The fixture computer has a near-mythical stature in football and conjures up images of a machine spitting out matches akin to the vidiprinter on a Saturday afternoon.
The reality is a little more mundane – and complex – with a whole host of issues to contend with.
So, how does it manage to schedule 380 games, involving 20 teams, and take into account so many variables?
The Premier League has provided a handy insight into how it all works.
When does the scheduling start?
The process starts at the beginning of a calendar year with EFL fixtures, international dates and European commitments taken into consideration.
The Premier League works with Atos to determine the match days available for league and FA Cup games with the 2025-26 campaign seeing 33 weekends and five midweek slots available.
The clubs are also consulted in advance to determine any specific dates they wish to play at home or away due to other events being staged at their home ground or work being done over the summer that may delay its availability.
Police forces are also included in the process to ensure teams in close proximity are not at home on the same day, thus creating staffing issues.
This season, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Fulham, Everton and Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, Newcastle United and Sunderland, are paired and alternate home and away fixtures.
📣 ANNOUNCE 2025/26 PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES 📣
— Premier League (@premierleague) June 18, 2025
Enter the computer…
Once the above data has been plugged into the computer, it sets to work.
There are four basic principles the computer tries to follow:
- In any five matches there should be a split of three home fixtures and two away; or two home fixtures and three away.
- A team will never have more than two home or away matches in a row and, wherever possible, teams will be home and away either side of FA Cup ties.
- A club will not start or finish the season with two home or two away matches for reasons of fairness. Around the Christmas period, if a team are at home on the first round of matches after Christmas Day they will be away on New Year’s Day or an equivalent date.
- The league also tries to maintain a Saturday home-away sequence throughout the season wherever possible.
