The idea that the football season starts in August and runs through to the following year can be seen as an archaic remnant of a bygone age. A time when European super powers ruled the world and everyone else had to fit into their schedules. Now, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup being played in November and December is there an opportunity to completely overhaul the European football calendar?
The likes of Richard Scudamore of the Premier League may consider the timing of the Qatar tournament a major problem that could affect two or three seasons, others such as former FA Chief Executive David Davies think that it represents the perfect opportunity to permanently change the European season. So how might it work? Below we take a look at how the 2023 football season could look.
League matches would be played on every Saturday, with the League Cup and the FA Cup being played midweek in the first and second half of the season respectively. Additional Football League games would be scheduled for free midweek periods as appropriate. There would be no replays in either domestic cup competitions and the finals would be held at weekends. The schedules for both the Euro 2024 qualifiers and the Europa League 2023 would depend upon how UEFA defines those competitions.
January - March
January
Close season (transfer window has been open since December 1st 2022)
February
Two weekends of FL matches plus;
Tues/Weds 8th/9th – League Cup R1
Saturday 18th – start of the Football League season
Tues/Weds 21/22 – League Cup R2
March
Four weekends of PL/FL matches plus;
Saturday 4th – start of the Premier League season
Tues/Weds 7th/8th – League Cup R3
Tues/Weds 21st/22nd – Champions League GS MD1
Tues/Weds 28th/29th – League Cup R4
See pages 2, 3 and 4 for the rest of our possible 2023 football calendar!
Source: DSG