Yesterdays Travel Debacle

[marky No.1]

Plymouth are taking the fixture list up with the Football League
http://www.pasoti.co.uk/talk/viewtopic. ... f92b7f0d91

Some Coaches still not got to Lancaster by 5pm, one coach turned around at 6pm
http://www.pasoti.co.uk/talk/viewtopic. ... &start=156

"We left at 6.30am and got there for half time.Traffic was horrendous!"

I see some of tomorrows fixtures aren't great for travel either

Carlisle v Br. rovers
Plymouth v York
Leyton O v Hartlepool

Quite happy that we are not going to Dagenham

[George Dawes]

Strengthens the argument to have regional leagues uptill the championship.

[Seasider9601]

Strengthens the argument to have regional leagues uptill the championship.

Exactly what I have been saying for yonks.

[MfcChris]

Regional leagues would be the only counter argument. For Plymouth to moan about the fixture list organiser is stupid and built on frustration of traffic.

The reason for North Vs South fixture is clearly the amount of southern teams in League 2. If North v North is kept for Xmas/New Year and early season Tuesday's, then there is not many North v North games that can happen at Easter for 2 games.

Last season was more northern and Easter was Morecambe v Accrington and Bury.

[John L]

Regional leagues would be the only counter argument. For Plymouth to moan about the fixture list organiser is stupid and built on frustration of traffic.

The reason for North Vs South fixture is clearly the amount of southern teams in League 2. If North v North is kept for Xmas/New Year and early season Tuesday's, then there is not many North v North games that can happen at Easter for 2 games.

Last season was more northern and Easter was Morecambe v Accrington and Bury.

This season, however, has seen the original Tuesday night, Christmas and Easter fixtures consist of long distance ties across the division, and local games usually at 3pm on a regular Saturday. Whoever is in charge of programming the fixture computer should be capable of tweaking it for the benefit of fans. For example, we are away at Accrington on Saturday 16th April at 3pm yet go to Cambridge three days later for a 7.45pm kick off. That's ridiculous!

[KenH]

The reason for North Vs South fixture is clearly the amount of southern teams in League 2. If North v North is kept for Xmas/New Year and early season Tuesday's, then there is not many North v North games that can happen at Easter for 2 games.

What's stupid is playing teams that are extreme distances from each other. No one is saqying you have to play your closest team on Bank holidays or Tuesday nights in the depth of winter, but it would certainly help if the fixtures were set for "closer" teams. Plenty of teams are closer than Plymouth to us, and closer to Plymouth than us, which would be meant a more sensible Good Friday match.

On Good Friday, we could have played any number of more local matches. Not all the L2 teams are actually so far south!

[seasonsinthesun]

I agree.
We were scheduled to play Mansfield and Notts County at Christmas and then at New year it was away at Wycombe.
It could have been Accrington York and Carlisle which would have been better for all.

[KenH]

Better fixture planning isn't rocket science and doesn't need special computer programming. There are only 24 teams!

You start by fixing the "difficult" matches, i.e. set the closer teams together for bank holidays, and the extreme distance teams for Saturdays. Then just randomly match whoever's left for the remaining bulk of Saturdays and Tuesdays.

If you wanted to refine it, you could select the long distance matches in the "nicer" months, i.e. start and end of the season rather than the depths of winter, or you could select closer teams for Tuesdays rather than Saturdays.

This season's fixtures have been incredibly bad - they were bad when they were first announced, and the way the cup matches have fallen, weather, and other postponements have made it even worse.

More thought must have been given in previous years, it can't have been a coincidence that we played the likes of Fleetwood, Accrington, etc on bank holidays! I think Plymouth are right to complain and I hope MFC have made representations too - the way the fixtures have fallen this year have crippled us financially.

[marky No.1]

Thing is, as we know, there are few teams that are "localish" to us now in L2. If you say these are Carlisle, Hartlepool, Accrington, and York then we cant play just 4 teams on Bank Holidays, Tuesdays and Christmas/New Year... however they should have been able to do better than Dagenham on Easter Monday, Wycombe on 2nd Jan. and Luton/Cambridge on a Tuesday.

We would not be saying this had we been in L1.

Next season will be better when we have the addition of Crewe, Oldham, Fleetwood/Blackpool, even Doncaster although we might lose York and Accy

Not looking forward to Cheltenham on a Tuesday/Friday

[Christies Child]

A question about the fixtures was raised at the. fans forum and I seem to recall the panel replying that the club could do nothing about the dates or timings of the games

[mrpotatohead]

Is it the panels fault Neil?

[Christies Child]

Is it the panels fault Neil?

Don't be stupid. You know bloody well where the fault lies....

[George Dawes]

If the majority of FL clubs voted for this on what grounds could it be refused?

Setting it up ie, would have to be the furthest 24 clubs north then likewise South you go into, so a team in the midlands could end up in the north? Depending how things stand at the time.

Basically it could be to hard to set up, so thats why its not happend.

[KenH]

A question about the fixtures was raised at the. fans forum and I seem to recall the panel replying that the club could do nothing about the dates or timings of the games

But have they even tried to make representations? Or are they just rolling over and accepting it?

Are we saying, then, that's it's been pure coincidence in the past that we've had local games at Christmas and Easter? I find that a coincidence too far.

[outsider]

If the majority of FL clubs voted for this on what grounds could it be refused?

Setting it up ie, would have to be the furthest 24 clubs north then likewise South you go into, so a team in the midlands could end up in the north? Depending how things stand at the time.

Basically it could be to hard to set up, so thats why its not happend.

They manage to do it for the JPT

[George Dawes]

.. Yeah was just thinking that, and non league so no reason why this cant be put forward to vote with the FL, cant see what they would have against it.

It might be a case of somebody speaking to other clubs and getting the ball rolling.

[outsider]

I think the main stumbling block would be, is it league 1 and 2, or league 2 and conference.

[John L]

I think the main stumbling block would be, is it league 1 and 2, or league 2 and conference.

Probably League 2 and Conference, as the next level down is already split. I think it's a good idea, especially done that way as it'd still mean we'd be one of the more affluent clubs.

[George Dawes]

I think the main stumbling block would be, is it league 1 and 2, or league 2 and conference.

Probably League 2 and Conference, as the next level down is already split. I think it's a good idea, especially done that way as it'd still mean we'd be one of the more affluent clubs.

I think teams in the championship and premier league would be entitle to a vote.

Reason being if they were to get relegated it would effect them, but even then i would say most teams would be in favour of this for obvious reasons.

[Teams like Morecambe]

How many fans benefited from the half hour delay? Who makes this decision? What's the maximum delay to kick off that can be enforced? Given that there was a coach of Plymouth fans 45 minutes away at 3:15 why not increase the delay? I know a few locals might have got impatient but a delay of 1-2 hours is nothing compared to the 11 hours of travelling (one way) from Plymouth.

[marky No.1]

Wonder if Colchester are thinking - ooo it will be far better in L2 , we will save lots of travelling?

[Keith]

If League Two merge with Conference, do the league clubs become non-league or non-league clubs become league clubs? Potentially, will Blackpool & Doncaster fancy being in the same league as Solihull Moors & Harrogate Town next season, just to save on travel?

[George Dawes]

If League Two merge with Conference, do the league clubs become non-league or non-league clubs become league clubs? Potentially, will Blackpool & Doncaster fancy being in the same league as Solihull Moors & Harrogate Town next season, just to save on travel?

Its more about getting bigger crowds and money at turnstiles than it is saving on travel expenses.

Cameron got involved in ticket prices saying Premier league clubs biggest income is through TV and sponsership deals, so to charge fans more isnt on.

However money through the turnstiles and bigger crowds is a lifeline to the majority of FL clubs like us.

[Wild Bill]

Personally I can't see a L2-Conference merger with north and south leagues. It might benefit smaller clubs like us but would Pompey really want to save a few quid in travel to play derbies against Eastleigh? It would also make the leagues less competitive with only two going up from each one and probably a bigger gap in standard with L1 making staying up really difficult.

Agree though that more thought in fixture selection should be made and bank holiday fixtures kept as local as possible.

[MfcChris]

Better fixture planning isn't rocket science and doesn't need special computer programming. There are only 24 teams!

You start by fixing the "difficult" matches, i.e. set the closer teams together for bank holidays, and the extreme distance teams for Saturdays. Then just randomly match whoever's left for the remaining bulk of Saturdays and Tuesdays.

If you wanted to refine it, you could select the long distance matches in the "nicer" months, i.e. start and end of the season rather than the depths of winter, or you could select closer teams for Tuesdays rather than Saturdays.

This season's fixtures have been incredibly bad - they were bad when they were first announced, and the way the cup matches have fallen, weather, and other postponements have made it even worse.

More thought must have been given in previous years, it can't have been a coincidence that we played the likes of Fleetwood, Accrington, etc on bank holidays! I think Plymouth are right to complain and I hope MFC have made representations too - the way the fixtures have fallen this year have crippled us financially.

You're right a computer is not used however it is a science between 92 clubs and the many police, not 24. You need to read the article from a few years ago about how it works. There are many factors including police requirements, travel, steward sharing and many many teams that can't play on the same day example Blackburn and Burnley are not allowed to play at the same time under any circumstances. Neither are the big local clubs like Liverpool/Everton and the Manchester clubs. Bizarrely West Ham and Dagenham can't despite being the least supported club in the FL.

Let me find the article.