Premier League clubs consider using corporate boxes as changing rooms to maintain social distancing

Premier League clubs have discussed players getting changed for matches in corporate boxes to maintain social distancing when football resumes next month.

Protocols around staging games during Project Restart were among the topics in meetings this week, with dressing-room space seen as one of the obstacles to overcome as players need to be two metres apart to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

With the 92 remaining matches being played behind closed doors, it may mean that extra facilities are needed at some stadiums. It is understood the dressing rooms at Norwich and Aston Villa are among the tightest for space.

Using other facilities in the stadium has been raised, including the empty hospitality boxes circling  stadiums which would allow room for a single player or a few players to change while sticking to distancing rules.

The Premier League is likely to look towards the success of Bundesliga football returning first during the Covid-19 pandemic, where teams have strict protocols to resume their season safety and are permitted to spend 30 to 40 minutes in the dressing at a time.

Teams are travelling to matches in several team buses to keep players apart and teams walk out of the tunnel separately, without shaking hands before the kick-off whistle.

Players in Germany are also using facilities around the ground to change, including academy changing rooms and spaces usually used on match-day under normal circumstances.

Bundesliga players are allowed to drive to matches without car-sharing, then while at the stadium they are not allowed communal meals. Starting players change first, followed by the substitutes.

Staff and replacements have been leaving gaps of seats between them in the dugout and sitting in the stands. Squads have been tested twice a week and have stayed in hotels in the days before matches, where players eat two metres apart and are not allowed into each others’ rooms.

Premier League players have been getting used to new preparations during the first phases of Project Restart where they have been back in training.

This has included changing into training kit at home, preparing their own training drinks and travelling to the training ground on their own. No dressing room access was granted in Step 1 and congregating in communal areas was forbidden.