How Nottingham Forest's Premier League schedule is compiled ahead of fixture release day

In just over a week's time, Nottingham Forest fans will be able to put into their calendars the club's Premier League fixtures.

The Reds are busy preparing for their return to the top-flight after an absence of 23 years. With the transfer window opening on June 10 and fixtures being released on June 16, it is very quickly feeling real that Forest are a Premier League club once again.

England's Football Association have reportedly made a 'big six' Premier League fixtures request that could impact Nottingham Forest's schedule, but all will become clear when the full schedule is released next Thursday.

There is a lot of planning that goes into organising the Premier League schedule. Atos, an international IT services company, have been responsible for pulling together various fixture lists since the Premier League was formed in 1992.

The Premier League season will start on 6 August 2022, but preparations began long before the final whistle was blown in Forest's play-off final win over Huddersfield on May 29.

Glenn Thompson of Atos told the Premier League : "For me it begins at the start of the year; that's when I get the playing dates from the Premier League.

"The whole thing is built up putting in the international dates from FIFA, then the European club competitions, then the Football Association adds in the dates for its competitions and what you are left with are the dates when you can play league and League Cup matches."

Once the sequencing has been completed and dates available are made clear, a number of 'golden rules' have to be followed when generating potential fixtures. These include:

In any five matches there should be a split of three home fixtures, two away or the other way around.

A team will never have