This is a fascinating insight into the vagaries of the football fixtures calendar.
Essentially, it's a massive Zebra Puzzle (incorporating the railways, the police, the FSF, bank holidays and horseracing amongst other things) and takes months to complete. For example:
"West Ham are paired with Dagenham and Redbridge. But for reasons of revenue, Southend request they do not play at home on the same day as the Hammers as they believe it impacts upon their attendance."However:
"Southend are in Essex, as are Colchester, so they cannot play together on the same weekend. Colchester share stewards with Ipswich so those two clubs also request they do not play home games on the same weekend. Transport links dictate Ipswich and Norwich do not play together on the same weekend either. In other words, when West Ham play at home can have an impact on when a club as far away as Norwich (108 miles) play their home fixtures."As I say, fascinating. Geek out.
yes, I read that yesterday and was fascinated by it. I like the fact that the system can't understand distances between venues so that they still have to work out the Boxing Day fixtures manually.
ReplyDeletebtw, did you see those Arsenal fixtures that Sky Sports erroneously broadcast? if they're true, we're coming to yours in August :)
Yes, saw that on The Spoiler; they were suggesting it might be just a 'test' screen but I guess we find out tomorrow. Liverpool, Man City and your lot in the first six games. Nice.
ReplyDeleteAlthough when I saw Burnley on there, I thought, "Bit early for the FA Cup, isn't it"...
Here: Sky Sports accidentally reveal Arsenal’s first six league games
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was either a hoax or a test page; I am advised that our first match is in the NW of England.
ReplyDeleteLet's see at 10:00!
AFC 2009/10 Fixtures
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