2009-2010: Advance news of fixture schedule

[SamD]

2009-2010

Advance news of fixture dates (for the mildly curious and those planning holidays, marriage, etc...)

Code: Select all

Saturday 15 August 2009             Start of Premier League season
Sunday 9 May 2010                   End of Premier League season

Saturday 15 May 2010                FA Cup Final (Wembley)
Fri 11 June to Sun 11 July 2010     World Cup Finals (South Africa)

In Europe:

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Tue-Thur 28-30 July 2009            3rd qualifying round, Champions League & Europa League (ex-UEFA Cup), first leg
Tue-Thur 4-6 Aug                    3rd qualifying round, Champions League & Europa League, second leg
Tue-Thur 18-20 Aug                  4th qualifying round, Champions League & Europa League, first leg
Tue-Thur 25-27 Aug                  4th qualifying round, Champions League & Europa League, second leg
Tue-Thur 15-17 Sept                 1st match group stage: Champions League & Europa League
Tue-Thur 29 Sep-1 Oct               2nd match group stage: Champions League & Europa League
Tue-Thur 20-22 Oct                  3rd match group stage: Champions League & Europa League
Tue-Thur 3-5 Nov                    4th match group stage: Champions League & Europa League
Tue-Wed 24-25 Nov                   5th match group stage: Champions League
Wed-Thur 2-3 Dec                    5th match group stage: Europa League
Tue-Wed 8-9 Dec                     6th match group stage: Champions League
Wed-Thur 16-17 Dec                  6th match group stage: Europa League
Tue-Wed 16-17 and 23-24 Feb 2010    2nd round Champions League, 1st leg
Thur 18 Feb                         2nd round Europa League, 1st leg
Thur 25 Feb                         2nd round Europa League, 2nd leg
Tue-Wed 9-10 and 16-17 Mar          2nd round Champions League, 2nd leg
Thur 11 Mar                         3rd round Europa League, 1st leg
Thur 18 Mar                         3rd round Europa League, 2nd leg
Tue-Wed 30-31 Mar                   Quarter Finals Champions League, 1st leg
Thur 1 Apr                          Quarter Finals Europa League, 1st leg
Tue-Wed 6-7 Apr                     Quarter Finals Champions League, 2nd leg
Thur 8 Apr                          Quarter Finals Europa League, 2nd leg
Tue-Wed 20-21 Apr                   Semi Finals Champions League, 1st leg
Thur 22 Apr                         Semi Finals Europa League, 1st leg
Tue-Wed 27-28 Apr                   Semi Finals Champions League, 2nd leg
Thur 29 Apr                         Semi Finals Europa League, 2nd leg
Wed 12 May                          Final Europa League (Hamburg)
Sat 22 May 2010                     Final Champions League (Madrid)

Other competition dates:

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Sun 14 to Sun 28 June 2009          FIFA Confederations Cup: eight nations (South Africa)

Thur 10 to Sun 20 December 2009     FIFA Club World Cup (United Arab Emirates)

Above has been gleaned from a variety of sources (FIFA, UEFA, BBC, FA).
Please advise of any amendment.

[pa102aw]

Fantastic piece of work Sam. You are certainly the King of the Spreadsheets.

[Judio]

The newsagencies are talking about a double header
on the August Bank Holiday

That means a full fixture list on
Bank Holiday Monday August 31st

Great for the fans but I can hear the complaints
from the Managers already.......

[reds363]

The lower leagues have always played Sat/Mon on August Bank Holiday.

There's internationals the Saturday following, so no chance of playing Tue/Wed that week... I very much doubt they'll even play on the Monday.

[Judio]

International friendly will be on Weds August 12th

(Before the Season)

Wed 12 Aug 09
HOLLAND v ENGLAND

Sat 5 Sep 09
ENGLAND v SLOVENIA

Wed 9 Sep 09
ENGLAND v CROATIA

Sat 10 Oct 09
UKRAINE v ENGLAND

[Judio]

There's internationals the Saturday following, so no chance of playing Tue/Wed that week... I very much doubt they'll even play on the Monday.

Apparently it was either start the season a week early or
2 games in 3 days

The Cash on Offer from Pre season tours won the vote

[SamD]

Additional notes on 2009-10 Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) and Champions League:

- there are four qualifying rounds for both contests (30 Jun - 27 Aug 2009)

- last 16 (Second Round) knockout stage of Champions League runs over FOUR midweek dates in Feb & March 2010

- Champions League Final is on a Saturday for the first time: 22 May 2010


If an English club were to qualify for the FA Cup & Champions League Finals (as Man U & Liverpool have in the past):

- they would enjoy a week's break between these two Finals (instead of the usual three or four days)

- a fortnight's span between their last Premier League match and the second Final.

[snout]

The lower leagues have always played Sat/Mon on August Bank Holiday.

There's internationals the Saturday following, so no chance of playing Tue/Wed that week... I very much doubt they'll even play on the Monday.

I wonder how they'll split the TV games for those two sets of fixtures. I imagine there'll be a 12.45 and and a 17.15 on both days with the possibility of a 20.00 on the Tuesday. Would this not leave 3 or 4 more TV slots unfilled however?

If any team gets picked for both the Saturday 17.15 and the Monday 12.45 slots, the manager will be understandably rather miffed.

[reds363]

With the four-day international call-up rule (for full international dates like that one) I doubt they'd be allowed to have a Tuesday game. TV companies might have to go with just two matches per round (like they did for example on Boxing Day, or on a midweek round).

Add into the mix that in the new UEFA Cup format, our three clubs will be playing in the 4th qualifying round 2nd leg on Thursday 27th August (so would normally move the Saturday match to Sunday), and you're left with a massive mess!

[SamD]

Other planned dates:

- Sat 8 Aug 2009 - Scottish Premier League begins
(may change as Scotland are due to face Norway away on Wed 12 Aug in a World Cup qualifier)

- Fri 28 Aug 2009 - UEFA Super Cup (between winners of CL & UEFA Cup)

[Judio]

Someone did play on Friday in Monaco and a Premier League match
on the following Monday a couple of years ago


The Internationals will forbid anyone playing on Tuesday
but more importantly, Sky cannot have any Sunday games if people are playing on Monday !!!

[SamD]

The Scottish Premier League has just agreed to postpone the start of next season by a week to Sat 15 Aug 2009:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 884052.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Judio]

Ok I now see how it will work

Anyone invloved in the UEFA Cup (3 clubs) plus the UEFA Super Cup
Match (Maybe 2 ) will refuse to play Saturday

That means up to three matches on Sunday (Can all be televised)

The late match on Monday can involve the team who played in Monaco on Friday

The six clubs invloved on Sunday will just postpone their Monday match
until later in the season.

So the double header will only involve less than half of the Premier League !!!!

[SamD]

The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations will start 10 days earlier than the 2008 tournament as a concession to Europe-based clubs.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) said the competition in Angola would be held from Sunday 10 to 31 January 2010.

Although several European leagues take their winter break in January, this schedule will provide no respite for English clubs (who fielded more than 40 players at the 2008 event in Ghana).

[snout]

So the double header will only involve less than half of the Premier League !!!!

That's going to cause havoc in FPL or any other gameweek-based game!

[SamD]

The Football League will begin a week before the Premier League season.

First match - Saturday 8 August 2009 * (amended; see below)
Last league tie:
- Sunday 2 May 2010 (Championship)
- Saturday 8 May 2010 (League One & Two)

Play-Off Final at Wembley:
- Sat 22 May 2010 (Championship)
- Sat 29 May 2010 (League One)
- Sun 30 May 2010 (League Two)


* edit: opening Championship league match is on TV at 20:00 BST on Friday 7 August *

[AkNotSpur]

I like the idea of playing the Champions League Final on a Saturday, but I'm surprised that the relevant date is less than 3 weeks before the opening game of the World Cup. I would have thought that the dates for the end of the Premier League, FA Cup Final and CL Final should all have been 1 week earlier.

Holding the African Cup of Nations in a World Cup year is a piece of absolute nonsense.

[SamD]

Football League site says 2009-10 fixtures will be announced at 10am, Wed 17 June.

Last year, Premier League schedule was published simultaneously.

[SamD]

Annual Wembley Cup

Wembley Stadium will host a new annual pre-season football tournament, The Wembley Cup in which UEFA Champions League finalists Barcelona, Tottenham, Celtic and African Champions Al Ahly of Egypt will line-up in the inaugural competition on 24 and 26 July 2009.

The competition will consist of two matches to be played across each day:
- Friday 24 July: Al Ahly vs Celtic; Tottenham vs Barcelona
- Sunday 26 July: Al Ahly vs Barcelona; Tottenham vs Celtic

The winner of the tournament will be decided on a combined points and goals scored system.

[thelip]

The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations will start 10 days earlier than the 2008 tournament as a concession to Europe-based clubs.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) said the competition in Angola would be held from Sunday 10 to 31 January 2010.

Although several European leagues take their winter break in January, this schedule will provide no respite for English clubs (who fielded more than 40 players at the 2008 event in Ghana).

I remember last time around that they also had a two-week training camp prior to the competition starting. Is this likely to happen again?

[thelip]

Community Shield is on Sunday 9 August.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompeti ... irmed.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[thelip]

Football League site says 2009-10 fixtures will be announced at 10am, Wed 17 June.

Last year, Premier League schedule was published simultaneously.

Confirmed on SSN last night.

[SamD]

Carling Cup dates & format

Draw for first round of 2009-10 Carling Cup will be made on Tues 16 June (day before English Premier & Football League fixtures are due to be announced).

Seventy of the 72 FL clubs will appear in the first round; Newcastle and Middlesbrough receive byes as highest placed clubs last season.

The two north-east clubs and 13 Premier League teams who aren't in Europe join the 35 winners in the next stage.

The 25 winners in the second round and the seven Champions League and Europa Cup teams will contest round three.

Schedule:

Round One: week of Monday 10 Aug (two days after Football League season opens)
Round Two: wk beg Mon 24 Aug
Round Three: wk beg Mon 21 Sep
Round Four: wk beg Mon 26 Oct
Round Five (QF): wk beg Mon 30 Nov
Semi-Finals (two legs): wks beg 4 & 18 Jan 2010
Carling Cup Final, Wembley: Sun 28 Feb

[SamD]

Various Football League club sites are describing the match schedule for the Christmas/New Year period.
Expect Premier League to be the same before TV companies change things.

League fixtures on:
- Sat 19 Dec 2009
- Wed 23 Dec
- Sat 26 Dec (Boxing Day)
- Wed 30 Dec

FA Cup Third Round:
- Sat 2 Jan 2010

[Judio]

A weds night 2 Days before Christmas

Great for the travelling Fans

Mon 28th Dec is a Holiday so why not play then !!!

[SamD]

League match dates are due to be released Wed 17 June.

While you're waiting, here's an article on how fixtures are compiled:

BBC blog

[blahblah]

Allegedly they used to be mainly Man City suporters.

If they still are expect Utd to get promoted teams early on, when they have a chance of scraping a point, and some dodgy end of season games for Utd. Bakc in the days of Keegan at Newcastle, they were Utd .......

Note I am talking about the people doing the fixtures changing rather than them swapping Manc teams.....

[SamD]

FA Cup Round Dates were published on Sat 6 June.

Relevant dates, after preliminary & qualifying matches between 15 August & 24 October:

First Round Proper - Sat 7 Nov 2009
Second Round - Sat 28 Nov
Third Round - Sat 2 Jan 2010
Fourth Round - Sat 23 Jan
Fifth Round - Sat 13 Feb
Sixth Round - Sat 6 March
Semi-Finals - Sat 10 & Sun 11 April
Final - Saturday 15 May 2010

[SamD]

FA Youth Cup Round Dates

Preliminary & Qualifying rounds run from 7 Sept through to wk-beg Mon 19 Oct 2009.

First Round Proper - 7 Nov (256 clubs)
Second Round - 21 Nov
Third Round - 12 Dec
Fourth Round - 16 Jan 2010
Fifth Round - 30 Jan
Sixth Round - 13 Feb
Semi-Final 1st leg - by Sat 6 March
Semi-Final 2nd leg - by Sat 20 March
Final, first & second legs, to be scheduled

[SamD]

Contrary to info published on various Football League club sites (see June 9 post) there is no midweek fixture before Christmas.

Actual schedule for Premier League and Championship is:

- Sat 19 Dec 2009
- Sat 26 Dec
- Mon 28 Dec

FA Cup Third Round:
- Sat 2 Jan 2010