PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS SET FOR MORE FIXTURE CHAOS AS DATES FOR NEXT SEASON RELEASED

Premier League clubs have received the key dates for next season - and it has revealed the true extent of the fixture chaos.

Top flight clubs are facing the potential of THREE midweek fixture clashes between European games and the Carabao Cup. But it also highlights why there is simply no room in the calendar for FA Cup replays because there are two Champions League match rounds in the last two midweeks of January.

That makes FA Cup replays unworkable in the third and fourth rounds because there are EIGHT Champions League games in the new format rather than the current six Group matches. Football Association chiefs feel they were forced to make the change but, rather than the Premier League and FA to blame for the row, it is the big six who pushed for a new Champions League format in the wake of the European Super League.

The first date clash next season comes in September in the midweek of 17/18 because the third round of the Carabao Cup - when top flight clubs in European competition enter - clashes with the Champions League match day one. The following week’s diary has got the Europa League match day one with the third round of the Carabao Cup also scheduled to play on September 24/25.

It means top flight clubs might have to alternate their Carabao Cup games between the two midweeks so those in the Champions League play on September 24/25 and those in Europa League the previous week. UEFA have already revealed that they will give the give Europa League its own “exclusive” midweek for the first match round.

The Carabao Cup quarter-final is also due to be played in the midweek of December 18 which is a direct clash with the Europa Conference League match day six. There is no obvious solution on this clash. There is no clash with the Carabao Cup semi-finals with the EFL refusing to change the two-legged format played in two midweeks in January as no new financial agreement had been reached with the Premier League.

The EFL’s attitude towards the new fixtures - they are effectively the governors of the Carabao Cup as the League Cup has always been their competition - is that they will simply have to make it work and squeeze the games into the calendar. UEFA have also made it very clear that they cannot be held responsible for date clashes and that national associations will have to resolve issues themselves without European football’s governing body offering compensation.

The FA revealed last week they had agreed a six-year deal with the Premier League to scrap FA Cup replays which included £33m extra cash for grassroots football and a longer summer break. But the EFL insisted they were not properly consulted and their clubs have been in uproar about the change with chief executive Trevor Birch calling it “disappointing and frustrating” while also demanding they receive compensation for the loss in revenue.

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2024-04-25T13:08:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd