European Top 5: English clubs had an average of just 67.3 hours between matches in 2023-24 (CIES)

67.3 hours was the average time gap between two matches in a Premier League club's 2023-24 fixture list, the shortest in the European Top 5 (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France), according to the CIES Football Observatory in a report entitled "Elite Men's Football Match Calendar And Player Workload - Historical Trends and Current Landscape" published on 06/08/2024 (document available to download).

The CIES also found 87 cases in 2023-24 where Premier League clubs had only 72 hours between two domestic competition matches (Premier League, Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup), not including European Cups, pre-season or gala matches.

"Whilst the report concludes the first CIES series on the subject of the men’s football match calendar at top level club and national team level and elite player workload, additional studies may be undertaken in the future to further delve into these important topics," said the study centre based in Neuchâtel (SUI), which receives financial support from FIFA.

"The way in which competitions and matches are structured and organised within the framework of…