Fixtures v. Ties

Posted by Dhm on May 13, 2004

I am an American who has been watching a lot of British soc..., that is, football this year. I am perplexed by the words used to refer to games. As it seems to me, EP League games are called "fixtures" while games that are part of the oddly parallel universe of tournaments (FA Cup, for example) are called "ties".

"Fixture" makes some sense, since the date of the game is fixed ahead of time in the EPL schedule. But where does "cup tie" come from?

• Fixtures v. Ties Lewis 13/May/04
  • Fixtures v. Ties dhm 13/May/04