Mr Popodopolous Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Have we ever wondered why usually midweek away games range from moderate distance to a long hal- Preston, Wolves, Norwich and so on... Well wonder no more! GAME DAILY | OLIVER KAY october 5 2017, 12:00pm, the times EFL insulting fans by scheduling long midweek trips oliver kay, chief football correspondent The Game Daily: the admission that the EFL is purposely shaping the fixture list this way is a staggering one Share Save Well, at least we know now. At least, in an era when transparency has gone out of a blacked-out window, a shaft of light has unexpectedly been cast on one of the issues that has infuriated so many football supporters for so long. It is one of those questions that has nagged away at fans on those interminable late-night journeys up and down motorways. No, not “why do we do this?” — though certainly that passes through many a mind after a particularly dispiriting defeat a long way from home — but, on the contrary, “Why do they do this to us?” Why do the Football League (EFL) come up with the type of fixture list that saw, on the same Tuesday night last month, Morecambe and their supporters subjected to a 526-mile round trip to Yeovil while Blackpool were making an even longer journey (640 miles) to Plymouth and back. Over the years, this unforgiving scheduling has been widely ascribed to the randomness of the famous fixture computer. Diehard fans have learned to live with the inconvenience and the extra cost, taking a day off work (or perhaps even two), making alternative childcare arrangements, perhaps risking domestic strife, in order to ensure that they are able to travel the length of the country to support their team. They could always take the sensible option of giving it a miss, of course, but, for many fans, perhaps even more so in the lower divisions, going home and away is non-negotiable – even if that involves a gruelling trip up to Carlisle or Hartlepool down to Plymouth or Gillingham on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Blackpool fans had to travel 640 miles to Plymouth for the Tuesday trip to Plymouth last monthJOHN CLIFTON/ACTION IMAGES According to the EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey, though, the number of long-distance trips in midweek is deliberate. It is an active policy. In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live this week, he spoke of “conscious scheduling decisions”. Pushed on the matter, he said: “We make that scheduling choice to get bigger games at weekends because that provides better atmosphere and increases gate revenue for clubs. The flip-side is that those games that are a distance have to go into midweek. It’s a deliberate act. The reason for it is to ensure we get bigger crowds at weekends rather than lower crowds in midweek.” That is absolutely staggering. Full marks for honesty when most of us – even now – would give the EFL the benefit of the doubt, presuming it to be a quirk of the fixture list, but, seriously, Shaun, that is bewildering. The EFL deliberately sends Blackpool to Plymouth and Morecambe to Yeovil on the same Tuesday night because it would rather have clubs travelling shorter distances at weekends in order to maximise attendances and atmosphere? Really? Can Harvey be certain that the EFL has got this one right? He talks of increasing ticket revenue and providing “better atmosphere” by shaping the fixture list this way, but the logic is not easy to follow. One has to assume the EFL have done their homework here, but does it really have the effect of driving up weekend attendances and improving atmosphere – and if so, would not any such upturn be cancelled out by a drop-off in attendances (and indeed atmosphere) in midweek matches? A personal perspective: once or twice a season, I attend a Bristol Rovers game up north as an away fan. (No, I am not a “Gas head”, but on rare weekends off it proves an enjoyable and perhaps the most reliable way of hooking up with a very good friend of mine who is.) These have always been on Saturday afternoons – and on each occasion, at grounds such as Macclesfield Town, FC Halifax Town and Chesterfield, what has been striking is a) that Rovers’ away following (like Plymouth’s) is enormous for a club of such modest achievement and b) they make quite a noise, generating an atmosphere that might otherwise be lacking. Harvey’s admission should have come with an apology to those supporters so severely inconvenienced by those long midweek away trips Inevitably, they travel in smaller (though still impressive) numbers for long-distance away games in midweek. That has an effect on attendances and, you would imagine, on atmosphere. Last weekend, for Rovers’ West Country derby at home to Plymouth – a mere 120 miles away – the attendance was 9,879. Is that figure significantly higher than it would have been had they played in midweek? It did not seem so. Even if the EFL is correct in detecting a small economic benefit, it needs to acknowledge the financial sacrifices made for those fans who, regardless of the inconvenience, follow their team everywhere – forfeiting a day’s work or a day’s holiday, perhaps having to stay overnight at the other end of the country rather than do the journey there and back in a day, as is possible on a Saturday. Far preferable, to most of those who travel home and away, is the idea of short hop to away games on a midweek night while making a “day out” of the longer trips. Harvey’s admission should have come with an apology to those supporters so severely inconvenienced by those long midweek away trips – and yes, it is a matter of choice, in theory, but so much of football’s business plan is based on fans’ inability to say no, a desperation to get their weekly fix, if only out of a sense of duty. That includes the Blackpool supporters who have endured so much misery in recent years under the Oyston family’s wretched ownership. The EFL seems to be taking advantage of fans’ willingness to follow their team home and awayMICHAEL STEELE/GETTY IMAGES When Blackpool’s fans travelled to Plymouth on that Tuesday night last month, they paid the same price for tickets (£21 for adults, £16 for over-65s and those aged 18-21, £8 for under-18s) as Fleetwood Town’s supporters will pay this weekend. If the fixture list is deliberately skewed in a manner that makes it more difficult for away fans to attend midweek fixtures, there should be a reduced rate in such circumstances – or perhaps an offer by the EFL to subsidise their travel costs. Either way, at least supporters know the score now. That they travel such long distances in midweek is evidently a source of wonder to the football authorities. Still, at least the EFL is not proposing to send a team from the north-west to play a match in London at 4pm on Christmas Eve. That really would be an insult, wouldn’t it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOTBLUE Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 It was going well until he mentioned the sags enormous away following,that’s where I stopped reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hunt-Hertz Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 8 minutes ago, NOTBLUE said: It was going well until he mentioned the sags enormous away following,that’s where I stopped reading. I was just about to write the very same thing....credibilty shot to pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted October 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 I agree that bit is unfortunate. However, one thing I have noticed down the years, unfortunately- and maybe it''s just those people I know and have associated with- incomers to Bristol, if they have had any preference for a Bristol side, have tended to have more sympathy or warm feelings towards that lot than us. Maybe changing now but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted October 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Anyway forget them...main thing is Football League scheduling puts away fans at a major disadvantage here...and it's not just a byproduct but a conscious decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 I always thought clubs requested this too. It`s to do with travelling on the day so they don`t have to pay for overnight stays as they would if it was a 3pm Saturday kick off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 16 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said: I agree that bit is unfortunate. However, one thing I have noticed down the years, unfortunately- and maybe it''s just those people I know and have associated with- incomers to Bristol, if they have had any preference for a Bristol side, have tended to have more sympathy or warm feelings towards that lot than us. Maybe changing now but... You're right. It must just be the people you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted October 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 7 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said: You're right. It must just be the people you know. The feeling among said people was that, that lot were plucky underdogs, etc so...Geography thing? Who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted October 6, 2017 Admin Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 It's not actually rocket science I've said this time and time again, many sides request these fixtures as it saves them money. If a long distance game is on a Saturday the travelling side will be forced to travel on the Friday and have hotel costs, if it's midweek they leave early on the match day, stop off en route then travel home through the night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exAtyeoMax Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 27 minutes ago, phantom said: It's not actually rocket science I've said this time and time again, many sides request these fixtures as it saves them money. If a long distance game is on a Saturday the travelling side will be forced to travel on the Friday and have hotel costs, if it's midweek they leave early on the match day, stop off en route then travel home through the night perhaps they should try a Travelodge or a local B&B…? Or take a caravan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said: perhaps they should try a Travelodge or a local B&B…? Or take a caravan? I`m sure some already do, those with a ready supply on tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyredredrobin Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 hour ago, NOTBLUE said: It was going well until he mentioned the sags enormous away following,that’s where I stopped reading. Me too. Damned long article to say very little too. Local games tend to be arranged for bank hols xmas, easter, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TV Tom Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Not sure about this, we have Fulham, Brentford, Wolves midweek, Villa on a bank holiday yet have to travel to Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Hull, Norwich and most other Northern clubs on a Saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 6 minutes ago, harrys said: Not sure about this, we have Fulham, Brentford, Wolves midweek, Villa on a bank holiday yet have to travel to Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Hull, Norwich and most other Northern clubs on a Saturday I don`t think it matters much at our level and above - we`d probably travel the day before and stay over no matter what. It`s more about keeping costs down for the lower league clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bar BS3 Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said: I agree that bit is unfortunate. However, one thing I have noticed down the years, unfortunately- and maybe it''s just those people I know and have associated with- incomers to Bristol, if they have had any preference for a Bristol side, have tended to have more sympathy or warm feelings towards that lot than us. Maybe changing now but... That's probably because they grew up believing that Lapland & "Santas Grotto" were the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hunt-Hertz Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said: I agree that bit is unfortunate. However, one thing I have noticed down the years, unfortunately- and maybe it''s just those people I know and have associated with- incomers to Bristol, if they have had any preference for a Bristol side, have tended to have more sympathy or warm feelings towards that lot than us. Maybe changing now but... You must know too many metropolitan Guardianista arsewipes, mate. A pox on the sags (hang on, they'll have already got it off their mums) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 hour ago, phantom said: It's not actually rocket science I've said this time and time again, many sides request these fixtures as it saves them money. If a long distance game is on a Saturday the travelling side will be forced to travel on the Friday and have hotel costs, if it's midweek they leave early on the match day, stop off en route then travel home through the night It doesn`t always work though. I`ve just seen the Westcountry Sports News and tomorrow Plymouth are at home to Fleetwood and Exeter are away to Carlisle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldRed Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 4 hours ago, NOTBLUE said: It was going well until he mentioned the sags enormous away following,that’s where I stopped reading. It was a thinly veiled jibe. "You take a few dozen more than I'd expect for such a shit club". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTFiGO!?! Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 3 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said: I agree that bit is unfortunate. However, one thing I have noticed down the years, unfortunately- and maybe it''s just those people I know and have associated with- incomers to Bristol, if they have had any preference for a Bristol side, have tended to have more sympathy or warm feelings towards that lot than us. Maybe changing now but... I've had the opposite observation. First generation Bristolians - for whom I have known lots (and I am actually one) - have either sided with or gone on to support City. It's one of the many reasons we have the advantage over them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted October 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 23 hours ago, WTFiGO!?! said: I've had the opposite observation. First generation Bristolians - for whom I have known lots (and I am actually one) - have either sided with or gone on to support City. It's one of the many reasons we have the advantage over them. Good to hear my experiences not representative! Increasingly though the new trend in terms of those moving here just big 4 or 5 PL sides over either side really. Sign of the times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshire_red Posted October 9, 2017 Report Share Posted October 9, 2017 Daniel Taylor wrote an illuminating article in yesterday's "Observer" revealing that the Football League have a policy of deliberately scheduling midweek fixtures to maximise travel for away fans......... https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/oct/07/football-league-supporters-chandeliers-roy-keane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezo Posted October 9, 2017 Report Share Posted October 9, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshire_red Posted October 9, 2017 Report Share Posted October 9, 2017 Ahh rehashing an article in their sister paper. MODS PLEASE DELETE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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