Premier League Fixture Planning

Forget the joys of summer; for fans around the world, the completion of the English Premier League fixture planning process means just one thing – the dawn of the new soccer season.

Optimism runs deep amongst supporters as all eyes turn to the new fixture list, but the age-old questions then begin.

Suddenly, barbeque-side chats have new meaning, and online fan forums go into meltdown as the idle chat during the summertime lull is replaced by animated conversations about who is playing who on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day which is a holiday in the UK), what’s the best opening day parlay with the best soccer betting sites and which team has the easiest run-in at the end of the season?

While some fans begin to celebrate and others bemoan their luck, the Premier League’s fixture-list compiler Glenn Thompson – arguably the man behind the magic – perhaps breathes a sigh of relief.

That’s because Thompson, who heads up a team at international IT services company Atos, has, for the last 30 seasons, been charged with leading England’s league fixture scheduling.

Every year – after a lot of number crunching and some negotiation – the Premier League fixtures for the upcoming season are announced.

It sounds like a great job… but it’s harder than you might think.

After all, it involves the Premier League working in conjunction with The Football Association (FA) to coordinate the schedules of all 72 clubs in the top four tiers of English soccer.

While many believe they are simply computer-generated results, we’ll investigate the complex nature of how Thompson achieves this feat and the degree of difficulty he faces as the Premier League schedule planner.

Sequencing the Premier League Fixture Computer

Remarkably, prior to 1982, game scheduling for the entire season’s soccer fixture list was entirely compiled using pen and paper.

Since then, the Premier League and the FA have relied on computer assistance in all phases of the process. A set of golden rules for fixture scheduling ensures that match sequences are replicated throughout the leagues.

The first of which relies on creating a sequencing method for every club in the top four divisions of English soccer: the Premier League, the Championship, League 1 and League 2.

So, even newly-promoted stars of Welcome to Wrexham down in League 1 can have their fixtures impacted by the biggest clubs in the Premier League and vice versa.

The sequencing rule ensures the following:

These considerations are crucial for everyone involved in soccer, from the top clubs in the Premier League, done to fans wanting to know how to bet on soccer.

Apply all those sequencing rules to over 2,000 matches. You see why things can get messy.

Premier League Scheduling Rules

As if the sequencing rules were not complicated enough when coordinating the 2,036 matches, Thompson and his team must also allocate fixture dates around several complex external ruling factors.

The first of which is to extract the dates allocated for international breaks and European club competitions during the upcoming season.

Typically identified as early as January, international matches are held during September, October, November, and March throughout the season, during which no Premier League fixtures take place.

Then, the UEFA Champions League and Europa League dates are added to ensure the teams involved have a suitable enough break between league and European fixtures.

Once these dates have been extracted from the potential Premier League schedule, the headache of geographical logistics comes to the fore.

However, this preference isn’t always feasible, as teams like Newcastle, who are based in the far North East of the country, most matches will involve lengthy match day travel.

Still, perhaps the most complex issue facing Thompson and the Premier League is ensuring there will not be any geographical conflicts.

Not only is it unwise to have two local teams playing at home on the same day, but a high degree of forethought must also be applied to ensure there are no pinch points on transportation networks.

Here, while it’s impossible to prevent entirely, the fixture lists and kickoff times also attempt to ensure rival fans traveling across the country cross paths as infrequently as possible.

Additional Factors for Consideration

After all that, you might think that was the end of the process, but it’s not.

The next stage is to consult with the Football Supporters’ Association and other stakeholders for their opinions before sending the Premier League fixtures accompanied by a fixture questionnaire to the soccer clubs themselves.

By coordinating with the local police, clubs then identify home fixture dates they would prefer to avoid and, in certain instances, specify teams they wish to avoid playing on certain days.

Additionally, to avoid potential conflict with non-soccer-related events, such as marathons, boat races, and street carnivals, home fixtures may be switched to away games to help minimize congestion or transportation issues.

As the match scheduling team edges closer to completing the season’s fixture lists, final tweaks are made in conjunction with broadcasting schedules, often resulting in last-minute changes to match dates and kickoff times.

All those games you see when you’re looking to bet on soccer on a Saturday aren’t entirely random. A lot of time and effort has gone in scheduling them to keep things fair for players, clubs and fans.

How Long Does Premier League Fixture Planning Take?

All in all, the entire process takes approximately six months.

Beginning in January, the calculations and adjustments to the Premier League season fixture list are compiled, and the final schedule is released in June ahead of the season kickoff in August.

While factors such as promotions and relegations aren’t finalized until the end of the season in May, the structure is in place to begin allocating dates to matches.

Nevertheless, the workload of Thompson and the Premier League is conceivably at its most hectic between May and the fixture list release, as changing just one fixture can result in the required changing of up to 40 other matches to adhere to the rules.

All’s Fair in Premier League Scheduling

Even as the season kicks off, the job of Premier League fixture planning is never quite over – ongoing adjustments take place as the season unfolds.

Cup replays and adverse weather conditions can cause matches to be rescheduled. When this happens, all the above considerations must be taken into account when finding time for an unexpected extra match.

So, while the consensus on the terraces might be that the Premier League fixture computer does it all, as you can see, there are myriad other factors to be considered.

While the dates and venues may be decided ahead of time, the only thing Thompson and the Premier League can’t manage is the degree of difficulty a club’s schedule might entail.

Tough starts and difficult run-ins are difficult to predict, but at least the scheduling sequencing is as fair as it can be.

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