Football fans have reacted with fury at the Premier League’s plan to resume the season behind closed doors in May, in an attempt to avoid losing out on £762million in television deal rebates.

Sportsmail exclusively revealed the extraordinary plan on Monday night, in which the Premier League are plotting an ambitious return on the first weekend of May, just over a month from now.

The country is currently in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is expected that there will not be any let-up in the coming weeks, leading to fans’ anger over the prospective plans.

Taking to Twitter, one said: ‘Ridiculous.. money above lives and the NHS,’ while another football fan noted: ‘Wealth before health.’

Along the same lines, one fan wrote ‘profits before people,’ while another advised the top flight to ensure their players are sticking to the self-isolation rules if they plan to return any time soon.

Picking out Jack Grealish as an example, after he flouted government guidelines to attend a late-night party at the weekend, the point was made that footballers would all have to test negative for the virus if they are to play, and reckless actions like the Aston Villa captain’s are not helping matters.

Another fan, speaking in response to Sportsmail’s story on Monday night, said: ‘The Premier League are strangling the joy out of the game year by year but this would just top things off, putting big money contracts ahead of anything else! #FootballsDead.’

The Premier League’s proposals will be discussed in detail on a conference call of the 20 clubs on Friday, and would need to be endorsed by the Government, public health bodies and the PFA before proceeding.

But they are seen as the best way to mitigate the financial losses and potential legal threats caused by the coronavirus shutdown.

The Premier League’s best-case scenario of a May resumption stems largely from their obligations to and financial reliance on broadcasters, who have a watertight £3billion-a-year deal which expires on July 31, with next season’s deal kicking in the following day.

It is understood that under the terms of the TV contracts the cut-off point to finish this season is July 16, and if the campaign is not completed by that date Sky Sports, BT Sport and the international rights-holders could demand rebates totalling as much as £762m.

The broadcasters are pushing the Premier League to provide clarity as soon as possible, as they are losing subscribers at a rapid rate and want to know when they can expect their schedules to return to normal.

During informal talks between club executives over the last few days, July 12 has emerged as the optimum finish date, and a restart at the beginning of May would build in the potential for more down-time if individual clubs are hit by more cases of the virus.