A lot of preparation before the fixture list appears

The Conference fixture list is due out on Thursday morning, but before it can be released there is a lot of preparation.

The Football League have published an article describing how their fixture list is drawn out. Much of detail will also apply to the Conference.

Below is an edited version of the article:

HOW THE FIXTURES ARE PREPARED

The countdown has begun to the release of the fixtures for the 2005/06 Coca-Cola Football League season. Although the 2004/05 season has only just finished, fans are eagerly anticipating next Thursday, June 23 and the first chance to start planning for the forthcoming season. But that list of fixtures that excites so many people is the result of a huge amount of work. Work actually begins on a fixture list TWO years in advance. The Football League's fixtures department is already working on Season 2007/08. Sandra Whiteside, Head of Fixtures, Events and Competitions, and David Cookson, Fixtures Secretary, have the arduous task of trying to accommodate the requests of FIFA, UEFA, the FA, the clubs, the police and the fans into a 46-week fixture calendar.

One complication to the preparation of the fixture list is club requests. Details are collated via a questionnaire which is sent to clubs each March/April. This allows clubs to work with their local police force to identify certain dates when they would have difficulty hosting a game - ie when major events are on in the area such as Gay Pride in Brighton, major religious celebrations such as Eid, or the Northampton Balloon Festival. In addition clubs and their police forces will identify opponents they cannot host over Bank Holiday periods. The experience of the staff involved irons out most of the potential problems before working parties meet in June to formulate the final list. But any movement of fixtures at the drafting stage can cause serious problems.

Sandra explained: "It is another misconception that you can simply move a fixture. Any game that is moved involves at least two teams on four playing dates and more often than not you could be looking at reviewing the fixtures for 12 clubs on four dates. This is because teams are grouped with their pairings and any movement will affect pairings up and down the country and may put several sets of fans in one area at the same time."

David added: "It is never simply a case of clubs playing home and away on alternate Saturdays throughout the season. There are certain rules, like clubs can't have three successive home Saturday matches or three consecutive away matches. It is a misconception that all clubs can have a perfect home and away sequence. One thing we have always tried to do is minimise travel around holiday periods, but supporters need to recognise that some clubs prefer to make long journeys in midweek - it cuts down on their overheads because they don't need to pay for overnight accommodation. The club will travel on the day of the game and head straight home after the match. These requests mean we now have very limited options when we try to minimise travel with supporters in mind. Fans do need to know that we do try and help them as much as we can, but at the end of the day The Football League has to get the fixtures played."

The sequences are worked out by hand and on computers at the offices of Atos Origin in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Their draft list is then put before representatives of the clubs, the police and supporters groups, who review and alter the list where necessary. Once the initial list is finalised and released, clubs have a 10-day period in which they can request matches to be moved to - usually by a day ie Wednesday to Tuesday or Saturday to Friday. The job of fixture preparation has become more and more complicated over the years, and with ever increasing demands of European competition and international fixtures it is not set to become any easier in future years.

"It makes life harder and it makes it harder to sequence", Sandra said. "The more things in the equation the harder it becomes to get an acceptable fixture list. "But the experience and systems are in place to ensure come June each year the fans will have that fixture list for their wall."

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