Cod Almighty | Diary
The fixture list that favours iFollow over fans
25 August 2020
Casual Diary didn't see any of Town's opener against Cleethorpes on Saturday. Having fallen victim to the online streaming company's teething problems I gave up 15 minutes in. I understand they were largely sorted after about 20 minutes. The goals are available on the official site. I won't be asking for my £5 back. I'm sure the annual game against Town is the Owls' biggest money spinner gate-wise and will leave a large hole in their budgets due to the lack of crowd. The company streaming is also no Sky and probably make a small living streaming lower league games for the non-League die-hards.
I won't be as forgiving if iFollow have similar problems when the League gets under way. When the fixture list was released last Friday it was clear that the League had done their best to ensure an increased TV audience for their partner, even in the event the government allow fans into games.
My first gripe was the allocation of that traditional Boxing Day derby against, err, Morecambe. In recent seasons the League seem to have gone out of their way to provide those Town fans wish to take in a christmas game with a journey to hell. We have had Port Vale and Macclesfield - two of the most difficult places to drive to - and now a six-hour trip to the Lancashire coast with no trains.
Yet the week before, on peak christmas shopping day, we host Scunthorpe. Some have suggested the local dibble don't wish to pay double bubble for the extra police supposedly required for the visit of our nearest geographical rivals; I'm not convinced PC Plod gets bank holiday enhancements and if they do the club are billed accordingly. It is also only the overkill of Humberside's finest that dictate such numbers are necessary. In 50+ years of attending Town v Iron matches I've seen about three minor scuffles and a bit of stone throwing. The Old Firm derby it isn't.
If that wasn't enough the league have gone out of their way to make Town's midweek games as difficult as possible for match-going fans of either participants. In a total of 10 midweek fixtures home and away, only Oldham and Harrogate's trips to Blundell Park come in at a reasonable 90-minutes travel time. Of our away games we are expected to travel just over 1,000 miles. Not one of the games at Forest Green, Crawley, Southend, Barrow and Carlisle takes less than three hours to get to with, Crawley taking a ridiculous four hours and seventeen minutes, not allowing for the M25 traffic.
How those fans like me who believe football should be viewed live fit these trips is clearly not a concern to the Football League or its TV partner. I'm lucky enough, being self-employed, that I'll be thre if we are allowed in. People in proper jobs face using a weeks' holiday or more as well as arriving home at 3am a few hours before work starts again.
The clubs themselves miss out on revenue. Each of the games would normally attract north of 400 supporters from Town but given that Barrow may be a new ground to many and the proximity to London of Southend and Crawley each could have anticipated up to 700 with more sympathetic scheduling. Our most recent Tuesday night trips to Barrow, Carlisle and Colchester have attracted less than 150 visiting fans, so the host clubs are losing out on at least £10,000 from ticket sales alone.
Our opponents in the mid-week home games do not fare much better. Morecambe face a return Tuesday night trip to Blundell Park, having visited us in the League Cup earlier. Crawley too face a Tuesday night trip, although judging from past games, not too many would be affected. Exeter however take the prize spot with a mammoth 303-mile, five-hour trip. Normally Exeter are one of the better supported teams at Blundell Park: they won't be this year.
The uncertainties over the return of fans, and over the role of iFollow remain. Covid-19 should have taught us that football without fans is nothing, but the lesson has not been heard by whoever put together this season's fixtures.
Today, weather permitting, Town take on a team of trialists. As I write it is pouring with rain and blowing a bastard. I guess we'll find out how are potential recruits will play in normal Blundell Park conditions. Manager Ian Holloway has enlightened us that some of the new signings aren't fit, and that Bilel Mohsni can play in just about any position on the field. The Telegraph also offers some detail on the two trialists who played on Saturday. The consensus is that they did OK at Clee Town.
If Twitter is anything to go by, a slight nervousness is creeping into the faithful regarding our players, one person calling it a bottom-six squad. This would seem both premature and harsh when we haven't seen them play. Holloway has asked that we don't judge too early and hold our opinions until christmas. Let's hope that by the time we turn around for the three-hour journey home on Boxing Day it's after a victory leaves us handily placed for a 2021 title push.
UTM.