The Premier League is football’s most glamorous league with everything in-between. It runs from August to May every season and is one of the most anticipated events every time.
Twenty teams play every season since 1993 in the top flight with four getting relegated and another four teams getting promoted into the top flight.
Hence, all stakeholders, fans, players, officials and teams look forward to their big trips in the league, Old Trafford, Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Anfield and a host of others.
So with 20 teams to play 38 games each in a season, how does the Premier League reach the fixtures settings?
How English Premier League Fixtures Are Decided And Compiled
As expected, it’s not an easy task but it’s one that a man does, his name is Glenn Thompson, he’s a veteran compiler who started in that role in 1992 and has collated over 60,000 games and also 2036 matches every year that cuts across the top four division in England.
When does the work on the next season’s fixture list start?
Glenn Thompson revealed that the work starts at the beginning of the year when he gets the dates from the Premier League.
He said that the international dates from the World governing body of the game FIFA are considered when building up the fixtures, the considerations are also placed on UEFA club competitions and then the English FA adds its date for the FA cup.
Then the available dates are used for the League fixtures and then the League Cup.
Sequencing
Sequencing is a big part of compiling league fixtures and it’s the methodology where the season is segmented into sets.
The season is usually broken down into five sets and these sets are reversed in the second part of the season.
Any Rules To Take Note Of?
The big rule is that in every five matches, it must be in three home games and two away matches or three away games and two home matches.
Furthermore, a club can’t play more than two games away consecutively and two games at home consecutively.
For FA Cup games, such a club will be home and away around an FA Cup fixture.
There are also efforts to ensure that a team doesn’t begin or end a season with two away or two home fixtures as it will be unfair to a team who finishes the season with two away games.
Christmas period is also put into consideration as if a club is at home on boxing day fixture, such team will be away on the New Year day fixture.
Do clubs from the same area play at home on the same day?
There is also some consideration about teams in the same area playing on the same day. Talk about Merseyside (Liverpool and Everton), Manchester (United and City), and London with its multiple teams.
What happens next?
When the season gets more loaded with fixtures, the Premier League will send forms to member clubs to fill three questions or requests which include asking if there are dates any team wishes not to be at home, Which club you want to pair with? And 3) Are there any teams you do not wish to play at home on Boxing Day?
Can all these requests be satisfied?
The Premier League use sequencing to understand which of the requests to be or that can be granted.
The league also asks clubs for the most important request if all can’t be granted but according to Glenn Thompson, 85% of request is granted every year.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
