The Premier League announces the official fixture list for the 2025/26 season on Wednesday June 18 at 9am. Despite the 2024/25 season feeling like it just concluded, all 20 teams will soon discover
Liverpool reigned supreme in the Premier League, finishing a comfortable 10 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal. The relegation battle was equally clear-cut, with Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City dropping down to the Championship. Replacing them in the top flight are Sunderland, Burnley and Leeds United, who will be eager to fare better than those they've replaced. Upon the release of the fixture list, supporters often express frustration over what they perceive as an unfair start or end to the season. However, creating the fixture list is far from simple. Ahead of its release, Express Football provides an insight into how it's compiled, including three inviolable rules that affect every club.
Premier League officials state that crafting the fixture list takes up to six months. The task is undertaken by French IT firm Atos, whose headquarters is based just outside Paris. Numerous factors must be considered before the fixture list can be finalised.
A wealth of information influencing the sequence of matches is fed into their system, which then generates the match list. For instance, it must consider the dates of international matches as well as those of Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League encounters. The scheduling of lower league matches also needs to be taken into account.
In addition, factors such as policing capacity and geographical proximity of teams are considered to ensure public safety resources aren't overstretched. For instance, Liverpool and Everton are prohibited from playing home games on the same weekend due to the significant pressure it would place on police resources.
The same rule applies to Manchester United and Manchester City, but the regulations are more lenient for London teams due to the high number of clubs in the capital. Teams are also permitted to make special fixture requests in case of potential stadium clashes. For example, Old Trafford will host the Super League Grand Final on October 11, so United will likely have requested an away game that weekend.
Moreover, along with considering all the above factors, there are three strict rules for fixture scheduling. Firstly, over a span of five matches, a team must play two home games and three away, or vice versa.
Secondly, a club is not permitted to start or finish the season with two home or two away matches. In the 2023/24 season, Luton Town had to kick off their campaign with two consecutive away games as Kenilworth Road was still being refurbished to meet Premier League standards.
Thirdly, during the Boxing Day and New Year's Day fixtures, a team cannot play at home or away twice. Once all the background information has been entered, clubs are placed into a pairing grid, which determines when they will be playing at home or away. The system then randomly generates sets of fixtures.
These are manually checked by staff at Atos, as well as officials from the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL). If a problem arises, the process is repeated, thus producing a new set of fixtures. This will continue until a fixture list that meets all requirements and rules is approved.