Could the football season be extended?

[eastlondonseagull]

If, for example, we have another week or so of this weather and two or three more games postponed, what do the FA etc do?

Can they extend the season by a week or so? Unless you end up playing on a Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and then Saturday again on rotation.

Has it ever been done?

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[Wardy]

Would not be a major problem this year since there is no world cup / european cup.

 

[Djmiles]

Any more postponements, and they may have to consider it. A League One club playing Saturday, Tuesday for 6 weeks straight is insane!

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Any more postponements, and they may have to consider it. A League One club playing Saturday, Tuesday for 6 weeks straight is insane!

Don't be silly. What IS insane is a club being forced to travel away after facing an away fixture in the Champions League. Ignoring financial benefits, large squads etc. etc.

 

[Gully]

I know what you mean BoF, wouldn't it be terrible if the top teams completely disregarded things like the FA Cup...next thing you would have unfashionable teams like Cardiff and Pompey making it all the way to the final, seemingly unopposed!

 

[e77]

Most teams are in the same boat.

 

[ali jenkins]

I think last season we played 5 times in 2 weeks or something like that

 

[gjh1971]

In the last week of the season we won Div 3, we played on the Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Unlikely the season will be extended, due to the play off dates and finals set in stone

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

They need to cut the league sizes down, to stop fixture pile ups.

Twenty teams in each league should be serioulsy looked at, or ditch the Paint pot cup as its pointless.

 

[Gully]

...I would go further and ditch the league cup as well, or maybe make it a competition for just the league and not the Premiership as they normally field vastly weakened sides and are even less interested in that competition than the FA Cup.

I wonder what happened back in 63, when we had a seriously bad winter and there was a huge fixture backlog, did they extend the season then?

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I have no idea, but the fixture pile up will lead to more player injuries, Worst standard of play due to players being shattered and this could lead to lower crowds.

I guess in the 60's there wasnt the league cup? No Paintpot.

Another idea maybe to play a few more midweek games at the start of season?

 

[SurreySeagulls]

We can always play double headers!!!!

 

[Seagull Stew]

I have no idea, but the fixture pile up will lead to more player injuries, Worst standard of play due to players being shattered and this could lead to lower crowds.

I guess in the 60's there wasnt the league cup? No Paintpot.

Another idea maybe to play a few more midweek games at the start of season?

Is, of course, the correct answer. I've always wondered why they never did this. They could even go as far as having weekends without games in March/April so that postponed games in January/February can be moved to these dates!

 

[Russell Slade's hat]

We can always play double headers!!!!

lol, Not sure about that, i'm having to play double headers most weekend due to the poor weather

 

[Marc]

Any more postponements, and they may have to consider it. A League One club playing Saturday, Tuesday for 6 weeks straight is insane!

what? players on overpaid wages having to play TWO games a week for 6 weeks....my heart BLEEDS

 

[Horney]

...I would go further and ditch the league cup as well, or maybe make it a competition for just the league and not the Premiership as they normally field vastly weakened sides and are even less interested in that competition than the FA Cup.

I wonder what happened back in 63, when we had a seriously bad winter and there was a huge fixture backlog, did they extend the season then?

In 63 BHA played twice in January ( and one of those only went ahead cos the club spent £1000 on clearing the pitch...we lost 2-1 to Palace !!!!!!! )In Feb there were only 3 games played and yet by the end of April , only 3 games were outstanding. Six games were played in both March and April, which is by no means excessive. Two games were played in early May and then there was a 10 day gap to the final game on May 18 ( can only assume this was to avoid Cup Final weekend )
This was a freeze-up when the snow was still around in March, so I don't think there is any need for concern at the moment. We may lose the Peterboro game again but the outstanding games will be slotted in without too much difficulty.
p.s Bear in mind, this was the era when games were played on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday.

 

[Shinbreath]

I've always wondered why there is so much fuss over 'overworking' a professional footballer. What with fitness recovery times I really cant see how 3 games in a week (not every week though) can really affect a players performance.

 

[clippedgull]

what? players on overpaid wages having to play TWO games a week for 6 weeks....my heart BLEEDS

Exactly my sentiments.

Not exactly hardship!

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Aye, but if more Tuesday night games get cancelled we might be forced to play THREE games a week for many weeks, and that's not going to be great for injuries etc. And will affect attendances, I would've thought...

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[severnside gull]

In the 60's and 70's there were as many games (and competitions) as now and a few bad winters but I only remember the question of extending the season being raised once with some games after the cup final - may be wrong though.