Don't mention the F word!

You may have been on EPL talk this morning and read The Gaffer’s blog, which tells you that 2010 is the year that f*xture lists have become a commodity. It seems that now the Bundesliga has taken over the Premiership as the richest league in the word, they’re clawing onto any money they can, and no doubt there will be a few independent bloggers caught out. To be fair though, I was about to list the opening day f*xtures on this website until I caught The Gaffer’s article via Twitter, I went onto an unofficial Newcastle United website to see when we’ll play Sunderland next season and I did wonder why they put a copyright at the bottom of the fixtures. In any case, I find fixture day one of the most over-hyped days in English football. It’s nice to see who you’ll play first and when your derby games are, but it’s hardly novel that you’ll be playing every team twice across the season. If you’re one of these odd people Sky have caught at 9am to talk about their excitement regarding their team’s f*xtures, then you’ll probably know every game off heart and will not see this blog because you’ll be too busy in a dark room studying the list. I still think I can do the opening day, so instead of “f*xtures”, I’m going to use the term “opening day battles”. See if you can get who your team is “battling” on the opening day:

1. It looks like those boys will be driving their tractors down up to the Riverside t0 take on the Scotsman’s boys.

2. The capital of Wales hosts the capital of steel!

3. There will be swans floating around the Humber bridge, but the tigers will be on the prowl.

4. The clarets look set to lay down the law when they find the forest around them.

5. Delia Smith welcomes Elton John for a feast of football.

6. The rams go marching on together in a united Yorkshire.

7. For the first time in history a robin will be favourite to beat a lion.

8. The irons can expect a royal welcome when they travel down south.

9. The north end is being invaded by vikings!

10. Law instilling monarchs look to fend off some feisty tykes.

11. A clear place for royalty has a fox problem.

12. The sky will be blue, but a darker shade will look to play up to the occasion.

Remember – I am in no way suggesting that this has anything to do with the Championship or the F word. These are battles, that will all occur on the 7th August and possibly the 6th, 8th and 9th depending on television. In any case, there’s a World Cup on!

October has come and gone and another month dawns on the Championship. Here are the fixtures for the clubs battling for the three lucrative promotion slots to the BPL. I will also be giving my predictions (in bold) on these fixtures.

November 1

Charlton ( D-D-L-L-W) v Barnsley ( W-D-W-L-W) – The Valley 11 am est 1-1

Crystal Palace ( L-D-L-W-W) v Sheffield Wednesday ( L-L-L-W-L) – Selhurst Park 11 am est 2-0

Doncaster ( L-L-L-D-L) v Swansea City ( L-W-D-D-W) – Keepmoat Stadium 11m est  

Ipswich Town ( D-W-D-D-L) v QPR ( W-D-D-W-L) – Portman Road 11 am est 1-1

Preston ( W-L-W-L-L) v Southampton ( D-L-D-L-L) – Deepdale 11 am est 2-0

Sheffield United ( D-W-D-L-W) v Plymouth ( W-L-W-L-W) Bramall Lane 11 am est 2-2

Watford ( L-L-D-W-W) v Blackpool ( L-D-W-D-D) Vicarage Road Stadium 11 am est 1-2

Bristol City ( D-D-W-W-L) v Reading ( L-D-W-L-W) Ashton Gate 11 am est 2-2

Burnley ( W-D-W-D-L) v Norwich ( L-W-W-L-L) Turf Moor 11 am est 3-1

Cardiff City ( W-W-D-W-D) v Wolves ( W-W-L-W-L) Ninan Park 11 am est 1-2

November 2

Derby County ( W-D-L-W-W) v Nottingham Forest ( W-L-D-L-L) Pride Park 8:15 am est 3-1

Wolves are back in first place, Nottingham Forest are rooted to the foot of the table, Derby County’s resurgence continued this weekend, what will the mid-week fixtures bring us?

Barnsley (L-W-L-D-D) v Sheffield Wednesday (W-L-W-W-D) – Oakwell Stadium 2:45 pm est

Birmingham (D-W-D-W-L) v Crystal Palace (W-W-W-D-L) – St. Andrew’s Stadium 2:45 pm est

Blackpool (D-D-D-D-W) v Derby County (W-W-D-W-D) – Bloomfield Road 2:45 pm est

Charlton (L-W-L-L-D) v Bristol City (W-L-D-L-W) – The Valley 2:45 pm est

Coventry City (L-W-L-D-W) v Burnley (D-L-W-W-D) – Ricoh Arena 2:45 pm est

Norwich (L-L-L-D-W) v Wolves (W-L-L-W-W) – Carrow Road 2:45 pm est

Nottingham Forest (L-L-L-L-D) v Ipswich Town (D-L-W-D-D) – City Ground 2:45 pm est

Plymouth (L-W-D-W-W) v Preston (W-L-L-L-L) – Home Park 2:45 pm est

Sheffield United (L-W-W-W-L) v Southampton (L-L-W-W-D) – Bramall Lane 2:45 pm est

Swansea City (D-W-W-L-D) v QPR (W-L-D-L-L) – Liberty Stadium 2:45 pm est

Watford (W-W-L-L-D) v Cardiff City (W-D-W-L-D) – Vicarage Road Stadium 2:45 pm est

Reading (L-W-W-W-D) v Doncaster (D-L-L-L-L) – Madjeski Stadium 3:00 pm est

16 September

Barnsley (L-W-L-L-L) v Cardiff City (D-D-D-D-W)

Bristol City (D-D-W-D-W) v Birmingham ( W-D-W-W-W)

Burnely ( W-D-D-L-L) v Blackpool (W-W-L-D-L)

Doncaster ( L-W-L-D-W) v Charlton (L-L-W-L-W)

Preston NE ( D-W-D-W-W) v Nottingham Forest ( L-L-W-L-D)

Sheffield Untied (L-D-W-W-L) v Coventry City ( D-L-L-W-W)

Swansea City ( L-D-W-W-L) v Derby County (W-L-L-D-L)

Watford ( L-W-L-W-D) v Plymouth ( L-D-L-L-D)

Wolves ( W-W-W-W-D) v Crystal Palace ( W-L-D-L-D)

Reading ( L-W-L-W-D) v Sheffield United (L-D-D-L-W)

17 September

Southampton (L-L-W-L-L) v Ipswich ( W-L-L-W-L)

Norwich ( W-D-D-D-L) v QPR (W-D-W-L-W)

Now that the International break is over with for the time being, the battle for promotion resumes in the Championship this weekend and here are your fixtures.

Birmingham (D-W-W-W) v Doncaster (W-L-D-W)

Ipswich (L-L-W-L) v Reading (W-L-W-D)

Blackpool (W-L-D-L) v Barnsley (W-L-L-L)

Cardiff City (D-D-D-W) v Bristol City (D-W-D-W)

Charlton (L-W-L-W) v Wolves (W-W-W-D)

Coventry City (L-L-W-W) v Preston NE (W-D-W-W)

Crystal Palace (L-D-L-D) v Swansea City (D-W-W-L)

Nottingham Forest (L-W-L-D) v Burnley (D-D-L-L)

Plymouth (D-L-L-D) v Norwich ( D-D-D-L)

Sheffield Wednesday (D-D-L-W) v Watford ( W-L-W-D)

Derby County (L-L-D-L) v Sheffield United (D-W-W-W) This is the late match

Can Derby get off the mark and get the illusive first victory of the season, will Wolves and Preston keep up their hot start to the season? We shall know the results by Saturday night.

Here are the fixtures for the second weekend of the CCC season, to be played on August 16th.

Barnsley v Coventry City

Bristol City v Derby County

Burnley v Ipswich Town

Doncaster v Cardiff City

Norwich v Blackpool

Preston NE v Crystal Palace

Reading v Plymouth

Sheffield United v QPR

Southampton v Birmingham City

Swansea City v Nottingham Forsest ( Go Swansea!)

Watford v Charlton

Woves v Sheffield Wednesday

The Football League released the footballing fixtures today. The final schedule for teams won’t be out for another two weeks due to TV coverage beign chosen for matches and fixtures being re-arranged for other reasons but the opening day fixtures are out and here they are for your viewing pleasure. They will be played on Saturday August 9th.

Birmingham City v Sheffield United

Blackpool v Bristol City

Cardiff City v Southampton

Charlton v Swansea City

Coventry City v Norwich City

Crystal Palace v Watford

Derby County v Doncaster

Ipswich Town v Preston NE

Nottingham Forest v Reading

Plymouth v Wolves

QPR v Barnsley

Sheffield Wednesday v Burnley

 As a fan I know the first day of season is exciting and you have the hope that your team will be promoted, and as a Derby fan I personally have hope they can win more then one match all year. Good luck to all the promoted teams minus Florist of course, can all the relegated teams bounce straight back, its never been done yet. Let the optimism begin for the new season!