Last Saturday was another frustrating day as for the second time in four days (& the third time in a month) Crystal Palace’s Championship fixture was called off – not due to Peaches Geldof’s pending divorce, Michael Phelps being pictured purportedly smoking marijuana from a bong or that ‘idiot’ Gordon Brown………..no you guessed it, it was due to the weather!

Now I am well aware that neither you nor I (the man in the street) can do anything about the weather itself, but maybe the Clubs outside the Premier League should look at alternative strategies in an attempt to make sure games are played despite the weather.

In the cold light of day the Premier League is in a world of its own, The Royal Family of the Football League if you like, BUT the foundation, the bread and butter of our game emanates from the lower leagues.

The Championship, the second tier of our national  game is susceptible to the same problems and issues as the Blue Square League when games are called off.
Lost revenue through various channels including television rights, match sponsorship and ticket sales, match re-scheduling, administration costs, disruption and disappointment for the fans and general inconvenience.

For example, Crystal Palace were due to meet Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on Saturday 10th January, the match was postponed and is now re-scheduled for Tuesday 17th February .
How feasible and fair is it on the modern day fan to even contemplate a 460 mile round-trip from London, a nine-hour vehicle journey in MIDWEEK, and in the current economic climate!

A day off work, traveling costs, the long trip, returning home in the early hours and getting up for work the very same morning. Preposterous!
However the tenacity of some of our supporters (as with many Clubs) means there will without a doubt be a small representation of Palace fans at Home Park next week but obviously nothing like the vocal support OUR team would have received had the game been on the proposed Saturday.

This Saturday is FA Cup weekend, and with both teams are out of the competition, in theory anyway both Clubs were available to fulfill the fixture on this ‘free’ weekend, but for whatever reason it seems football politics got in the way. 

I stand to be corrected and will happily hold my hands up if I am wrong, but I thought the re-scheduling of postponed fixtures took priority wherever possible. Palace’s last two fixtures against Birmingham and Barnsley respectively were both victims of the weather. Meanwhile this Saturday Charlton play host to Plymouth, whilst Birmingham entertain Forest.  Both Barnsley and Palace will be kicking their heals this weekend, as neither of them have a game!  

I assume  a week is not enough time for two professional clubs and the FA to re-schedule a fixture! Galling and irksome are just two adjectives that immediately spring to mind.

Now the proposed solution………….of all the various gimmicks in British Football over the years the plastic or artificial pitch is possibly the least bemoaned.
Considered an avant-garde remedy to the rain, frost and snow of a British winter, as well as an additional form of income on non-match days by staging an assortment of other activities to raise money, the plastic football pitch was originally modelled on the Astroturf surfaces of the USA in the 1960’s.

The first football club to roll out a synthetic pitch on these shores was QPR at their Loftus Road ground in 1981. Luton, Oldham and Preston followed suit, but shortly after 1994 when Deepdale reverted back to the green green grass of home, artificial pitches were outlawed under Premier League guidelines.

At the time these pitches were in the early development stage and admittedly there were issues revolving around the bounce of the ball, carpet-type burns and the potential damage to joints, (in particular those of the knee) due to the overly unforgiving nature of the hard surface.
However times and science have moved on quite considerably, 25 years on in fact since the initial experiment at Loftus Road.

Under-soil heating and better drainage facilities also contributed to the death of the artificial pitch, BUT the fact remains today that currently the lushest of footballing surfaces are often made out of a combination of artificial fibres to toughen up the traditional ‘live’ grass alongside it!

In 2003 at the Under-17 World Cup Championships in Helsinki, ten of the matches including the final were played on one of the new generation of artificial surfaces.

Furthermore many of the ultra-modern stadiums in Britain have such high-sided stands that they block out the natural elements that are needed for the turf to be at its best. Subsequently this results in pitches having to be re-laid during a season at great expense, suggesting that an artificial surface of sufficient quality could have a place in the game, particularly outside the top flight.

A full international fixture for the 2008 European Championships was played in October 2007 between England and Russia on an artificial surface, which was installed to counteract adverse weather conditions, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
In Scotland last month Alloa Athletic hosted Aberdeen on their plastic pitch for a Scottish Cup game. 

Is it not finally time that the people at the apex of our game, in their shiny suits, moccasin shoes and badly dyed hair, took the bull by the horns and instead of  watching football clubs fall foul of the weather, became pro-active and provided lower league clubs in the British domestic game, with at least the option of using the latest technology in the form of ‘3G’ type plastic pitches?

The thrid round of the FA Cup draw is out and here is who the teams of the CCC will face. The ties will be played the weekend of January 3, 2009. If the tie is tied then a replay will be played.

Portsmouth v Bristol City – Ashton Gate

Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham – Hillbrough

Preston NE v Liverpool – Deepdale

Birmingham City v Wolves – St. Andrew’s Stadium

West Ham United v Barnsley – Upton Park

Manchester City v Nottingham Forest – Eastlands

Cardiff City v Reading – Ninan Park

Ipswich Town v Chesterfield/Droylesden – Portman Road

Charlton v Norwich – The Valley

Torquay v Blackpool – Plainmoor

Leyton Orient v Sheffield United – Brisbane Road

Southampton v Manchester United – St. Mary’s Stadium

Histon v Swansea City – Bridge Road

Forest Green Rovers v Derby County – The New Lawn

QPR v Burnley – Turf Moor

Leicester City v Crystal Palace – Walkers Stadium

Morcambe/Cheltenham v Doncaster

Arsenal v Plymouth – Emirates Stadium

Watford v Scunthorpe – Vicarage Road

Coventry City v Kidderminster – Richo Arena

St. Andrews is the home to Birmingham Football club since 1906. It is an all seater stadium with a capcity of 30,016 and the pitch is 155 x 75 yards. Almost three quarters of the ground has been renovated since the 1990′s and was made the Tilton Road End and Spion Kop. The Railway End which opened in 1999 is a two tiered stand. Currently Birmingham are debating whether to move to a totally new stadium or undertake a 12M pound expansion that would bring the capcity to 36,500.

Away Fans: 

Away fans are housed in one end of the Railway end which has an allocation of 3,000 but can be increased to 4,500 for cup games. Visiting fans will be surrounded by home fans from above and next too. They are seperated by a plastic net. The view is a good one for visiting fans unlike other stadiums.

Food and Beer: 

If you get hungry while watching the match you can purchase burgers (£2.80) and rollover hot dogs (£2.70), plus a range of Shire Foods pasties, sausage rolls & pies including the Chicken Balti Pie (£2.30). There are a few pubs around the ground but most are not places to go if you are not a Birmingham Fan. There are two within a 10 minute walk, the Brighton Pub and the Cricketers Arms that will tolerate visiting fans.

Ticket Prices:

Like a number of Clubs, Birmingham City operate a match category policy (A, B, C & D) whereby the ticket prices cost more for the most popular games.

Away Fans:
Railway End Lower Tier:
Adults £30 (B £27) (C £15) (D £15)
Concessions £18 (B £15) (C £10) (D £7)
Under 12′s £10 (B £7.50) (C £5) (D £5)

After another action packed weekend the sides in the Championship look like they are sorting themselves into the areas we can expect to find them in for the remainder of the season. Reading and Birmingham looking like they are going to bounce straight back whilst Doncaster and Notts Forest look destine to be involved in a relegation battle for the next 8 months.

However there are those that prove the rule that the Championship is the most unpredictable league with Plymouth currently occupying fourth whilst Watford and Crystal Palace are currently struggling near the bottom. However I don’t expect that to be the case come the end of the season, although following the relegation of Leicester and the promotion of Hull you can never say never.

Everyone knows that the Championship is unpredictable but it seems unlikely that we will have a season like the last with Hull and Bristol contesting the play-off final and Stoke going up. This season looks like it is going to go by the book though with Birmingham and Reading, who have managed to keep hold of their best players and use their parachute payments to their benefit, certainly looking like two of the best sides in the league.

Even Derby are starting to take steps in the right direction and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they were up there come the end of the season. It seems then that the £30m the Premier League give to relegated clubs is starting to effect the Championship whilst newly promoted clubs, with the exception of Swansea, are struggling to make the step up. It seems then that if the Football League wanted the Championship to be more like the Premier League then they are succeeding.

Whilst it may now be easier to bet on the Championship parachute payments are in danger of taking the unpredictability of the league away, one of the elements which makes this league so watch able.

As for the future well normally I would say who knows what it will hold but this season things look a little more predictable. The only thing that will change the way this season is going is the January transfer window. QPR have plenty to spend whilst others may stick their hands in their pockets if they believe there is a chance for promotion or to save themselves from relegation. At the minute though the odds for the Championship look like they aren’t going to change until we find ourselves at the play-off final again.

The Second Round of the Carling Cup is finished and the 16 CCC teams that made it to the Second Round, 10 made
thier way to the third round which will be drawn live on Sky Sports Saturday August 30th and played the week of the 21st of September. I will have the Third Round draw on Monday for the advancing CCC clubs.

Ipswich 2 (Counago 28′,Lisbie 56′) Colchester 1 (Gillespie 87′)

Coventry City 2 (Morrison 45′,Dann 90′) Newcastle 3 (Dann(og)21′, Milner 38′, Owen 97′)

Cardiff City 2 (McCormack (pen)45′, Whittingham 58′) MK Dons 1 (O’Hanlon 75′)

Swansea City 2 (Pintado 63′,Gomez (pen) 105′) Hull City 1 (Windass 11′) AET

Rotherham 0 Wolves 0
Rotherham win on penalty kicks 4-3

Leeds United 4 (Douglas 11′, Beckford 32′, Becchio 52′, Showunmi 76′) Crystal Palace o

Crewe 2 (Elding 24′, Moore 76′) Bristol City 1 (Wilson 79′)

QPR 4 (Stewart 48′, Ledesema 56′,63′,85′) Carlisle United 0

Reading 5(N. Hunt 11′, S. Hunt 15′, Pearce 54′, Karacan 55′, Henry 76′) Luton Town 1 (Charles 80′)

Preston 0 Derby County 1 (Green 40′) Wooo Hooo

Watford 2 (Francis 37′, O’Toole 116′) Darlington 1 ( Blundell) AET

Southampton 2 (Holmes 17′, Lallana 56′) Birmingham 0

Burnley 3 (McCann 12′, Paterson 63′, 79′) Oldham Athletic 0

Huddersfield Town 1 (Flynn 34′) Sheffield United 2 (Henderson 82′, Naughton 83′)

Nottingham Forest 1 (Earnshaw 60′) Sunderland 2 (Bardsley 86′, Healy 93′) AET

Here are the match-ups for the CCC clubs that have advanced to the Second Round of the Carling Cup. Ties will be played on August 26th and 27th at 7:45 GMT unless otherwise changed.

August 26th 

Burnely v Oldham Athletic (League One)

Cardiff City v MK Dons (League One)

Coventry City v Newcastle United (EPL)

Crewe(League One) v Bristol City

Ipswich Town v Colchester United(League One)

Leeds United(League One) v Crystal Palace

Preston NE v Derby County

QPR v Carlisle United (League One)

Reading v Luton Town (League Two)

Rotherham United (League Two) v Wolves

Southampton v Birmingham

Swansea City v Hull City (EPL)

Watford v Darlington (League Two)

August 27th

Huddersfield Town (League One) v Sheffield Untied

Nottingham Forest v Sunderland (EPL)

On Saturday the CCC season officially started as 24 teams battle to win promotion to the English Premier League and the riches that would come with that promotion. For the three promoted teams, Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster, they are looking to establish themselves and avoid an immediate return to League One while Reading, Birmingham and Derby County look to bounce straight back to the EPL. One thing that is known about the CCC, there is no sure thing in this division and anything can happen. Here the results from the first weekend of action.

Birmingham City 1 (Kevin Phillips 90′) Sheffield United 0

Blackpool 0 Bristol City 1(Steve Brooker 90′)

Cardiff City 2(Steven Thompson 41,Roger Johnson 90′) Southampton 1 (David McGoldrick 45′)

Charlton 2 (Mark Hudson 3′, Andy Gray 85′) Swansea City 0

Coventry City 2 (Elliot Ward,pen 48′, Leon McKenzie 86′) Norwich City 0

Crystal Palace 0 Watford 0

Derby County 0 Doncaster 1 (Lewis Guy 59′)

Ipswich 1 (Kevin Lisbie 2′) Preston NE 2(Paul McKenna 21, Simon Whaley 34)

Plymouth 2 (Rory Fallon 7′, Marcel Siep 55′) Wolves 2 (Michael Knightly 19′, Sam Vokes 78′)

QPR 2(Fritz Hall 29,31′) Barnsley 1 (Iain Hume 5′)

Sheffield Wednesday 4(Marcus Tudgay 1′,65′, Apko Sodje 4’17′) Burnely 1 (Martin Paterson 6′)

Nottingham Forest 0 Reading 0

The Carling Cup is next up for the CCC teams on Tuesday and Wednesday then back to CCC action on Saturday.

Here are your updated transfers for all the CCC clubs as of 18 July, 08.

Barnsley:  

Out: Dwayne Mattis (released)

Birmingham City

In: Marcus Bent ( Charlton, undisclosed)

Out: Daniel De Ridder (Wigan, free), Oliver Kapo (Wigan 2.5m)

Blackpool

In: Steve Kabba (Watford, loan)

Bristol City:

In: Emad Metab (Al Ahly, 1.5m)

Out: Darren Byfield (Doncaster, free), Enoch Showunmi (Leeds United, free)

Burnley

In: Remco van der Schaaf (unattached)

Charlton Athletic

Out: Marcus Bent (Birmingham City, undisclosed), Chris Iwelumo (Wolves, undisclosed), Darren Randolph (Hereford, loan)

Coventry City

In: Freddy Eastwood (Wolves, 1.2m)

Crystal Palace

Out: Tony Craig (Millwall, undisclosed)

Doncaster Rovers

In: Darren Byfield (Bristol City, free)

Plymouth

In: David MacNamee (unattached)

Out: Peter Halmosi (Hull City, undisclosed)

Preston NE

In: Barry Nicholson (Aberdeen, Free)

 QPR

 Out: Jake Cole (Oxford, free)

Swansea City

In: Stephen Morrison (West Brom, free)

Out: Darren Way (Yeovil Town, free)

Watford

 Out: Steve Kabba (Blackpool, loan)

Wolves

In: Chris Iwelumo (Charlton, undisclosed)

Out: Freddy Eastwood (Coventry City, 1.2m), Charlie Mulgrew (Aberdeen, undisclosed)

Barnsley

In: Luke Steele (West Brom, Free), Ian Hume (Leicester City, 1.2M), Mounir El Haimour (NE Xamax, undisclosed), Darren Moore (Derby, Free)

Out: Paul Reid (Colchester, Free)

Birmingham City

In: Lee Carsley (Everton, Free), Kevin Phillips (West Brom, Free)

Out: Mikael Forssell (Hannover 96, free) Rafael Schmitz ( Lille, end of loan), Patrice Muamba ( Bolton, 5M), Asa Hall (released), Adam Ledzdins (Crewe, Free), David Howland (released), Daniel de Ridder (Wigan, Free), Stefan Milojevic (released) Mauro Zarate (Lazio, loan), Adam Legzdins (released)

Blackpool

In: Marlon Broomes ( Stoke City, Free), Joe Martin (Tottenham, undisclosed), Matt Gilks (Norwich City, undisclosed), Alex Babtiste (Mansfield Town, undisclosed)

Out: Wes Hoolaham (Norwich City, undisclosed) Kiegan Parker (Huddersfield Town, free), Michael Jackson (Shrewsbury Town, free) Marcus Bean (Brentford, free)

Released: Phil Marsh, John Hills, Matt Lawlor, Paul Tierney, Michael Flynn, Andy Welsh, Phil Doughty, Lewis Edge

Bristol City

In: Gavin Williams (Ipswich Town, undisclosed)

Out: Nick Carle (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Alex Russell (Cheltenham Town, free)

Released: Tamas Vasko (Ujpest, end of loan) Darren Byfield, Martin Slocombe, Enoch Showunmi

Burnley

In: Martin Paterson (Scunthorpe United, 1M), Cristian Calvenes (Dundee United, Free), Kevin McDonald (500K, Dundee)

Out: James O’Connor (Sheffield Wednesday, free), John Spicer (Doncaster Rovers, free), Kyle Lafferty (Rangers, 3M) Andrew Cole (released), Jon Harley (released)

Cardiff City

In: Tom Heaton (Manchester United, loan) Darren Dennehy (Everton, free), Ross McCormack (Motherwell, Free) Mark Kennedy (Crystal Palace, Free)

Out: David Forde (Millwall, free), Warren Feeny (Dundee United, free), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal, undisclosed), Michael Oakes (released), Trevor Sinclair (released), Matt Green (released) Matt Smith (released)

Charlton Athletic

In: Mark Hudson (Crystal Palace, free), Stuart Fleetwood (Forest Green, tribunal)

Out: James Walker (Southend United, free), Chris Powell (released), Patrick McCarthy (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Osei Sankofa (Southend United, free)

Coventry City

In: Keiren Westwood (Carlisle United, free), Aron Gunnersson (AZ Alkmar, undisclosed)

Out: Colin Hawkins (Brighton &Hove Albion, free), Michael Hughes (released)

Crystal Palace

In: Patrick McCarthy (Charlton, undisclosed), Darryl Flahavan ( Southend United, free), Nick Carle (Bristol City, undisclosed), Johannes Ertl (Austria Vienna, undisclosed)

Out: Mark Hudson (Charlton, free), Ryan Hall (released), Jeff Hughes (Bristol Rovers, 100K), Ben Kudjodji (released), Lewwis Spence ( Wycome, free), Moses Swaibu (released), Mark Kennedy (Cardiff City, free), Aaron Fray (released)

Derby County

In: Kris Commons (Nottingham Forest, free) Liam Dickenson (Stockport County, 750K), Paul Connolly (Plymouth, free), Martin Albrechtsen (West Brom, free), Jordan Stewart (Watford, free) Nathan Ellington (Watford, free) Paul Gree (Doncaster Rovers, free) Steve Davies (Tranmere, tribunal)

Out: Robert Earnshaw (Nottingham Forest, 2.65M) Michael Johnson (Notts County, free), Kenny Miller (Rangers, 2M), Lee Holmes (Southampton, free), Craig Fagan (Hull City, 750K), David Jones (Wolves, undisclosed), Darren Moore (Barnsley, free) Jason Beardsley (Notts County, loan), Marc Edworthy (released), Ben Hinchliffe (released)

Doncaster Rovers

In: John Spicer (Burnley, free)

Out: Paul Green (Derby County, free), Graeme Lee (released), Stephen Roberts (Walsall, free), Matthew Noble (released), Mark McCammon (Gillingham, free)

Ipswich Town

In: Pim Balkestein (Heerenveen, undisclosed), Gareth McAuley (Leicester City, undisclosed)

Out: Gavin Williams ( Bristol City, undisclosed) Sylvain Legwinski (released), Fabian Wilnis (released), Sito (released)

Here are the pre-season schedules for most of the CCC clubs.

Barnsley

11 July Buxton (A)

12 July Glossip (A)

19 July Yeovil Town (A)

22 July York City (A)

26 July Rotherham (A)

29 July Wigan (H)

2 August Chengdu Blades (H)

Birmingham City

They will be on a tour of Austria from 13-22 July facing the following clubs:

14 July Kichbeg

17 July Victoria Plzen

20 July FC Nuremburg

26 July Gillingham (A)

29 July Leicester City (A)

2 August Fulham (H)

Blackpool

Could not find the clubs pre-season schedule other then

2 August Tranmere (A)

Bristol City

12 July Forest Green (A)

21 July Yeovil Town (A)

22 July Hereford United (A)

26 July AFC Bournemouth (A)

19 July Cheltenham Town (A)

1 August Royal Antwerp (H)

Burnley

10 July Carolina Railhawks (A)

15 July Minnesota Thunder (A)

19 July Queen of the South (A)

21 July Patrick Thistle (A)

23 July St. Johnstone (A)

26 July Accrington Stanley (A)

28 July Glentoran (A)

30 July Bradford City (A)

Cardiff City

12 July Merthyr (A)

22 July Guimarnes (A)

24 July Celtic (H)

29 July Swindon Town (H)

Charlton

9 July Welling United (A)

12 July Ebbsfleet United (A)

26 July Brighton Hove and Albion (A)

30 July Dulwich Hamlet (A)

2 August TBD

Coventry City

I have not found the clubs pre-season schedule

Crystal Palace

I have likewise not found the clubs pre-season schedule other then

14 July Crawley Town (A)

17 July Aldershot (A)