What are your thoughts on the 2025/26 fixture lists?
This was my fifth year in charge of the process and, as I always say at this time of year, unfortunately there is no such thing as a perfect fixture list! Clubs and supporters understandably focus on their own schedules but our job is to try to produce the most balanced set of fixtures for each of the four divisions. There are always things you would like to improve on but, overall, I’m content with where we got to.
Who produces the fixtures?
This is our 10th season working in conjunction with GotSport, who are based in the United States. They work with a number of other European leagues including Switzerland, Poland, and Greece as well as CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and the CBF in Brazil. GotSport use optimisation software to come up with a set of fixtures based on the information and restrictions (‘fixture recipe’) we provide. A number of versions will be produced and refined before a final decision is made on each division. I would like to thank GotSport for their help, expertise and patience during the fixturing process.
What are some of the biggest challenges when compiling the fixtures?
The recent changes to the three UEFA competitions mean there are now 10 dates across the new league phase. Clubs in the Champions League and Europa League play eight matches, with six fixtures in the Conference League. Each tournament has one exclusive matchday, hence the total of 10 fixture dates that we have to avoid for William Hill Premiership fixtures. That loss of four fixture slots means that unfortunately a winter break is again not possible.
To highlight the lack of room for manoeuvre in the Premiership schedule, the first midweek that is completely clear is Tuesday December 23. To ensure the Premier Sports Cup final can be played in its usual slot before Christmas, the quarter-finals will again take place on a weekend (September 20/21).
What goes into the fixture recipes?
There’s a lot, particularly in the Premiership, which has the most constraints. All clubs are guaranteed to have three home and three away games in their first six fixtures. Celtic/Rangers, Dundee/Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian/Hibernian are all opposites in the fixture list. Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle are usually at home on different weekends and we have also limited clashes between Aberdeen and Cove Rangers.
For the William Hill Premiership midweeks, we have ensured that all clubs have two or three home games across the five dates and the back-to-back midweeks in February are also balanced. There are no midweek dates required in the other divisions – the revamped Challenge Cup (KDM Evolution Trophy) means the two Championship midweeks from last season will now be played on the international weekends in September and October.
We have flipped the pairings in the Premiership from last season – for example, Hibernian will host Kilmarnock in Round 1-11 because the first meeting of the teams in 2024/25 was at Rugby Park. Premiership clubs who had 16 home games before the split last season will have 17 this season and vice versa.
For the festive period fixtures, all clubs are at home on either December 27 or January 3. We aim to minimise travel over Christmas and New Year but this is not always possible and sorting one issue can often create a problem elsewhere in the schedule.
We also consider club request dates and Police Scotland may ask us to avoid other major events. For example, Heart of Midlothian are away from home on fixture round two because of the Oasis concert at Murrayfield. We also try to avoid Hearts fixtures clashing with the Six Nations rugby and have moved their Remembrance weekend game with Dundee United at Tynecastle to the Sunday as Scotland are playing New Zealand on the Saturday – one of four autumn tests on consecutive weekends.
Ayr United generally won’t be at home on the same day as big meetings at the nearby racecourse and other requests this season included Stirling Albion being away from home on the day of the Highland games, which take place adjacent to Forthbank, and Raith Rovers playing away because of the Links Market in Kirkcaldy. In addition, some clubs have asked to start the season away from home because of summer pitch works.
Queen’s Park will be playing their home games at the City Stadium (Lesser Hampden) in the forthcoming season but we obviously still need to avoid clashes with major events on the same day at Hampden while Scotland will be using the City Stadium as a training venue during the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn.
Why are clubs not at home one week and away the next?
It’s a fair question but it is actually not mathematically possible, even without all the other fixture constraints. We do try to limit instances of H-H or A-A (‘doubles’) as much as we can and that is one of the metrics that we use when determining what is a ‘good schedule’.
When are the derby matches in 2025/26?
The traditional derby games will again take place over the festive period. Sky Sports will show Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian on Saturday December 27 – a historic game marking 150 years of the Edinburgh derby – and Celtic v Rangers on Saturday January 3. The first meeting of Rangers and Celtic in 2025/26 is scheduled for Sunday August 31, live on Sky Sports, with the Dundee derby at Dens Park the same weekend. The first Edinburgh derby of the season is at Tynecastle on October 4/5. The festive derbies across the William Hill Championship, League 1 and League 2 will take place on Saturday December 27.
Do last season’s champions start at home?
Traditionally the champions are given a home start and that is again the case. Celtic will begin the defence of their William Hill Premiership trophy against St Mirren at Celtic Park on Sunday August 3, live on Sky Sports at 4.30pm. Falkirk’s first top-flight fixture for 15 years – at home to Dundee United – will also be shown live on Sky Sports on Sunday August 3, kick-off 2.00pm. Arbroath v Ayr United in the William Hill Championship will kick off the new season, live on the BBC Scotland channel on Friday August 1, kick-off 7.45pm. Peterhead’s flag day is a home game against fellow promoted side East Fife while SPFL newcomers East Kilbride have also been granted a home start – they face The Spartans at K-Park.
How many live TV games will be shown this coming season?
Our main broadcast partner Sky Sports can again show up to 60 William Hill Premiership matches exclusively live in 2025/26. We are delighted that Sky Sports are showcasing the opening weekend with a total of four live matches. Our deal with Premier Sports allows them to show up to 20 William Hill Premiership games. BBC Scotland have the rights to up to 30 live William Hill Championship matches and BBC ALBA can show 12 games in William Hill League 1. The play-offs will be covered by Sky Sports, BBC Scotland and BBC ALBA. We will look to announce further TV selections as soon as possible to provide clubs and supporters with as much notice as possible.
What’s the situation with European football for 2025/26?
Champions Celtic and Scottish Cup winners Aberdeen are guaranteed league phase football in the UEFA competitions, with Rangers, Hibernian and Dundee United aiming to join them. Celtic enter the Champions League play-offs while Aberdeen qualified for the Europa League play-offs on the back of their first Scottish Cup triumph since 1990. Rangers (Champions League), Hibernian (Europa League) and Dundee United (Conference League) all enter in qualifying round two. A number of domestic fixtures will require to be moved to Sundays in due course because of clubs playing in Europe on Thursdays. Our usual approach is to wait for UEFA confirmation of their fixtures as occasionally those can change to different days. Looking further ahead, we will again have five clubs in UEFA competitions in 2026/27, which is based on Scotland’s UEFA country ranking of 14 at the end of 2024/25.
What about the postponement policy for European entrants?
The Competitions Working Group unanimously supported the SPFL Board introducing a policy whereby any club participating in a match in a UEFA club competition play-off round could apply to the Board for a postponement of its William Hill Premiership round 3 match on the weekend of August 23/24 without the consent of its opponent. Postponed matches will be rescheduled for the first exclusive match week of the UEFA club competition that neither club in question qualified for. We will be engaging with the relevant clubs in the weeks ahead.
Can you remind us of the dates for the post-split William Hill Premiership games?
Fixture rounds 34-38 will be played on the weekends of April 25/26, May 2/3, May 9/10, the midweek of May 12/13 and the weekend of May 16/17.
Anything else to add?
We are very much looking forward to season 13 of the SPFL. It’s a very exciting time for our game, with record attendances set again last season, more matches on TV than ever before and five clubs competing in UEFA competitions once more. Our clubs should also benefit from the Scottish FA-led Cooperation Agreements, which will hopefully lead to more young Scottish players getting vital game time at first-team level.
It’s not long now until we kick off 2025/26 with the group stage of the Premier Sports Cup on the weekend of July 12/13 and we will publish the fixtures for the new-look KDM Evolution Trophy next month, with the competition getting under way in mid-August.
Meanwhile, the women’s game continues to flourish and our colleagues at the SWPL are publishing their fixture lists on Wednesday June 25.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish our 42 member clubs all the very best for the new season and hope the supporters enjoy their football in 2025/26. We hope it’s a memorable domestic campaign and one that ends with Scotland’s participation at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
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