I'd love to know how the EFL are now going to cram this and the probable Blackburn game into an already tight schedule. I guess the only logical way would be to have a midweek game when we would not be scheduled for one? I accept the decision for tomorrow's game under the circumstances but I do feel sorry for any fans' who have wasted money and journey time. Black armbands and a two minutes silence before all games could of been one solution but I guess this sort of thing would of been looked into years before.
Yep, might not be the police numbers apparently: https://twitter.com/samcunningham/status/1568209836092841987?s=20&t=ZBVFJUnonmhQDoloFCIc1g
Rugby Union's Premiership has decided to go ahead with its full weekend fixture list. And even the gee gees are back on Sunday. It's obvious the various football bodies realised they needed to take a joint approach or end up being played off against one another. This weekend's postponements could be as simple as the staid old buffers at the FA being adamant on postponing all the competitions in their control - essentially women's football and everything below the National Leagues - that left the PL and EFL with little choice but to fall into line. I honestly can't believe the PL would have argued for it, given 90% of their audience is outside the UK. And some lower EFL clubs will be looking at a potential fortnight without football and worrying about cashflow.
Hearing that at least one local non-league semi-pro club has arranged a behind-closed-doors friendly for tomorrow and others are training. That does slightly suggest that the mark of respect only goes so far.
Me having written a fun Blackburn preview: err.... has the whole world gone very serious all of a sudden. I presume that fixture will be re-arranged as well? In which case I will keep that preview under my hat.
We ought to remember that 'the establishment' had every intention of downplaying any suggestion of 'national importance' being attached to Diana's death. There was no thought of 'showing respect' to her. Until it became obvious things could get very nasty, of course.
Does seem odd every other sport is going ahead but football games. Maybe words were said after the matches carried on when Prince Phillip died?
Turns out I forgot the real villains - the stuffy old gits at the Football Association HQ. They've also done a huge favour to lower league and non league clubs by shutting off any expected revenue from match days so that "we" can pay our respects.
An interesting fact for you. King Edward the First of England was not the first King Edward of England. Edward I (1272-1307) was actually the third or fourth English King Edward and he would have known this because the previous one, King Edward the Confessor (1042-66), was England’s patron saint at the time and the man he was named after. The convention for historians to name monarchs with Roman numerals, rather than names like ‘the Conqueror’, seems to have come about during the reigns of Edward II (1307-27) and Edward III (1327-77) simply because having three King Edwards in a row was confusing. So the last King Edward (VIII) in 1936 was in fact the 10th or 11th.
All depends on whether you think such as Edward the Elder and Edward the Martyr were really Kings of England or still really Kings of the Anglo-Saxons (ie mainly Wessex & half of Mercia) claiming lordship over the Danelaw.....
Words from whom? Seriously, it's a virtue signalling PR stunt pulled by football thinking it would be the leader of the nation's sporting scene this weekend by gallantly postponing to allow mourning, and somehow it's been left completely isolated. Even the government said it was their call. The hundreds of thousands of people who would have attended or played in football matches at all levels this weekend will simply spend their time and cash elsewhere - they're not going to be sat at home in funeral black with the curtains drawn.
Just thinking of reasons why they called the games off tbh . Suspect the thought was all sports would be cancelled but no football has been caught out .
Especially when you consider horse-racing, the Queen's own sporting love, will start up again on Sunday.
I remember when GT passed away, it was very poignant and emotional at the Vic and tomorrow would have been a good chance for a large group to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth ll but that is taken away now.
Plenty of other things to do at the weekend but disappointing not to have that football fix and moaning about Pozzo and Fuxbury.
To be fair to the football authorities, everything I've read about Operation London Bridge does state that all sporting fixtures would be cancelled for a period. Of course, in reality life is going to be back to normal pretty quickly because the country is in a bit of a pickle and the cost of being economically inactive, or even at reduced capacity, even just for a few days will really hurt. I just can't get my head round the topsy-turvy world we live in. The oikish sport football cancels its entire programme out of respect, whereas "posh" sport rugby union ploughs ahead as normal. As UAE says, the football authorities went too early and got this wrong, especially as next weekend will likely have to be cancelled for purely practical reasons if it is close to the funeral. Police and other public service resources will be stretched, especially in London. We're apparently a country in mourning but Charles – who of course will be greiving – seems to have things in perspective. He was smiling and chatting to the public because he gets that his mother was a 96-year-old woman who lived a full and incredible life. Watching Sky News now as Charles walks along the line, the sombre tone of the commentators jars with the cheers of the crowd and the smiling King. Mind you, the MPs were packed into the House earlier to hear a bad after-dinner speech – anecdotes from MPs of the time they met the queen, weak jokes, guffawing laughter. Someone ought to tell them to stick to politics and leave the comedy to the comedians. After all, some of them got very upset about a comedian talking politics on TV just a few days ago. Back to the football, it is just a shame Watford were denied the opportunity to play The Royals this weekend.
