Guess what? Apparently in the winter time it gets cold and the rain turns to snow. Meteorology is so hard to predict, next they'll say its hotter in June than January - tis a conspiracy, i tell ye. Anyway, as a racing and footie fan, the weather has certainly put the skids under my armchair viewing and at the time of writing, my st Stephen's, which to be fair was looking shite, appears at best reduced and at worst decimated by the weather.Now there is bog all that the horse tracks can do due to the logistics of defrosting a small farm but the footie needs to stop being pussies and start playing football.
Of the games postponed only Arsenal indicated any sense that the state of the pitch was the primary reason for the game being called off. Even Blackpool, who dont have undersoil heating which we were under the impression was a pre-requisite for entry to the EPL, were more concerned about the state of the outside rather than the inside. The powers that be are clearly fearful in this litigious age to allow a large amounts of the public to descend on a particular area of a town or city in case there may be an accident-if it's to watch football. Surely, if it's too dangerous for thousands of people to attend a stadium, it must therefore be dangerous for any large group of people to gather anywhere in such conditions, like the shops or bus and rail stations or office complexes or rugby matches or football matches in Leeds or Exeter. While we believe that fans are allowed to be hypocrites and get away with murder, we also accept that fans are prepared to crawl over glass for their teams. It may be the most offensive thing to ever see but if fat geordies want to watch a match topless in a fridge and if the players are in no immediate danger, then play the fucking game. A lot of morons follow football but they are still the minority and no-one should assume that if the game goes ahead that fans will run headless to the ground without due care and attention. Some might even think it's bit nippy, the roads are lethal and ye know what i might listen to it on the radio. There was a lad on from Dundee who said that they had to pay out full match day costs even if the game is called off as was in their case due to a frozen pitch-so if the pitch isn't frozen what is the justification for calling off the game. we can but speculate $$$
The thing that we cannot grasp is literally at what point does responsibility for accidents in transit move from the traveller to the destination. Surely, its not the clubs fault if the local authority fails in its duties in making roads passable. By taking the decision to call off games more than 24 hours before kickoff, clubs let councils off the hook to a certain degree as they are not under as much pressure to get things done and its not as if the council rush to clear pathways because they are not going to be used. but its not as simple to say that councils dont want to be liable and thus health and safety goes into overdrive because then we would see the high streets closed. No, we feel that it reduces the options for clubs who want to get as many bums on seats as possible. If councils cant get their arses in gear to get roads gritted and pathways cleared then clubs would rather cancel and rearrange for a day when crowds can be got there in numbers rather than play in front of half empty stadiaEPL team following the example of Edinburgh Rugby who played their Heineken Cup tie a day later than planned in an empty stadium. The clubs need the crowds to get the money to play the players but without the players the crowds don't show up. Clubs cant bitch about having to play 4 games in 10 days in this period when they postpone games that could be played for reasons other than the safety of the pitch which then get rearranged at times when competitions are reaching their climax- a massive reason for not having a winter break. If you can play the game do- fans will make to games if they can and follow it on the media if they cant. If they slip and fall outside a ground in the summer or spring, in the dry they are more likely to sue than right now because bizarrely most people know that snow and ice are slippy and are prepared for it. Treat fans like adults and they'll act responsibly especially the kids.
It's not even a fear of being sued, since if someone gets hurt outside of the ground it isn't the clubs responsibility or problem. Games being called off for "the safety of supporters" is a cover. Health and safety is used as a scapegoat to hide what the clubs are really worried about, the harm to "the brand", having games broadcast featuring grounds with thousands of empty seats.
ReplyDeletePremier League clubs get far more cash from Sky and ESPN than they do from even full houses, and the fear that television companies paying less because grounds are half full makes clubs more likely to postpone matches.
The idea of bums on seats determining what TV pays for football packages isn't as daft as you might think. The reason why the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool feature so prominently isn't just because they've been more successful, it's because there'll be full, or near full, houses at games they take part in. How many times in the last decade have Chelsea had a League match with less than 90% of the seats filled, on TV or not? Why do United's away games feature so often? Because it's the game that most PL clubs have their biggest attendance, making it a more attractive proposition for TV companies to show, even if United will almost certainly get a win.
Football League clubs don't get as much income from television, and need to host matches when supporters are more likely to attend, because matchday sales are more crucial. If every Football League could have undersoil heating, only Armageddon (or at least a major flood) would postpone games, but PL games will be called off to protect the idea of a league with huge crowds at every fixture, to keep Sky and ESPN happy.