August. Players and staff have undergone regular testing for Covid-19.

Testing will form part of Scottish football’s plan to ease back into training ahead of the season starting.

The future of the Betfred Cup is up in the air with the competition scheduled to start in July, while this past campaign’s Scottish Cup is still to be completed.

At the same time, the issue of the league set-up is still being discussed with Hearts chief Ann Budge noting the need to find out which teams are capable of returning to action.

She said: “It might turn out to be 14-14-14 or 14-10-10, or even 14-12-0 depending on how much of the season teams can sign up to and under what circumstances. But, now we need to know that so we can move on and try to finalise this because this is not easy for any of us and we all need to make plans.”