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GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary

Time to change to football calendar ??.....discuss

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Heard a debate on talksport last night with Stan Collymore which discussed something which I have thought about for many a year now.

Is is time to consider changing the months of the football season from March - November.

This would eradicate the winter postponments we are seeing, negate any calls for winter breaks, in the very height of summer i.e June/July introduce 5 or 6 p.m kick offs to avoid playing in hot temperatures where it wouldn''t get dark ''til 9 or 10 at night.

I believe this would also increase attendances up and down the country and make for better away trips (a journey to Blackpool would be more bearable in July than January!), lets be honest other than the first and last months of a football season we generally sit there in the cold.

any thoughts on the pros and cons ????

p.s please don''t say it will ''clash with cricket''

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I do see the reasoning behind wanting to change it, but quite simply I wouldn''t want it changed for no good reason other than it is what I know and despite the cold weather, I like winter footabll around christmas, even if there is issues with the snow

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[quote user="Boyo"]

So what happens every four years when the world cup is on?

[/quote]

Fifa have the ability to change when a world  cup is played !!!!, this would fit in with their plans to play Qatar 2022 in January !!

regarding the Euro championships, maybe the whole of Europe should change to March - November too ,as many leagues already have winter breaks.

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I can understand the OP''s suggestion but feel there would be too many complications.On a personal note, I enjoy the summer break - although I am usually chomping at the bit by the start of the season -  and I guess it means many others get to spend time with their families on holidays, going to beach, days out etc. It would clash with several other sporting events; not just cricket (and I''m no fan of that).I bet there are lots of people who want to get away from their families on Boxing Day just for a change of scene as much as the football!

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="Boyo"]

So what happens every four years when the world cup is on?

[/quote]

Fifa have the ability to change when a world  cup is played !!!!, this would fit in with their plans to play Qatar 2022 in January !!

regarding the Euro championships, maybe the whole of Europe should change to March - November too ,as many leagues already have winter breaks.

[/quote]

 

I''m not doubting whether they can change it or not but why should they?  A World Cup summer is something we all enjoy and why should it be changed?

 

The whole idea of this is silly.  Football is a winter sport and should be played in winter regardless whether games get called off for snow or not.  And yes it is nicer in the stands wearing shorts but I do quite enjoy getting wrapped up and going to football with my Norwich scarf on.  Football is the only thing that makes winter bearable otherwise it is just cold wet and miserbale with nothing apart from Christmas to look forward too.

 

As someone else said, football/rugby in the winter and golf/cricket in the summer and thats the way it should stay.

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i really cant see any positives about changing the schedule. Except maybe a few games are saved from being postponedthe summer break coincides well with what supporters are doing, the majority of supporters take their family holidays at this time as kids are out of school etc. season ticket holders across the country would be gutted if they were missing games as they were on their family holidays- im sure this would leave to the divorce rate increasing further as couples argue about whether or not they will be having a holiday this year or stay home to watch their beloved football clubs. With that will come more depressed single lonely football supporters who are having to eat away thier depression of recently becoming divorced. With this influx of fat supporters, clubs will have to half the size of their grounds as seat sizes will have to double to compensate for these extra large arses and with that club profits will fall and football will disintegrate into nothing- it is for this reason i dont wana see the football schedule change.In all seriousness though the christmas football schedule is one the most enjoyed times of the season, i prefer nothing more than going to watch city play on boxing day. also during summer you dont want spend weekends watching football, but when its cold a weekend of sitting watching football suddenly becomes a lot more attractive. Although i have to say i like the idea of more later afternoon and early evening games. theres also the problems of the european and world cup torunaments, it would have to be every country who changed thier schedule and that''s never going to happen.lets save the summer for the major sporting tournaments, liek the world cups, the olympics, athletic championships and all that, if we didnt have football during winter to watch what would we have?

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[quote user="priceyrice"]i really cant see any positives about changing the schedule. Except maybe a few games are saved from being postponed

the summer break coincides well with what supporters are doing, the majority of supporters take their family holidays at this time as kids are out of school etc. season ticket holders across the country would be gutted if they were missing games as they were on their family holidays- im sure this would leave to the divorce rate increasing further as couples argue about whether or not they will be having a holiday this year or stay home to watch their beloved football clubs. With that will come more depressed single lonely football supporters who are having to eat away thier depression of recently becoming divorced. With this influx of fat supporters, clubs will have to half the size of their grounds as seat sizes will have to double to compensate for these extra large arses and with that club profits will fall and football will disintegrate into nothing- it is for this reason i dont wana see the football schedule change.

In all seriousness though the christmas football schedule is one the most enjoyed times of the season, i prefer nothing more than going to watch city play on boxing day. also during summer you dont want spend weekends watching football, but when its cold a weekend of sitting watching football suddenly becomes a lot more attractive. Although i have to say i like the idea of more later afternoon and early evening games.
theres also the problems of the european and world cup torunaments, it would have to be every country who changed thier schedule and that''s never going to happen.
lets save the summer for the major sporting tournaments, liek the world cups, the olympics, athletic championships and all that, if we didnt have football during winter to watch what would we have?

[/quote]

Unfortunately its not just a ''few'' nowadays though is it?. If our attitude to bad winter weather was as it was 20 years ago, when Ipswich v Leicester scenes were commonplace and people just ''got on with it'' then the whole issue wouldn''t be such a problem. With many grounds having undersoil heating playing in the winter should be even less a problem however over the last 7/8 years a new phenomenon has crept into football.......

  That being the issue off games being called off at the drop of a hat because ''the approaches to the ground aren''t safe'' !!, this was something that never happened in ''my day'' and whilse it continues to happen we will always have wholesale postponments accross winter resulting in increasingly large backlogs of fixtures.

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

[quote user="priceyrice"]i really cant see any positives about changing the schedule. Except maybe a few games are saved from being postponedthe summer break coincides well with what supporters are doing, the majority of supporters take their family holidays at this time as kids are out of school etc. season ticket holders across the country would be gutted if they were missing games as they were on their family holidays- im sure this would leave to the divorce rate increasing further as couples argue about whether or not they will be having a holiday this year or stay home to watch their beloved football clubs. With that will come more depressed single lonely football supporters who are having to eat away thier depression of recently becoming divorced. With this influx of fat supporters, clubs will have to half the size of their grounds as seat sizes will have to double to compensate for these extra large arses and with that club profits will fall and football will disintegrate into nothing- it is for this reason i dont wana see the football schedule change.In all seriousness though the christmas football schedule is one the most enjoyed times of the season, i prefer nothing more than going to watch city play on boxing day. also during summer you dont want spend weekends watching football, but when its cold a weekend of sitting watching football suddenly becomes a lot more attractive. Although i have to say i like the idea of more later afternoon and early evening games. theres also the problems of the european and world cup torunaments, it would have to be every country who changed thier schedule and that''s never going to happen.lets save the summer for the major sporting tournaments, liek the world cups, the olympics, athletic championships and all that, if we didnt have football during winter to watch what would we have?[/quote]

Unfortunately its not just a ''few'' nowadays though is it?. If our attitude to bad winter weather was as it was 20 years ago, when Ipswich v Leicester scenes were commonplace and people just ''got on with it'' then the whole issue wouldn''t be such a problem. With many grounds having undersoil heating playing in the winter should be even less a problem however over the last 7/8 years a new phenomenon has crept into football.......

  That being the issue off games being called off at the drop of a hat because ''the approaches to the ground aren''t safe'' !!, this was something that never happened in ''my day'' and whilse it continues to happen we will always have wholesale postponments accross winter resulting in increasingly large backlogs of fixtures.

[/quote]you make a good point here, the health and safety rules creeping into football are becoming stupid- no standing in the ground, no drinking alcohol in site of the pitch, no caps on bottle drinks allowed etc. It''s getting ridiculus and someone needs to step in and stop it getting out of hand. Changing the calander shouldnt be the solution though, we need health and safety rules which show a bit of common sense.out curiousity what was the reason the chelsea v man u game got cancelled- was that because of the state of the picture or because of the ''unsafe apporach to the ground''? just wondering.

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Last night there was a rugby match played with no supporters allowed in the ground. I can''t remember the teams but basically the pitch was fine to play on but the infrastructure surrounding the stadium was deemed to dangerous to allow supporters safe access. Now if the cold snap lasts into jan and feb surely the FA will have to consider doing this? There is already a huge back log of games and the weather shows no signs of improvement.

Obviously the chances of this happening are low but if it did it may change some peoples views of winter football. With the health and safety culture theses days clubs really do have there hands tied.

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"in the very height of summer i.e June/July introduce 5 or 6 p.m"

yep, everyone would be happy to skip visits to the beach, festivals, local shows, holidays etc - why not add video replays so the game can have proper advertiser sponsored breaks, enlarge the goals to ensure more goals, bring back plastic pitches .......

"games being called off at the drop of a hat because ''the approaches to the ground aren''t safe'' !!, this was something that never happened in ''my day'' "

Nor did we have ''no win no fee'' sh1tehawks - shoot a few of those and everyone would not have to spend so much time covering their backside

ps if anyone needs to know why football in the winter (and in the dark) conjures up magic then

try reading up on memories of that snowy day in ''59 when we knocked Man Utd out of the cup

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"][quote user="Boyo"]

Fifa have the ability to change when a world  cup is played !!!!, this would fit in with their plans to play Qatar 2022 in January !!

regarding the Euro championships, maybe the whole of Europe should change to March - November too ,as many leagues already have winter breaks.

[/quote]

 

I''m not doubting whether they can change it or not but why should they?  A World Cup summer is something we all enjoy and why should it be changed?

 

[/quote]

 

---

 

On the contrary, I think there is a real doubt as to whether Fifa is going to be able to switch the Qatar World Cup, or any other, to the northern hemisphere winter. I would be very surprised if the top European clubs (assuming they haven''t already broken away) don''t have something to say about their money-spinning schedules being so serioulsy disrupted. It is not just the timing of the finals, but the qualifying matches as well. There would potentially be an effect on at least two seasons of football, not just one.

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" A World Cup summer is something we all enjoy and why should it be changed?"

Because midday temperatures will hit a staggering 120f (50c) wich is horrendously hot - dropping to 100f at best. It is ludicrous to even contemplate that football can be played in that heat.

Maybe, with luck, this mickey mouse farce will finally disappear up it''s own backside and it will be regarded for what it is - a nonsense poncing off football to line the pockets of the corrupt FIFA and the greedy FA.

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[quote user="Chunky Norwich"]The Boxing Day fixture is one of the highlights of any season; can you imagine Boxing Day without it? Just a shame it''s nearly always away to Palace[/quote]

That''s just one day out of 3 months though, what about the rest of the time between December to February when its cold and miserable?

It can conceivably snow in this country anywhere between November to March.

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Er since when does the current football close season allow people to get away with their families.  With the football league over the past few seasons starting in the first week of August, and the school terms now ending in the last week of July, you cannot get a fortnight''s holiday in with the kids without missing a footie match.  Now you can''t take the kids out of school without risking imprisonment, the argument over the football close season allowing all to take a holiday has gone for good.  Might as well follow Rugby League - er but on the other hand that sport never became a world beater though with increased attendances (although that is more to do with playing with other rules too much so that no-one enjoys it anymore)!   The winter is for indoor sports - ice hockey anyone?

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

Heard a debate on talksport last night with Stan Collymore which discussed something which I have thought about for many a year now.

Is is time to consider changing the months of the football season from March - November.

This would eradicate the winter postponments we are seeing, negate any calls for winter breaks, in the very height of summer i.e June/July introduce 5 or 6 p.m kick offs to avoid playing in hot temperatures where it wouldn''t get dark ''til 9 or 10 at night.

I believe this would also increase attendances up and down the country and make for better away trips (a journey to Blackpool would be more bearable in July than January!), lets be honest other than the first and last months of a football season we generally sit there in the cold.

any thoughts on the pros and cons ????

p.s please don''t say it will ''clash with cricket''

[/quote]

Don''t be silly man, what would be do all winter without football, sit around all depressed looking at the crappy weather. The summer is for holidays, barbeques, and the occasional summer tournament, lets keep it that way.

And it would clash with cricket :)

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

Heard a debate on talksport last night with Stan Collymore[/quote]

Actually, I think the real question here is... what were you doing listening to Stan Collymore?  And indeed, Talksport full stop?

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I understand having a winter break more than changing football into a ''summer'' sport.

There are so many issues around this that just make it a simple no-go-er.

For a start you would have to be looking at changing all European leagues not just those in the UK. If you didn''t it simply wouldnt work. You would have Champions League fixtures in the off season.

As for using Qatar as an example of having a winter World Cup, again it is not a great idea of making an example out of one world cup. Russia comes before that and if you think our winters are bad?!!!

Then there is the other bit about the summer - its when kids are out of school for 6 weeks and when people go on holiday. Gates will drop as a result and as a result revenue for football in general.

Thats the other reason why they have tournaments in the summer, people can choose to go on holiday to where the tournaments are if they so choose. And just to add to that, how many flights have been delayed/cancelled due to the weather now? How many fans or even teams would be struggling to get there?

It''s simply a very bad idea and in reality would suit no one appart from people who don''t like going to watch a boring game in freezing temperatures. Lets not forget though that many clubs have invested in undersoil heating which then would become a total waste of investment . . . . and it''s not cheap!

Going back to the Qatar thing - FIFA should have stipulated that for them to have the world cup they should have covered stadiums, perhaps a bit like the Millenium stadium, Cardiff. That way they could at least attempt to reduce the temperature on the pitch by blocking out the sun a bit.

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I think it would have the adverse effect on attendances and they would drop dramatically.people on holiday and spending time with families in the summer when travel is easier and days out take precedence.kids off school for 6 weeks will no doubt be on days out with the family etc... football will take a back seat.5pm kick offs are fine for the minority who wont be at work.... football is a winter sport and has been for well over 200 years.... Postponements are few and far between these days and this winter has unusually effected the calendar. as has been said above Boxing day fixture and the FA cup 3rd round 1st saturday in January...Wembley on a warm spring afternoon or in a torrential downpour freezing cold november day? by the time the season ended and the playoffs were upon us it would be almost christmas... who could afford it at that time of year?

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A real ''bundle of laughs" this Boxing day football isn''t it !!, I bet all those fans who started their journey to Selhurst park this morning are loving it!..

If the main reason why people like football on this day is because ''It''s a chance to get out and away from the family'', then I would suggest that says more about the individual and their family rather than the need to play football on Boxing day ??

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[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Oh for God''s sake get a grip.  When was the last time we had a Boxing Day game called off?
[/quote]

It''s not just boxing day though, games will be called off all over winter, although people seem to hold up the boxing day fixture as the highlight of the season, what about the other 2/3 months ??. Its inconvenient and it costs people time and money.   Time to make it compulsory for top 2 tier clubs to install undersoil heating I think ? before they are allowed to spend another penny on new players!

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]Time to make it compulsory for top 2 tier clubs to install undersoil heating I think ?[/quote]I agree with this.  Pretty scandalous that clubs like Ipswich and Palace who have been in the Premier League relatively recently, don''t have undersoil heating.  It really shouldn''t be an issue at higher levels.

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[quote user="shefcanary"]Er since when does the current football close season allow people to get away with their families.  With the football league over the past few seasons starting in the first week of August, and the school terms now ending in the last week of July, you cannot get a fortnight''s holiday in with the kids without missing a footie match.  Now you can''t take the kids out of school without risking imprisonment, the argument over the football close season allowing all to take a holiday has gone for good. 

Might as well follow Rugby League - er but on the other hand that sport never became a world beater though with increased attendances (although that is more to do with playing with other rules too much so that no-one enjoys it anymore)!   The winter is for indoor sports - ice hockey anyone?
[/quote]

Really? Sorry cannot agree with your comments regarding indoor winter sports. I love the uncertainty of fixtures being called off, adding to the "better to have points on the board rather than games in hand" scenario. I love the heat more than anyone but games played in the dark, floodlights on and driving rain is something I''d really miss.

Something Gennaro Gattuso clearly feels also: " The perfect football match is one played on a winter night, in the rain, in the cold."

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[quote user="Jason Shackells limp Tackle"]

[quote user="shefcanary"]Er since when does the current football close season allow people to get away with their families.  With the football league over the past few seasons starting in the first week of August, and the school terms now ending in the last week of July, you cannot get a fortnight''s holiday in with the kids without missing a footie match.  Now you can''t take the kids out of school without risking imprisonment, the argument over the football close season allowing all to take a holiday has gone for good. 

Might as well follow Rugby League - er but on the other hand that sport never became a world beater though with increased attendances (although that is more to do with playing with other rules too much so that no-one enjoys it anymore)!   The winter is for indoor sports - ice hockey anyone?
[/quote]

Really? Sorry cannot agree with your comments regarding indoor winter sports. I love the uncertainty of fixtures being called off, adding to the "better to have points on the board rather than games in hand" scenario. I love the heat more than anyone but games played in the dark, floodlights on and driving rain is something I''d really miss.

Something Gennaro Gattuso clearly feels also: " The perfect football match is one played on a winter night, in the rain, in the cold."

[/quote]

I take it you weren''t one of those who got up early on boxind day and got half way to London then?,  ........brilliant laugh isn''t it !!

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