Fixtures...

Largely political I suspect. As I understand things, the SL wasn't happy with the FA's insistence on increasing the Premier Division to 24 clubs (for reasons I'm still not entirely certain on) and thus are making no concessions regarding the extra four rounds of fixtures.

I agree it would have made sense to start the season on 3 August.

Then again it would make more sense to play games at Redditch & Banbury in midweek and Hungerford & Biggleswade on Bank Holidays but when did common sense ever come into things?

I would of thought it would of made sense to have started the season before the EPL, surely helping attract fans who may usually be watching the EPL be it live or in pubs?

Just hope dont have bad winter! And will the clubs who entered the league cup regret their decision

Not sure who actually decides when the season starts, but I would guess it's probably the League Management Committee, after consultation with the clubs.

To be honest, I suspect the main reason for not starting two weeks earlier is financial. The clubs would have to pay two extra weeks' wages but would not have any extra games to bring in income.

Besides, regardless of fitting in matches, August 17th is plenty enough time to kick off the football season. We're only just about to start the Third Test, ffs!

Dave the Glassboy wrote:Then again it would make more sense to play games at Redditch & Banbury in midweek and Hungerford & Biggleswade on Bank Holidays but when did common sense ever come into things?

Again this probably has to do with the clubs' wishes. I would suspect the majority would prefer local derbies on the Bank Holidays. Of course, for most a local derby doesn't mean Stourbridge v Banbury!

The SL and good sense don't usually go together; even starting on the 10th and having a midweek on the 13th would have relieved some of the strain.

Although the fixture list looks fine now, it certainly won't for teams having even a semi-decent Cup and/or Trophy run, plus county cups and league cup for everyone apart from us and Cambridge.

Plus as Baz says, all it needs is a few wipeout weekends due to a bad winter and suddenly most teams will be Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday come March and April.

Not only that, but the playoff teams will be knackered after a 46 game season + cup matches.

Not sure I understand TRM's point about weekly wages; so far as I was aware we do not pay our non-contracted players on a weekly basis, but per match. Correct me if I'm wrong though!

My opinion its a fiasco we are not kicking off this weekend,this league is a car crash waiting to happen towards the end of the season with the extra matches teams teams will have to play,due to cup runs and matches called off,the only people i feel sorry for is the players who will have to play lots of matches in a short time and lord help us if we get any bad injuries! Common sense has not prevailed in this situation,i hope i am proven wrong but not holding my breath!

Of course its likely to be the same for all teams. We could benefit as were not entered in to the League Cup.

TRM wrote:To be honest, I suspect the main reason for not starting two weeks earlier is financial. The clubs would have to pay two extra weeks' wages but would not have any extra games to bring in income.

Er, there are two extra home games. That's part of the point.

TRM wrote:

Dave the Glassboy wrote:Then again it would make more sense to play games at Redditch & Banbury in midweek and Hungerford & Biggleswade on Bank Holidays but when did common sense ever come into things?

Again this probably has to do with the clubs' wishes. I would suspect the majority would prefer local derbies on the Bank Holidays. Of course, for most a local derby doesn't mean Stourbridge v Banbury!

Hmmm. I can understand having a local(ish) game on Boxing Day and even to a certain extent on New Year's Day. But for the others (August/Easter Monday) mainly I can't see why clubs would necessarily "want" a local game. Why waste an afternoon fixture by playing something that could be comfortably done in midweek?

Dave the Glassboy wrote:

TRM wrote:To be honest, I suspect the main reason for not starting two weeks earlier is financial. The clubs would have to pay two extra weeks' wages but would not have any extra games to bring in income.

Er, there are two extra home games. That's part of the point.

But we're playing two extra home matches whether we start on the 3rd or the 17th, or the 10th for that matter. I'm not comparing this season with last season, I'm comparing different scenarios for this season.

Dave the Glassboy wrote:

TRM wrote:

Dave the Glassboy wrote:Then again it would make more sense to play games at Redditch & Banbury in midweek and Hungerford & Biggleswade on Bank Holidays but when did common sense ever come into things?

Again this probably has to do with the clubs' wishes. I would suspect the majority would prefer local derbies on the Bank Holidays. Of course, for most a local derby doesn't mean Stourbridge v Banbury!

Hmmm. I can understand having a local(ish) game on Boxing Day and even to a certain extent on New Year's Day. But for the others (August/Easter Monday) mainly I can't see why clubs would necessarily "want" a local game. Why waste an afternoon fixture by playing something that could be comfortably done in midweek?

I don't necessarily disagree, Dave. I'm just guessing at the League's reasons for the way the fixtures are arranged.

stour_boy wrote:Not sure I understand TRM's point about weekly wages; so far as I was aware we do not pay our non-contracted players on a weekly basis, but per match. Correct me if I'm wrong though!

I was thinking in particular of contracted players. Some clubs will have more than others, and some will certainly have more than us! I don't know the basis on which we pay our non-contract players. Your thoughts may well be right on that. But other clubs may have different arrangements with different players.

Chesham United game to be played at Redditch. Good that only one game is affected this year, and hope that the crowd isn't overly down on our usual Amblecote average.

A Quick Question.

Does Stourbridge benefit in any way from the Matchday revenue in the food hut or Bar for the game at Redditch ?

meadow_man wrote:A Quick Question.

Does Stourbridge benefit in any way from the Matchday revenue in the food hut or Bar for the game at Redditch ?

Honestly not sure - would assume the bar takings all go to Redditch, not so sure about the food. Could be wrong though.

Expect most of the Chesh fans will head into town again then, rather than line Swann's pockets

meadow_man wrote:Expect most of the Chesh fans will head into town again then, rather than line Swann's pockets

How's he managed to annoy you lot then?

Spare a thought for us - we've got to go there twice this weekend as we're playing Redditch away on Monday. At least it gets it out of the way, although we're bound to draw them in the Worcs Senior Cup and probably the FA Cup and Trophy as well knowing our luck. At least we can't get them in the League Cup!

How's your start been? Must admit I expect you to be up there so 1 point from 6, and 5 goals conceded doesn't sound great.

Small matter of an unpaid Bill for the Door & Frame that Josh Mckenzie kicked in after getting sent off at our place the other year after decking the ref!!!!