The Premier League and Football Association have confirmed that a winter break will be introduced in the top flight of English football from the 2019-20 campaign.
Following years of talk, the mid-season hiatus will be implemented from the season after next in an attempt to bolster England's fortunes at major tournaments.
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.
"It has been talked about for years and there has not been the climate of collaboration there is now," FA chief executive Martin Glenn said. "It needed a strong FA to get it through, an FA that was financially in a better place and confident of its future revenue streams.
"I think you will see England players better rested for Euro 2020 and hopefully we will see that in their performance and continued improvement in the Champions League performance by English clubs.
"There are always traditionalists say you mustn't change but the FA Cup has changed lots over its life. It used to have a two-legged final, it used to have finals that went to replays, there has been lots of evolution and you have to move with the times. This seems to be a reasonable trade-off."
Winter breaks are already in existence in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.
Daniel Lewis
