The Fixture Pile-up

So, yet another Notts County game has been called off, meaning yet another fixture pile-up in the run in.

Today’s game against Tranmere is the fifth time that Notts have had a game called off this season (previous fixtures against Hartlepool, Brentford, Brighton and Rochdale have fallen foul to the weather) and this, coupled with another excellent run in the FA Cup, means the club’s small squad will face a run in playing two games a week, every week. To me, this bodes the question; what can be done to stop this happening?

Please don’t think that I am just a Notts fan complaining about something that may cause my club a few problems in the run in to the end of the season, as it’s not just us that face a pile-up of fixtures – Burton Albion have yet to reach the halfway point in their season.

Many will suggest the introduction of a winter break, but with this arises many issues – the biggest of which being when the winter break would be. Last season, fixtures were called off during January, whereas this season the fixture list was affected during December. This alone proves that it is impossible to tell when a winter break will be needed, meaning that an incorrectly timed break could result in an even bigger pile-up of fixtures.

I personally, feel that the original fixture list is badly arranged.

The FA decided before the beginning of the season that there would be two midweek fixtures for Notts played between the New Year and the end of the season in May, both of which could have been played before Christmas.

I can’t understand why these midweek fixtures are arranged for after Christmas, when there are plenty of Tuesdays or Wednesdays early on in the season – especially in October, when Notts didn’t play a single midweek fixture – that are free, even if a club was to have a run in the not-too-prestigious League Cup or the even-less-prestigious Football League Trophy.

If it was up to me, I would change the layout of fixtures over a season so that all of the midweek fixtures arranged for the second half of the season are played before Christmas. This would mean that when lower league clubs inevitably get fixtures called off, there won’t be as much of a backlog as there has been for Notts in the last two seasons.