|
BUT FIRST ONE SMALL QUESTION: Summer football proposals only apply to the Welsh Premier
|
|
BUT FIRST ONE SMALL QUESTION: Summer football proposals only apply to the Welsh Premier
|
| For | v | Against | |||||||||
| …summer football | * | is in fact a misnomer as much of the existing season would still be used | |||||||||
| ie mid February to mid November instead of mid August to mid May | |||||||||||
| it would mean pre-season in January & Cup Finals in November | |||||||||||
| …will avoid bad weather | * | not if it happens in March, April or October or November | |||||||||
| …will lead to fewer postponements | * | probably true, although not wholly postponements in recent years have been due to | |||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| ... and
failure to raise a side, even refusal
to play after UEFA games |
|||||||||||
|
…will
lead to better pitches
|
* | not
if dry bouncy pitches are to be avoided, unwatered, under
prepared and uneven. In the past year matches have been called off due to dangerous dry surfaces. |
|||||||||
| * | clubs will be unable to use grounds shared with athletic stadiums or cricket squares. | ||||||||||
|
…will raise standards of play |
* | not
on bouncy, dusty unwatered pitches with no irrigation systems |
|||||||||
| * | not if players opt to stick to the existing season, and play in England instead | ||||||||||
| * | not if players opt against it | ||||||||||
| * | not
if players are struck by hard ground injuries to knees and ankles,
goalkeepers to arms and shoulders |
||||||||||
| …will lead to bigger crowds | * | there is no proof of this | |||||||||
 |
* |
not
in North Wales where travel will be tedious in the
summer (along both A5 & A55) where tedious summer traffic jams and
crawls are everyday events. |
|||||||||
| * | not where (mainly English) holiday makers have little interest in welsh football | ||||||||||
| * | not where existing WP fans go on holiday | ||||||||||
| * |
not
when
Christmas and New Year derby matches are a thing of the past eg 2008, crowds of 2000+ at Rhyl and over 1000 at Caernarfon |
||||||||||
|
…will
pick up "desperate" fans keen
|
* | swings
and roundabouts, there may be
some success but just as
much a danger
of existing WP fans getting used to
watching someone else! |
|||||||||
| * | by July pre-season games starts which regular supporters may well prefer | ||||||||||
…will
improve Euro chances
|
* | no possible proof of this | |||||||||
| * | the
standard of domestic football in Wales is the issue, not
playing a fewmatches
before being outclassed. |
||||||||||
| why
not Lobby UEFA to provide appropriate levels of competition for small
countries? |
|||||||||||
| …it's worked in Ireland | * | the
Irish have no proof of this, but increasingly the clubs appear tired of
the summer season and are moving towards a return to the traditional
season. |
|||||||||
| Weekly budgets and wages in Ireland
are far higher than in Wales. FAI Prize money for instance FAI Champions: £265,000 Runners Up: £100,000 Cup Winners: £100,000 |
* | Ireland is only "joined" to N.Ireland which offers no football attraction | |||||||||
* |
Bigger
Irish clubs tend to play in Dublin with a population of more than a
million to draw from, these include Bohemians, UCD, Shelbourne, St
Patricks, Shamrock Rovers. In Wales there is no WP club in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea or Wrexham. |
||||||||||
| * | more than 90% of Welsh people live within 2 hours travel to a EFL club | ||||||||||
| * | more than half Welsh people live in close proximity to well established rugby clubs | ||||||||||
| …will increase
media attention as there will be nothing else happening in the summer |
* | which overlooks the notion of supporters happy with a break from football | |||||||||
| * |
which ignores the
World Cup and Euro Nations Cup
which occur every two years |
||||||||||
| * | & Olympic,
World & Commonwealth Games |
||||||||||
| * | & Rugby World Cup | ||||||||||
| * | & Live TV coverage of Seven Test Matches, plus 20/20 and 50 over matches. | ||||||||||
| * | & Live TV coverage Wimbledon fortnight | ||||||||||
| * | & TV coverage of pre-season tournaments | ||||||||||
and what about...
|
* | Players,
Managers and Officials with children of school age (4 to 16) would
expect to take a holiday during the summer (school holiday) period.
What do they do now? Is this likely to survive any form of Equality Impact Assessment? |
|||||||||
one final point.. |
* |
the
success in recent seasons of both TNS and Bangor City in winning home
legs and progressing in their respective European competitions could
not compete with "will Suarez leave Liverpool" or "will Manchester City
sign everyone". So in what way would the media be interested in the WP league matches? |
|||||||||
| One Week At The End of May
2011... |
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| The argument for summer football has
always been based on better pitches, better preparation for Europe and
of course better media coverage as nothing else is going on. This week, the last week in May, tended to torpedo that theory. It all began with a trip to Llangedwyn on Sunday where the Montgomery League team host a fortnightly car boot sale. It was raining but the ground underfoot was dry and rock hard... |
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 |
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| So there you have it. A quiet week
where football fans - sports fans even - will have nothing to do and be
glad of a trip along the A55 to take in Airbus v Afan Lido, or Bangor v
Bala for that matter. And Llangedwyn? Well that was pretty much rained off so we moved fifteen miles north to Chirk. Drier and busier there. And yes, you guessed, ground there even harder and drier - although of course it is not a football pitch... |
 |
In 2012 the Olympic Games were in London and Euro 2012 (Football Championships) from Poland and The Ukraine. not much going on there then... |
 |
| "MEDIA ATTENTION" FOR SUMMER 2010 |
||
| MAY 2010 |
||
| May
12th |
Europa
League (Cup) Final |
Live coverage ITV |
| May
15th |
FA
Cup Final |
Live coverage
BBC |
| May
22nd |
Champions
League Final |
Live coverage
ITV |
| May
27th> |
England
v Bangladesh 1st Test Match Cricket (Five days) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| JUNE 2010 |
||
| June
4th> |
England
v Bangladesh 2nd Test Match Cricket (Five days) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
9th |
The FIFA World Cup Finals from South Africa
(Four weeks, 64 games) |
Live coverage
on BBC & ITV |
| June
19th |
New
Zealand v Wales (Rugby Union) |
Live on Sky Sports |
| June
22nd |
England v Australia
One Day Cricket Test |
Live on Sky Sports |
| June
24th |
England v Australia One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| June
26th |
New Zealand v Wales (Rugby Union) | |
| June
27th |
England v Australia One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| June
21st>> |
Wimbledon (All day
for three weeks) |
Live coverage on BBC |
| June
30th |
England v Australia One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| JULY 2010 |
||
| July 3rd | England v Australia One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| July
8th |
England
v Bangladesh One Day Cricket Test |
Live on Sky Sports |
| July
10th |
England v Bangladesh One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| July 11th |
The FIFA World Cup Final |
Live coverage
on BBC & ITV |
| July 12th |
England v Bangladesh One Day Cricket Test | Live on Sky Sports |
| July 29th |
England v Pakistan Ist Test Match (Five
days) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| July
31st |
Scottish
Season underway |
|
| July
31st |
Emirates
Cup (Three Days - Arsenal, Celtic, AC Milan & Olympique) |
Live on Sky Sports |
| AUGUST 2010 |
||
| August 6th |
England v Pakistan 2nd Test Match (Five days) | Live on Sky
Sports |
| August 7th | Norwich v Watford (Championship kicks off) |
Live on Sky Sports |
| August 8th |
Community Shield Chelsea v Manchester
United |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August 14th |
Premier League Season begins |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August 18th |
England v Pakistan 3rd Test Match (Five days) | Live on Sky
Sports |
| August 26th |
England v Pakistan 4th Test Match (Five days) | Live on Sky
Sports |
| "MEDIA ATTENTION" FOR SUMMER 2008 |
||
| MAY 2008 |
||
| May
14th |
UEFA
Cup Final |
Live coverage ITV |
| May
15-19th |
England
v New Zealand 1st Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| May
17th |
FA
Cup Final |
Live coverage BBC & Sky Sports |
| May
21st |
Champions
League Final |
Live coverage ITV |
| May
23-27th |
England
v New Zealand 2nd Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| JUNE 2008 |
||
| June
1st |
South
Africa v Wales Rugby Union |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
5-9th |
England
v New Zealand 3rd Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
8th |
South
Africa v Wales Rugby Union |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
7th |
European
Championship opening fixtures |
Live coverage on BBC & ITV |
| June
13-16th |
US
Open Golf Championship |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
15-28th |
Five
One Day Cricket Tests England v New Zealand |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| June
23rd to 6th July |
Wimbledon
- All England Tennis Championship |
Live coverage on BBC |
| June
29th |
European
Championship Final |
Live coverage on BBC |
| JULY 2008 |
||
| July
6-7th |
Wimbledon
Finals Weekend |
Live coverage on BBC |
| July
10-14th |
England
v South Africa 1st Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky Sports |
| July
12 |
Tranmere
Rovers v Liverpool (3pm Saturday) |
Live on Setanta Sports |
| July
18-22nd |
England
v South Africa 2nd Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| July
30th to 3rd Aug |
England
v South Africa 3rd Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| AUGUST 2008 |
||
| August
1st |
Feyenoord
Tournament Celtic v Spurs |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
1st |
Feyenoord
Tournament Feyenoord v Borussia Dortmund |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
2nd |
Emirates
Cup Real Madrid v Hamburg |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
2nd |
Emirates
Cup Arsenal v Juventus |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
7-11th |
England
v South Africa 4th Test Match Cricket |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
9th |
Birmingham
City v Sheffield United (Championship) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
9th |
Amsterdam
Tournament Arsenal v Seville |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
10th |
Notts
Forest v Reading (Championship) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
| August
12th |
Chester
City v Leeds United (Carling Cup) |
Live on Sky
Sports |
