The SPFL Premiership fixtures are out tomorrow, with a historic 10th successive title at stake for Celtic they’ll be inspected more than usual.
Other leagues have a more straightforward task, generally arranging home and away fixtures with little intrigue or room for conspiracies.
Scotland however is different with a split and three rounds of fixtures involving every team in the division. Every team has a unique set of fixtures which sort of isn’t what a league campaign is meant to be about.
For the 2019/20 season Celtic were given 16 home and 17 away matches, after the break they would have had three home matches and two away which the SPFL hope would balance things up among the top clubs.
At the end of the 2018/19 season Steven Gerrard’s side plus Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts formed the top six. The computer works out the following season’s fixtures assuming the same clubs will be in the top six, there is no other option.
In the first third of fixtures in the 2019/20 season Celtic had to visit Ibrox, Easter Road and Pittodrie with Hearts and Kilmarnock coming to Celtic Park. Celtic visited the clubs that finished 2nd, 4th and 5th from the previous season in the early weeks.
Reversing that for next season would see a home Glasgow derby plus visits from Aberdeen and Livingston. From the top six there would be away matches against Motherwell and St Johnstone in the opening round of 11 fixtures.
Post-split, Celtic, if the predictions work out, would face trips to Ibrox, Pittodrie and the Toni Macaroni Stadium.
The early fixtures and the graded return of crowds to football matches will be the headline news tomorrow alongside the scheduling of the Glasgow derbies.
Whatever schedule they arrive at Neil Lennon and his squad know that they are 38 matches away from setting up an achievement that Scottish football has never before witnessed.