RateTheRef

Quote from: Acme Thunderer on Tue 08 Feb 2022 09:44

A general interest question:

Crewe v Wigan - L1, due to be played on Boxing Day but postponed due to Covid
Wigan v Crewe - L1, due to be played last Saturday but postponed due to FAC commitments.

Fixtures have now been re-arranged for 15th Feb and 15th March but in reverse order.

Wigan v Crewe - 15th Feb
Crewe v Wigan - 15th March.

The question is, do the clubs need special permission to reverse the fixtures, for example because of ground or security issues? It seems strange anyway that the clubs should want to reverse the fixtures without good reason.

No.

It can sometimes depend on how the fixtures fit into the overall sequence of H & A matches. So, Wigan are away on 18th Feb and 22nd Feb, whereas Crewe are at home on those dates. Playing the game at Wigan on the preceding Tuesday avoids three consecutive away games in Wigan's case and three consecutive home games in Crewe's case.

As more games get postponed and need to be rearranged, this integrity can be impractical to maintain, but the general principle is to try to avoid a run of consecutive H or A games.

There is also the issue of trying to fit games in as soon as possible, as further postponements and rearrangements may need dates later in the season.

Take my team, Rochdale. We have rescheduled Mansfield at home for Tuesday 22nd March, which is in the middle of two consecutive Saturdays away.

However, we have rearranged Carlisle at home for Tuesday 29th March, which is followed by two consecutive Saturdays at home. At that stage of the season, with midweek dates running out, it is a difficult task to maintain integrity.

In an ideal world, every team would play consecutive H & A games, but that wouldn't work as you would never play the teams who were at home when you were or away when you were, so hence, some teams have double headers to allow the switch round to happen.

I think you'll find, when the original fixtures are published, that every team has the same amount of home double headers, away double headers, etc, but that sequence goes out of the window when matches have to be re-scheduled.