More long midweek journeys

[coaxingstar71]

Shield has written an article in the Star that I actually agree with and the BBC also has a story on it, albeit looking at Festive period journeys.

Once again the fixture computers have come up with a number of ridiculous midweek long distance journeys for fans.

Ardent Blades fans will once again be forced to take time off work and possibly stop overs for :

Tues 15th Aug. - Cardiff
Tues 31st Oct - QPR
Tues 6th Mar - Fulham

It's not just Blades fans. Away fans coming to Bramall Lane have it just as bad.

Tues 21st Nov - Fulham
Tues 26th Dec - Sunderland
Tues 20th Feb - QPR
Mon 2nd Apr - Cardiff

So all our games v Cardiff, Fulham and QPR are in midweek, where's the logic in that? Really is time that this was reviewed.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Gutted about QPR & Fulham had some good sessions around Shepherds Bush & Putney Bridge on previous visits .. as for Cardiff you can keep the capital of Sheep- shagging - inbred-ville ..worked there many times you have fkg conversation with a local without been showered in spit .. duelling banjos city

 

[BushBlade]

Shield has written an article in the Star that I actually agree with and the BBC also has a story on it, albeit looking at Festive period journeys.

Once again the fixture computers have come up with a number of ridiculous midweek long distance journeys for fans.

Ardent Blades fans will once again be forced to take time off work and possibly stop overs for :

Tues 15th Aug. - Cardiff
Tues 31st Oct - QPR
Tues 6th Mar - Fulham

It's not just Blades fans. Away fans coming to Bramall Lane have it just as bad.

Tues 21st Nov - Fulham
Tues 26th Dec - Sunderland
Tues 20th Feb - QPR
Mon 2nd Apr - Cardiff

So all our games v Cardiff, Fulham and QPR are in midweek, where's the logic in that? Really is time that this was reviewed.

What I find surprising is that Boxing Day and Easter bank holiday are traditionally local derbies. And we get Sunderland and Cardiff despite there being about 8 Yorkshire teams in the division.

 

[JayGreen17]

What I find surprising is that Boxing Day and Easter bank holiday are traditionally local derbies. And we get Sunderland and Cardiff despite there being about 8 Yorkshire teams in the division.

I don't think local derbies have occurred for about 30 years over the holiday period?

 

[BushBlade]

I don't think local derbies have occurred for about 30 years over the holiday period?

Usually more local than Cardiff from memory.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Gutted about QPR & Fulham had some good sessions around Shepherds Bush & Putney Bridge on previous visits .. as for Cardiff you can keep the capital of Sheep- shagging - inbred-ville ..worked there many times you have fkg conversation with a local without been showered in spit .. duelling banjos city

I liked Cardiff when I went there last year. We stayed in Penarth and it was lovely. Was hoping to get to that one, but being midweek makes it very difficult.

 

[GrozzaTheBlade]

Id rather do a midweek trip to the smoke than fucking Walsall

 

[snb69]

It's because the clubs ask for it - they would, on the whole, rather have nearer clubs at the weekend as it boosts away attendance more. I read an article last year on it - if I could find the link I would. The travelling fans are not really considered in this

 

[coaxingstar71]

I don't think local derbies have occurred for about 30 years over the holiday period?

Is there any logical reason why not?

 

[BushBlade]

It's because the clubs ask for it - they would, on the whole, rather have nearer clubs at the weekend as it boosts away attendance more. I read an article last year on it - if I could find the link I would. The travelling fans are not really considered in this

I can see the argument in that. I guess Cardiff will bring so few we can stick them in BL lower and open the upper to the Blades. We usually get good attendances during the holiday periods.

 

[S64 Blade]

The London games aren't too bad, as you can at least get the train back still. Cardiff is a no-go if you're not wanting to drive, or catch a coach.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Is there any logical reason why not?

Policing bills, I'd assume. Holiday cover means extra payments, so avoiding a local derby when presumably more police are needed, keeps down costs.

 

[BushBlade]

The London games aren't too bad, as you can at least get the train back still. Cardiff is a no-go if you're not wanting to drive, or catch a coach.

What time do they stop running? I guess it's a Sunday service on bank holidays

 

[S64 Blade]

What time do they stop running? I guess it's a Sunday service on bank holidays

Sorry, I was referring to the away game on the Tuesday night, in August. The last one to get you back in Sheffield that night/early hours of Wednesday is at 20:17, meaning you could probably catch 2 minutes of the game, before heading back to Cardiff Central.

 

[WORKSOPBLADE]

I can see the argument in that. I guess Cardiff will bring so few we can stick them in BL lower and open the upper to the Blades. We usually get good attendances during the holiday periods.

I suspect after last seasons 'test cases' upper will be for home fans for a lot of matches

 

[BushBlade]

Sorry, I was referring to the away game on the Tuesday night, in August. The last one to get you back in Sheffield that night/early hours of Wednesday is at 20:17, meaning you could probably catch 2 minutes of the game, before heading back to Cardiff Central.

Yeah, I'm getting confused.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Definitely needs a look at, how many seasons in a row did we have Yeovil and Colchester midweek?

 

[coaxingstar71]

Policing bills, I'd assume. Holiday cover means extra payments, so avoiding a local derby when presumably more police are needed, keeps down costs.

Seems a reasonable assumption but relatively surely wouldn't cost much more. For example, would we need less policing for Sunderland than we would for Barnsley or even Forest?

 

[Scooter_mcgavin]

The annoying thing about the Fulham fixture is that they normal give the away fans 6/7k if they can sell them. It will be one of the only away games we get that will get that sort of allocation.

 

[raul]

One for Roygbiv - find a forum where there isn't a thread about shit fixture scheduling. If all the midweek fixtures were scheduled on the basis of proximity, then people would be up in arms about them not being on a Saturday. Can't have it all ways up. The source of the problem for me is the relatively new phenomenon of cancelling entire weekend programmes outside of the top Division for effing International games. Absolute joke .

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Interesting article on how the fixtures lists are compiled. All sorts of factors need to be taken into consideration.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/jun/15/fixtures-premier-league-football-league-compiled

 

[Northyorksblade]

One of the few advantages to being an old bastard, is every day is the same, so Tuesday night isn't a problem. There's something great though about a weekend in London for the football. Apart from one week, which we had to book, to take our grand daughter back to Spain, we were waiting for the fixtures to come out before booking anything. Luckily we don't miss a home game but two away games, we would definitely gone to, Sunderland and Bolton. Still, you can't win em all.

 

[jamie0114]

Is there any logical reason why not?

I think it was changed at the request of clubs (not fans), the logic being that derbies get big crowds whenever they are played and so by playing non-local teams on holidays it means an additional bumper crowd in theory.

 

[blackydog]

Seems a reasonable assumption but relatively surely wouldn't cost much more. For example, would we need less policing for Sunderland than we would for Barnsley or even Forest?

Good point.
Barnsley were last to cause bother at the 'Lane as far as I know. Outside the church, we were caught up in it.
Also when I couldn't get an away ticket a couple of seasons a go I went to see Rotherham play Forest, they were fighting with each other and at least 3 got ejected.

 

[Bayingblade]

Shield has written an article in the Star that I actually agree with and the BBC also has a story on it, albeit looking at Festive period journeys.

Once again the fixture computers have come up with a number of ridiculous midweek long distance journeys for fans.

Ardent Blades fans will once again be forced to take time off work and possibly stop overs for :

Tues 15th Aug. - Cardiff
Tues 31st Oct - QPR
Tues 6th Mar - Fulham

It's not just Blades fans. Away fans coming to Bramall Lane have it just as bad.

Tues 21st Nov - Fulham
Tues 26th Dec - Sunderland
Tues 20th Feb - QPR
Mon 2nd Apr - Cardiff

So all our games v Cardiff, Fulham and QPR are in midweek, where's the logic in that? Really is time that this was reviewed.

I think Sunderland fans will be quite happy with their Boxing Day trip. After all, they could have done far, far worse. They could have been at Hillsborough!!

 

[Gimli]

this is more of an issue for Sunderland than it is for us. I don't think we can really complain about this as we are fairly central and it's just about impossible to never have a long midweek journey over the course of a season - everyone has to play Cardiff, Bristol, Sunderland away once and we have to have midweek fixtures so somebody somewhere will end up peeved.

 

[bladesadviser]

It's because the clubs ask for it - they would, on the whole, rather have nearer clubs at the weekend as it boosts away attendance more. I read an article last year on it - if I could find the link I would. The travelling fans are not really considered in this

I saw either that article or similar and they were talking about Plymouth v Carlisle being on a Tuesday and it seems club chairman prefer this because the logic is that not many fans will make the trip whether its midweek or Saturday so they are better off not "wasting" a Saturday slot on a low attendance. That seemed to be the theory anyway!

 

[ghandi]

Sorry, I was referring to the away game on the Tuesday night, in August. The last one to get you back in Sheffield that night/early hours of Wednesday is at 20:17, meaning you could probably catch 2 minutes of the game, before heading back to Cardiff Central.

Lat midweek train from St Pancras to Sheffiled is 22:25. Outside chance of catching against QPR. Zero chance against Fulham.

 

[Sheffsteel]

This has been mentioned before.

A few years ago I listened to the James Whale show on Talksport Radio. The studio guest was the man that runs the football fixtures computer and they were inviting questions from the general public.

They read out an email asking why most of the midweek fixtures are long distance saying it was unfair to away fans.

The representative from the FL explained that the computer is pretty advanced and can often take into account requests by individual clubs. He said that most clubs actually request that their mid week fixtures are long distance and they always aim to fulfil wishes by the clubs.

The reason as expected is financial.

The argument is that clubs from longer distances wouldn't bring much support whether it was a Saturday or a Tuesday, so the home club hasn't lost much revenue from playing that fixture on a Tuesday.

Also most clubs request that their big matches and local derbies are played at the weekend so that they can maximise revenue by gauranteeing a greater home and away following.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

I think Sunderland fans will be quite happy with their Boxing Day trip. After all, they could have done far, far worse. They could have been at Hillsborough!!

Sunderland fan I know says there very happy with us as Boxing Day fixture , they don't look at 2 hours down a19 & a1 as long trek compared to some they've done !