local derbys at xmas / new year

[National express super guard 0]

just wanted to get opinions on the conferences idea to keep games local on boxing day and new years day?I for one wouldn''t mind playing the binners boxing day and new years day, with perhaps a london club in between. I love what the conference has done, and in the old days (pre 1981 when I was but a twinkle in my daddys eye) did we not play them lot down the road at christmas, twice within 3 days?also local derbies help with travelling at this time of year (we hard working railway employess deserve our 2 days at xmas off, and the buses don''t run new years day). oh and to make it topical, Roeder out!

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I think they try and do that anyway. We seem to be considered a London club for the purposes of these fixtures hence we always get palace or QPR although they ignore the fact that there are generally no trains which makes a London game as hard as anywhere in the country for our fans to get to! If you look though the London clubs always play each other hence QPR had Watford and Charlton over the Christmas period.

[ncfcstar 287]

I would love to play Ipswich twice like that, but it would be a nightmare to police two derbies within a week, especially at Xmas when people deserve some days off. That''s why it doesn''t happen any more I guess.

[Bovril 219]

yep indeed they do try and get the fixtures as close as possible...there are so many factors that go into creating the fixtures..hence you will see a familiar fixture list next year, of course depending on the teams that go up and down.