Premier League to resume play, postpones more matches ahead of funeral for Queen Elizabeth II

The English Premier League announced on Friday that all of the weekend's fixtures were postponed and that it was essentially temporarily suspending the season following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

That decision was widely criticized by many within the football and sports community, and it also sparked fears that the Premier League wouldn't return to action before Oct. 1 at the earliest. Many of those concerns were squashed on Monday. 

As noted by an ESPN piece, the Premier League confirmed on Monday that games will resume Friday when Aston Villa take on Southampton and Nottingham Forest host Fulham. While contests will also occur on Saturday and Sunday, the Saturday match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, along with Chelsea-Liverpool and Manchester United-Leeds United clashes on Sunday, have been postponed due to a lack of adequate police forces linked with the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II scheduled for next Monday. 

"Following extensive consultation with clubs, police, local Safety Advisory Groups and other relevant authorities, there was no other option but to postpone the three fixtures," the Premier League explained in its statement. "The Premier League would like to thank the UK Football Policing Unit and other police forces across the country, as well as our broadcast partners, for their support during this process, and will continue to liaise with them ahead of the weekend."

The league added: "New dates for the postponed matches will be announced in due course."

Immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced, the United Kingdom entered a period of national mourning. While the government declared institutions such as the Premier League had "no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures," the English top-flight scrapped this past weekend's games "as a mark of respect."