The Premier League and Football Association have announced that a winter break will be introduced in the top flight of English football from the 2019-20 campaign as confirmed by the Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn.

The break will be staggered across two weeks, meaning that five matches will be played on one weekend and the other five the following weekend.

As a result of the change to the Premier League calendar, FA Cup fifth-round matches will be played in midweek and replays scrapped entirely.

‘The hope is that players will be more mentally rested, which makes them fresher, which you will see in, from an England point of view, hopefully going into the end of season tournaments with a bit more verve and vim.

‘And, as importantly, the reason the EPL clubs are so keen on it is that in the Champions League knock-out stage, where we’ve not been great over the past few years, hopefully, that can help.’

The move brings the EPL in line with rival leagues in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy where they had had a long-standing tradition of a winter break.