Sheffield United could receive the green light to play at Bramall Lane

The development appears to remove one of the biggest obstacles facing ‘Project Restart’ - the Premier League’s plan to resume competition next month after suspending its fixture calendar in March.

With a number of sides expressing their opposition to abandoning the ‘home and away’ formula during Monday’s summit meeting between representatives of the country’s leading 20 teams, the issue was raised again when senior footballing figures met with government officials and their police counterparts yesterday.

South Yorkshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts - the most senior football police officer in England - had previously told those arguing against neutral venues to “get a grip”. But he used a statement, published following the latest series of talks, to outline a subtle change of position.

“Following a positive meeting between police, government and football...we will be jointly exploring a range of options to identify a way forward, which minimised any risks to public safety and unnecessary pressure on public services, but facilitates a sensible restart to the season, to support the economic and morale benefits associated with the sport,” DCC Roberts said.

With Germany’s Bundesliga and South Korea’s K League both preserving the ‘home and away’ principle after unveiling their own restart projects, the rebellion against neutral venues gathered pace earlier this week despite a warning from the League Managers Association’s chief executive Richard Bevan that “time is not on our side.”

Now, following a softening of DCC Roberts’ stance, it seems as if the issue of whether individual stadiums can now be licenced to stage games will be a matter for local police authorities, with clubs being asked to demonstrate they can provide adequate stewarding to ensure supporters do not gather outside while matches take place behind closed doors.