SPFL fixtures 2023-24: Gripes, paranoia, hectic December, and which teams have hardest start

'I simply can't wait to find out if we need to go to the SMiSA Stadium once or twice this season!' the familiar cry from Premiership supporters up and down the country the night before fixture release day.

Nearly two weeks later than last season – due to the campaign not finishing until June – the SPFL unveiled the 2023/24 fixtures. The day when players, managers, clubs and fans find out where and, to an extent, when they will be facing the 11 other clubs three times pre-split is forever a curious one. If the opening day of the league campaign is like Christmas Day, fixture release day is more akin to a bank holiday Monday. It’s welcome but lacks the same pizzazz.

It does, however, play an important part in the football calendar. The conclusion of the Premiership play-off final brings with it the most awkward period of the year. When is the 2022/23 campaign consigned to the past as ‘last season’ and when does 2023/24 become ‘this season’? The announcement of the fixtures is effectively SPFL chief Neil Doncaster cutting the ribbon and opening the store for ‘SPFL 2023/24’, signalling the start of ‘this season’. That's the positive.

The fixture list agenda

Maybe it is because of the lack of action – it has been ten days since Scotland played Georgia after all – but some fans can lose the run of themselves. If anything it is fairly amusing as some read far too much into how the fixtures have fallen, why their specific club have been hard done by and, rapidly, it morphs into paranoia. As if the American company the SPFL use – GotSoccer which optimises different versions of the fixture list based on the ‘fixture recipe’ fed to them by Calum Beatte, the SPFL chief operating officer – has conspired with Doncaster, Beattie et al for some sort of agenda against Ross County or Aberdeen.

The Staggies, it has been assessed based on the Opta Power Rankings, have the most difficult start to the league season, just ahead of Kilmarnock, the Dons and Livingston. On the flipside, Hearts are predicted to have the easiest start, St Mirren and Motherwell next. Of course, that is now. Much will be expected to change between now and the commencement of the campaign with players arriving, others departing and the propensity of the Viaplay Cup group stages to throw a spanner in the works of at least one top-flight team.

Still, there are gripes about the fixtures, some of which are more than valid. Before those are explored it is important to note that putting together the fixtures for a full league season is not a walk in the park. "I can say quite confidently that there is no such thing as a perfect fixture list,” a note of caution from Beattie. No doubt Beattie and Co at the SPFL feel it's like navigating Jurassic Park after Dennis Nedry decided to shut the fences off as a number of elements are taken into consideration, everything from trying to ensure big city teams are not playing at home on the same day to minimising travel over the festive period to other events around the country.

Fixture list gripes

There is no New Year's Edinburgh derby this season. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

A key complaint is around the festive period. As stated, the SPFL try its best to ensure travelling is kept to a minimum with clubs who are away on December 30 then at home on January 2 and vice versa. However, the dates selected have been a bone of contention for fans, especially those hoping for a Boxing Day fixture card and New Year derbies. Hibs v Hearts and Celtic v Rangers have already been confirmed for live television coverage on Wednesday, December 27 and Saturday, December 30 respectively. As is customary, the broadcaster possesses a loud voice and plenty of sway. With December 23 and 30 falling on a Saturday it makes perfect sense from a logistical point of view rather than an idealist and even irrational one. It will no doubt be welcomed by players with families, knowing they won’t be playing on Boxing Day.

Where it perhaps doesn't make much sense is the number of games played either side of the winter break which is January 2 – 19. Between December 2 and January 2 there are eight rounds of league fixtures. Between January 20 and February 28 Premiership teams are set to play at least seven times, most likely eight due to the fourth and fifth round of the Scottish Cup. In part because of the European fixture calendar it means a number of games are crammed in. Players are taking a pounding going into the winter break, they will have little respite with warm-weather training camps and friendlies likely staged before they are back into the hectic grind once more. Then there is the concern from the supporter side, the financial cost to follow the team at what is a very difficult time of the year due to everything the festive period entails.

Beattie explained: “The main pressure, as always, is on the cinch Premiership fixture list. Taking into account European, international and domestic dates, there is only one spare slot before the turn of the year – the midweek of December 19/20. The winter break in January is welcomed by clubs and players but it does mean we have more midweek matches.”

The December issue with its seven matches will rear its head later in the season. In the meantime, we can all ponder the season ahead, looking forward to it starting in August, while moaning about the SPFL and its "typical bias" facilitated by a software optimising programme in America.