How Long Is a Premier League Season?

**TL;DR: **A Premier League season runs from mid-August to late May - roughly nine months and 38 matchdays per club. Each team plays the other 19 sides home and away, for a total of 380 matches across the season. The calendar is shaped by domestic cups, European competition, and two international breaks per half of the season.

If you've ever tried to plan a prediction league or just wanted to know how long you'll be doing this every weekend, the Premier League calendar is more structured than it looks. The same shape repeats every year, with small tweaks for World Cup and Euro tournaments. Knowing the rhythm helps you pace your predictions and spot the windows where chaos tends to spike.

The Headline Numbers

• 20 clubs in the league each season
• 38 matches per club (each opponent home and away)
• 380 total league matches per season
• Roughly 9 months from first kick-off to final whistle
• Two halves of the season, separated by the festive period

The 38-match figure comes directly from the league size. Twenty teams playing nineteen others twice gives every club 38 league fixtures. We dug into why the league has stuck with that structure in our piece on why the Premier League has 38 matches.

When the Season Starts and Ends

The Premier League traditionally kicks off on the second weekend of August. The exact date moves year to year depending on international tournament schedules, but mid-August is the usual landing spot. The final weekend of the season - where every match kicks off at the same time for fairness - typically falls in the third or fourth weekend of May.

That gives you roughly nine months of weekly fixtures, with breaks for international windows in September, October, November, March, and a longer winter pause around the festive period that varies by season.

The Festive Schedule

The Premier League's festive period is famous for being relentless. Matches typically run on Boxing Day, between Christmas and New Year, and on or around New Year's Day. Clubs can play three or four matches in ten days during this stretch. We covered the dynamics in Christmas schedule: more matches, more chaos and .