Charlton 0 Arsenal 1
Newcastle United v Charlton postponed
Tranmere Rovers 4 Yeovil Town 1
Belated Christmas greetings to one and all, and while I am at it, best wishes for 2006 as well. Having used the title of a Christmas carol for the last blog, I am minded to go on doing this for every posting till January 6th, aka Twelfth Night, which is of course a much bigger day over here in Spain than in the UK, where I spent a few days over Christmas, and very enjoyable it was too.
There was Internet access in the two houses I stayed at, but I was overcome by the astonishing lethargy that descends at this time of the year, and had little inclination to do anything but stare, zombie-like, at a large television screen in company with other family members and friends, and eat mince pies, something I didn't like as a child but seem to like more and more as the years go by. Maybe it is something to do with the fact that, unless you make your own, meaning making your own filling as well (I have been known occasionally to do this), they are almost impossible to come by in Spain.
Thus, when I learned on Boxing Day afternoon that Charlton had lost again, I was disappointed, but not disposed to nip upstairs to my cousin's spare bedroom and spend half an hour writing about it, particularly as I had no details. Then my cousin's boyfriend, a most amiable Chelsea supporter (they do exist) pointed out that it was only 0-1, and then the reports came in and apparently Charlton were much better than they have been lately, and it seems to have been bad refereeing, plus a suggestion of bias (the ref. is apparently a Crystal Palace supporter), that prevented a draw. Wyn Grant, as usual, has a complete account
here.
The away fixture at Newcastle on 28 December was cancelled half an hour before kick off, and has raised the question of the bizarre way in which the fixtures are scheduled these days. The League officials have tried to play this down, saying that it is not possible to do things differently, or some such, but of course it is. Local derbies or the next best thing are perfectly possible. Up to, and including, the 1967-68 season, there used to be back-to-back fixtures at Christmas and Easter, i.e. the same teams would play each other twice, and if there was a need for another match, or even another two, as there is during the current Christmas period, then another team, from maybe a bit further afield, could be found.
I spent my last night in England staying at the house of some dear old friends, about two minutes' walk from the Tranmere Rovers ground in Birkenhead. This was the same night that Charlton were scheduled to play in Newcastle, and Tranmere were also playing. In another example of ludicrous fixture planning, Tranmere's visitors were Yeovil Town. Although it was freezing, some of the younger members of the family were going round the corner to watch the match, and I was very tempted. But in the end I stayed in and packed my bags - I had been out cramming all my UK shopping into one day - and so missed out on a very exciting fight-back as Tranmere were trailing 0-1 at half time.
The League's refusal to accept that there is any other way to sort the fixtures out is just ridiculous. Yeovil do not have any near neighbours in their league to play derbies against, but there are a lot of sides who are much nearer than Tranmere: Swindon Town, Bristol City and even Bournemouth (it features in Hardy's novels -
Tess of the d'Urbervilles to be precise) have West Country accents, and it would probably have been quicker to navigate a coracle across the Bristol Channel to Swansea than it must have been to get from Yeovil to Tranmere, and for a 1945 kick-off as well. How are supporters supposed to get home?
I hope to entitle my next piece, to be written on New Year's Day, with the name of some joyous carol or other, after Charlton have had a successful outing at home to West Ham United, a game which kicks off in just under an hour from now. I haven't dared check out what Lawro thinks might happen...