Maybe not unexpected but the Telegraph today reports that as part of the tender document for TV rights for 2019-2022, the top 6 teams are kept apart on the opening weekend, the final matches and also on FA cup semi-final weekend for the 3 year period. Top 6 defined as highest average finishing position in PL over last 3 seasons Also no more than 2 games at a weekend can be scheduled for matches involving those 6 playing each other. Quelle surprise
The whole fixture list is a product of weeks work moving things around to take account of loads of factors. It's certainly not completely random and I don't think the league have ever really suggested it is.
Well, I’ve got the top 5 but am baffled by whom the sixth might be. Burnley? A Rooneyless Everton? WFC with the fearless Sssilva back at the helm?
I don't see the issue. How many of you are looking forward to Burnley v Brighton live on a Monday evening? I'd rather have something a little tastier to look forward to. Brings more money into TV packages which in turn filters down to us.
Yep, it's not rocket science. It's not different to TV stations - putting two flagship programs of similar nature head to head usually results in both of them losing viewship. Vary your programming to account for a rival's schedule and the big shows will breathe better. It's really no different for football. Ultimately every team will play every other team and since things like injuries/good form/bad form occur at random/varied times in the season for each team, it doesn't really matter how the fixtures are generated. What can look an advantage on paper might be anything but in practice. Similarly, a bad run of fixtures might be a godsend if those teams have crippling injuries and form woes when you play them while your own team is firing on all cylinders. Really not worth worrying about at all.
It massively matters. It gives an advantage to top 6 teams. It isn’t cricket and isn’t in the spirit of fair play. It should be random. For a start it sends a message that the top 6 are somehow special, to be cosseted and protected, I wonder if say refs subconsciously pick up on this ? Secondly it increases the chances that the top 6 get off to a winning start. Psychologically that has some importance and further reaffirms the rest are just the riff raff here to make up the numbers. 3 points early on could keep you near the top of the table for weeks. No one looks at the table early on? Don’t they? Everyone looks for a good team off to a bad start. It’s points on the board. Sure the fixtures even out over the season but why should the top 6 get this advantage. Thirdly why should we give them the advantage of an easy last game? When things matter and are tight we give the top 6 a better chance at a win. Again cementing their position. There are different dynamics at play throughout the season, surely as Watford fans we realise this? We start well and finish badly. What fixtures we have affect this. It is essentially the elite saying we like it as it is. What can we do to keep that going forever
Just read not the final match but final matches. This is awful Imagine Chelsea say have a bad year. Float somewhere mid table most of the year and then for the final 3 games end up 6th from bottom. It’s tight at the bottom few points in it All those other teams around them may have to play city or Utd or spurs or liverpool in those last 3 games Chelsea simply don’t have to because TV. Chelsea play mid table safe teams with nothing to play for. They don’t go down. A non top 6 team do. Say a Sunderland who then crash and burn in the champ.
It's probably heavily influenced by the Man City/QPR and Man Utd/ Sunderland last day finale of 2012 (was it?). The fixture list as UEA says has never not been manipulated by all manner of factors. Biggest loss for me was the Boxing Day derbies, but I'm not especially shocked the list is done to maximise revenue.
Everyone plays everyone, doesn’t matter when you have to do it. If it helps maximise the tv revenue share for Watford then its a good thing.
I don’t agree. I’m fine with there not being multiple games between the top 6 on the same weekend but why on earth should they be guaranteed seeding on opening weekend and final batch of matches? Ridiculous. Why on earth do they want to eliminate the possibility of another Liverpool v Arsenal final match scenario? What is exciting about the leaders all finishing their campaigns with easier games?
I also like the 3 year buffer. “So Leicester you are champions you say? Sorry but the consistent 6th place finishers deserve favourable treatment to you. After all, they only finish 30 points off top and field box office talent like Iwobi, Welbeck, Chambers and Elmeny. Know your place”
Boxing Day has to be as local as is logistically possible without derbies that give the police any headaches. Sometimes it's not that easy as Swansea and Newcastle have to play someone, as do Plymouth and Carlisle further down the leagues. Having said that I do remember going to Barnsley one year on Boxing Day.
The Premier League put something like this out most summers: https://www.premierleague.com/news/419044 The first line shows how little they're hiding it - "Producing the full Premier League fixture list for 2017/18 is no random draw."
The fixtures have been doctored for as long as i can remember. Clubs from the same area not playing at home the same day for instance. But it's a whole different ball game when they start manipulation the fixture list due to club status. That should never be a factor in how the schedule is worked out.. not even if we all make a few quid out of it.
Next you’ll be telling me that the fact they play the Merseyside/Manchester/North London derbies across one weekend is fixed too!
If they weren't, how would Sky come up with their amazing names for the weekend coverage like 'RED VS BLUE', 'TO THE DEATH' and 'ONLY 5 TEAMS IN THIS LEAGUE & ARSENAL'? If they did it for Watford vs Burnley it would be 'HOOFIT SUNDAY'.
Update: Christmas Day 1957 was the last with a full league programme. The arrival of floodlights and evening games had removed the need for fixtures to be squeezed into public holidays, and many fans were preferring to stay at home with their families on Christmas Day. In the First Division on December 25, 1957, Blackpool beat Leicester 5-1, Manchester United beat Luton 3-0, and Sheffield Wednesday and Preston drew 4-4. Chelsea beat Portsmouth 7-4, with 17-year-old Jimmy Greaves scoring four for the Blues. Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...torian-tradition?page=0,2#opIIiiWqP5iolRgf.99
