Fixture release day is beckoning

It seems a bit odd really, that one of the favourite days in the calendar of many football fans across the country actually takes place in the middle of June, when their favourite players (not suffering from the recession of course) are no doubt sunning themselves somewhere hot and the closest thing around to competitive football is a FIFA tournament around your mates’ house.

There is however, something about 17 June that gives off a real sense of excitement and anticipation.

I am referring of course to the day on which the Premier and Football League fixtures for the upcoming season are released.

Naturally, there are some fans out there that don’t really care about the release of the fixtures, and I can guarantee that there won’t be too many QPR fans looking forward to Barnsley on a cold, wet January evening (Trust me though, there will be a few there anyway). However, I’d hazard a guess that the majority of football supporters are looking forward to at least one fixture already.

I’m sure the other 2000-odd QPR fans at Vicarage Road on 22 November last year will agree with my statement that it was one of the worst, most spineless performances in years. Living only minutes from Watford myself, I’ve not managed to live the banter down since, and am desperately seeking revenge for the 3-0 spanking. For that reason alone, I’d love Watford away on the first day.

Newcastle is another fixture that excites me. Growing up, I’ve always had a great deal of respect for a set of fans that I see as one of, if not the most passionate in the whole country. In addition, Alan Shearer was my hero as a kid and I’ve always wanted to visit St. James Park. I’m crossing my fingers that the away fixture will coincide with my 18th birthday, for reasons not totally related to football.

I’m sure there’ll be fans of many other championship clubs who will relish the journey to St. James Park (and Bloomfield Road for that matter), not to mention the weekend on the tiles sandwiched in-between.

Lastly, I hope that all teams are given a local fixture on Boxing Day. Only two Seasons ago, those who come up with the fixtures decided it would be a good idea to give QPR a nice easy journey to Plymouth of all places. (To rub salt into the wounds of the 698 travelling supporters, we lost with the last kick of the game).

Boxing Day was made for football, and making a team travel a long distance would not only subject them to the previous days undercooked Turkey, re-runs of “Wallace and Gromit” that your great Aunt Margaret can and does recite word for word, not to mention the horror of having to talk to the family.

The 2009/10 season promises to be another cracker and the publication of the fixtures is the first indication that the second Saturday in August is getting ever closer.