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Crabbycanary3

It is cr*p , isn't it?

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Sunderland away, in midweek. Thanks to whom? The EFL? Do people know if we (as a Club) can ask for certain things, when it comes to fixture planning?

I see QPR are playing Sheff Wed, so why couldn''t we swap with them, just to help a bit, for example?

We''ve already played Middlesboro away in midweek this season, and there have been other , similar examples, over recent years, and it just seems to be taking the rise , out of away fans.

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It is carp Crabby. Was it last year we played Bristol and Newcastle away in midweek?

I went to QPR on Monday but would just as likely have gone to Sheffield as it was a bank holiday. It''s the same for the fans coming to us on Tuesdays, they always seem to be the ones travelling furthest too.

I have wondered if it is deliberately done like that because midweek away support is always low so some numbscull has concluded that you might as well play the ones furthest away as they wouldn''t have brought many anyway.

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Not so far in an executive aeroplane for a midweek match......Norwich to Newcastle.....watch the game, Newcastle to Norwich......Home in time for a late, late supper.........Then beddy byes.....

Not as cheap and comfy as the delightful experience and best part of 10 hours on club cabbage....yup......

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There was an article about this last season and the guys that arrange the fixtures admitted it’s deliberate. Not that they deliberately put long away trips midweek but that they try and arrange Saturday games to maximise away support to increase crowds and I suppose a side effect of that is that you get fixtures like ours tomorrow.

I presume there must be some statistical evidence to show this works because my own view is that had we had QPR tomorrow night and Sunderland on Easter Monday then we’d probably have taken 3 or 4 times as many fans as we will take to Sunderland and the away following at QPR wouldn’t have been significantly reduced on a Tuesday night.

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I think that logic, if it is what they do use, is rather flawed, and it still takes horrible advantage of diehard supporters of all clubs. Sense should suggest that there ought to be a ''reasonableness'' test of away travel for night games - for us, London/the midlands would make things far safer for travel for supporters and attendances could actually be bigger.

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https://www.efl.com/news/2017/june/fixture-release-day-compiling-the-fixtures---the-impossible-job/

I was basing the above on this interview from last summer.

Certainly if you look st who we’ve played at home or away midweek in recent years we’ve had a fair few long hauls.

This season we will have played Boro, Sunderland, QPR, Wolves x2, Forest x2 and Burton in games originally scheduled for evening kick offs.

From recollection we had evening games against Newcastle, Wigan and Bristol City last season.

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That article doesn''t ease the pain at all, certainly talking about being largely random, and the ''higher than average mileage''. If Sunderland/Middlesboro are not higher than average for Norwich fans, I do not know what is.

Can our Club, not make a better case (bearing in mind we have excellent away numbers) or is it because of that fact, that we don''t press hard enough for change, because we would still get a very good turnout despite away fixture like this?

Without looking at all the mileages, to have both Sunderland and Middlesboro away in midweek, in the same season, is really cr*p

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Ridiculous isn''t it. Middlesbrough and Sunderland away midweek this week. Bristol City and Newcastle last season. I have been to Everton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Stoke, Man City all midweek or a Monday when we were in the prem.

I just don''t understand I think the night we played away at Middlesbrough Sunderland came down to Ipswich, why didn''t they swap those fixtures, surely us playing Ipswich, London or Birmingham teams makes more sense. Forest was about the only sensible one this season for travel.

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[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]Sunderland away, in midweek. Thanks to whom? The EFL? Do people know if we (as a Club) can ask for certain things, when it comes to fixture planning?

I see QPR are playing Sheff Wed, so why couldn''t we swap with them, just to help a bit, for example?

We''ve already played Middlesboro away in midweek this season, and there have been other , similar examples, over recent years, and it just seems to be taking the rise , out of away fans.[/quote]

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Thanks for that MooreM. Some amazing examples of what lengths supporters are prepared to go to!

I''m sure one of the reasons put forward last year for the proposed restructure to 5 divisions of 20 teams was to be able to get rid of the midweek fixtures which had lower attendances.

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Thanks MM, and it answers the questions, but highlights how cr*p the system really is, and (surprise surprise) the indifference to the loyal away fans.

A local derby would not, despite his reasoning, mean much lower crowds, they would still be very well attended. As he says, the travelling for these are within 1 and 1 half hours, and I wager more people work on a Saturday afternoon, than an evening.

Also, what a crock his comments about not setting out to be inconvenient for fans, but then saying it is deliberate!

People (fans and the Club) need to make more noise, or at least explain, why they are happy to go along with the current system.

I''m not sure how many more Plymouth et al, would take to weekend long trips, but we, as an extremely well supported away team, are a different beast (on numbers) to those lower league sides

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