The 2,036-match Premier League 2025/26 schedule will be announced on Wednesday. The league pledged to allow at least 60 hours of relaxation between matches over the holidays and not play on Christmas Eve. Premier League said it takes approximately 18 months to prepare the calendar, including travel, policing, and team clashes.
League fixture planner Glenn Thompson said he gets the playing dates at the start of the year to finalize the program. He added that computers are employed after determining division makeup.
“For me it is at the start of the year when I get the playing dates from the Premier League,” he stated.
We start with the computer after the last Football League playoff, when we know each division’s composition. Our matching matrix determines each club’s home dates “added.
He added that the algorithm mixes randomly to arrange matches based on home and away clubs.
“For every date in the season, the fixture computer knows which clubs are at home and who are away and then it will mix them up randomly to determine the matches,” he said.
Thompson then stressed that they cannot please everyone and that all teams will compromise.
“You can’t please everyone. It’s a compromise for all clubs—you can’t favor one.
“There are 2,036 matches across the Premier League and Football League over a nine-month period, and the ideal solution is to ensure that those matches can all be played when scheduled.”
