Dear Mrs Firth
I am writing to you directly because, perhaps unfairly, I doubt I will get a coherent answer from a general enquiries office.
I am writing about a quite absurd combination of fixtures which my club, Charlton Athletic, and more importantly its fans - customers - have to endure over the Christmas period. I have a number of specific questions for which I seek answers, in order to understand how this came about. I am particularly concerned about it as I live abroad and this period is one of the few times I can get to see my club live.
The fixtures concerned are on Boxing Day, when we have to travel to Yeovil. There is of course no public transport, and the typical car journey takes four hours; and New Years Eve when the game with Orient takes place at 17.20, meaning that most fans would not return home until around 21.00, thus causing great interference with festive plans. I have sought guidance from your website, and have read the (rather old) section entitled "How the Fixture List is Compiled" .
My questions are as follows:
1. On Boxing Day, Wycombe play Exeter. I quote from your website: "One thing I feed into the computer in advance are the Boxing Day games, these are hand picked to ensure that travel is minimised because there is no public transport anywhere in England." Why did your fixture working group not do the obvious thing, and have Wycombe play Charlton while Yeovil played Exeter in a classic derby game?
2. Did Charlton make representations to you about the Boxing Day fixture? If so, what was your response?
3. Before agreeing with Sky that a game would be televised on New Years Eve, did you take into account the inconvenience to paying customers? Why did you not insist that to show a Third Division game live at 17.20 on New Years Eve is absurd, because there would be a minimal TV audience as well as inconvenience to the most important customers. Please detail whatever discussion took place with Sky about this fixture.
4. Again I quote from your website "It is a shame, but we can't schedule matches on New Years Eve because the Police Forces up and down the Country would not accept them because it is undoubtedly the busiest night of the year for them. " Can you confirm that the Met Police had no objection to the Orient-Charlton game being played at 17.20? Was there a discussion with the Police which was influenced by the needs of Sky?
5. On consideration of my questions, would you agree that the Football League should apologise to Charlton fans for this fixture schedule, and that lessons can be learned for future schedules? I would be pleased to forward your answer to the leading Charlton internet fans' forum.
Thank you in advance for what I hope will be a set of specific answers to my questions
Yours sincerely
Comments
Nice one, Prague.
The response will be interesting .
Imagine the good lady will be discussing this with Colin over dinner tonight.
Love the questioning don't reckon we will get a decent answer
Well done lad.
Must be the Eltham air that gets me going:-)
Well done for writing that detailed piece.
Match going fans mean nothing to the powers that be im afraid.
But there will be no sensible response because there is no sensible answer other than "Charlton? F**k you!"
BTW who is Mrs Firth in the scheme of things and why was the fixture scheduling left to a bird? PS that's a joke before I get slagged off.
Everybody knows we're a Kentish club
Well done for writing to them Prague, I'm sure you will get a response of some sort although whether or not they will actually bother to answer any of your questions in any detail is doubtful unfortunately.
Why would people criticise what Prague has done if they didn't do anything themselves ?
This place is weird at times
I will pass on your queries to the Fixtures Department at the Football League who will respond.
Glynis"
I wrote to her as according to the website she is the Administration Director, and fixtures come under her remit.
Muttley:
Of course I can ask for detailed information. I'm a paying customer. I pay for these people's salaries, and so do you.
DRF
Because I live abroad and only start thinking about Christmas as it approaches, rightly or wrongly. I hope to ascertain that someone at Charlton raised the Yeovil game when the fixtures came out.
NLA
I'm here til the 3rd and hope to get to all three games. I am going to Yeovil on the coach, you going?
We wrote to the Football League several weeks back suggesting the games played on 19 November (Brentford v Charlton & Yeovil v Exeter) would have been approproiate games for Boxing Day. It would have saved Exeter fans having to get to Wycombe as well as us having to travel to Yeovil. Brentford are at Bournemouth on Boxing Day so Wycombe could have played there instead,sorted.
Here's their response:
http://www.doctorkish.com/cgi-bin/clinic/display.pl?month=201111&date=20111130&time=0736
Cardiff go to watford and forest
west ham go to birmingham and derby.
I am doing the home game though if you fancy a beer prior ,
TBF I think it's unlikely that you need a big police presence for Orient A at 5.20 on New Years' Eve.
Fixture Teams response
"Computer says............. No!"