23/24 Fixtures

[S-Clarke]

Got to play them all at some point, but that is a hideous start in terms of trying to build momentum.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Waiting till July 8th for the other tv fixtures is a fucking piss take. I understand during the season because the broadcasters will want to see how the season plays out, but fuck me, surely the league could have given them the fixtures yesterday & announced Aug TV games at the same time today. Do they need over 2 weeks to study which fixtures would make good viewing. I could fucking do that in 10 mins. 

[Nordic Saint]

3 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Reality is we have to start hot in August (very un saintsy) and then carry that into a very tough run of games in September. Martin does know the league in all fairness, and if we can be in touching distance after Leeds we should be setup nicely for the rest of the season.

Russell Martin's teams don't exactly get off to flying starts to their seasons. I guess they are too busy concentrating on their passing stats.  One win from their opening 8 games is about par:

 

Swansea 2022-23

30 July Rotherham United 1–1 Swansea City D

6 August 2Swansea City 0–3 Blackburn Rovers L

13 August Blackpool 0–1 Swansea City W

16 August Swansea City 2–2 Millwall D

20 August Swansea City 0–2 Luton Town L

27 August Middlesbrough 2–1 Swansea City L

31 August Stoke City 1–1 Swansea City D

 

Swansea 2021-22

7 August Blackburn Rovers    2–1    Swansea City  L

14 August  Swansea City    0–0    Sheffield United  D

17 August Swansea City    1–3    Stoke City   L

20 August   Bristol City    0–1    Swansea City  W

28 August     Preston North End    3–1    Swansea City L

11 September 2   Swansea City    0–0    Hull City  D

15 September   Swansea City    0–0    Millwall    D

18 September   Luton Town    3–3    Swansea City  D

 

MK Dons 2020-21

12 September Doncaster Rovers Away 1–1 D

19 September 2Lincoln CityHome 1–2 L

26 September Crewe AlexandraAway 0–2 L

3 October Ipswich Town Home 1–1 D

10 October Portsmouth Away 1–2 L

17 October 0Gillingham Home 2–0 W

20 October Oxford United Away 2–3 L

24 October Blackpool Away 0–1 L

 

 

 

 

[ant]

3 hours ago, Mr Nimbus said:

Norwich away on NYD. Thats a rough journey at the best of times let alone on a Bank holiday

All too aware of this from 2nd January 2016. Drove up with a mate, somehow still hungover from NYE.

Wanyama sent off and we limply lost 1-0.

The drive home was in silence, mentally cursing the A11. Which I swear is one of the most boring roads in the land.

[Whitey Grandad]

20 minutes ago, ant said:

All too aware of this from 2nd January 2016. Drove up with a mate, somehow still hungover from NYE.

Wanyama sent off and we limply lost 1-0.

The drive home was in silence, mentally cursing the A11. Which I swear is one of the most boring roads in the land.

The last (and only) time I went there my windscreen wipers stopped working on the way up in the middle of nowhere. Too much rain for them I suppose. And we lost 1-0.

I was hoping to make it there again only this time by train. Apparently not.

[Saint Matty 76]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Got to play them all at some point, but that is a hideous start in terms of trying to build momentum.

Is it? September looks a little rough but we have the best opportunity of the entire league to go into it with momentum.

 

[SW5 SAINT]

How come the tv matches had been selected before the fixtures were released….?

[skintsaint]

36 minutes ago, SW5 SAINT said:

How come the tv matches had been selected before the fixtures were released….?

[LGTL]

Welcome to the Championship. Cheers SR for getting us back involved with this utter shite. 

Horrific start, wouldn’t surprise me to be bottom half by November and fighting for 6th could be the best we hope for. We never ever start well. 

[OldNick]

5 hours ago, Hatch said:

Have Wednesday got a new manager yet ?

Have we, lol

[OldNick]

23 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Welcome to the Championship. Cheers SR for getting us back involved with this utter shite. 

Horrific start, wouldn’t surprise me to be bottom half by November and fighting for 6th could be the best we hope for. We never ever start well. 

They are not uter shite though. All these clubs deserve respect, we are inthe same league

[CB Fry]

28 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Welcome to the Championship. Cheers SR for getting us back involved with this utter shite. 

Horrific start, wouldn’t surprise me to be bottom half by November and fighting for 6th could be the best we hope for. We never ever start well. 

Involved in "this utter shite" but also we'll be bottom half by November.

So we're utter shite as well then.

[LGTL]

37 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Involved in "this utter shite" but also we'll be bottom half by November.

So we're utter shite as well then.

I wasn’t necessarily describing the ability of the league, more that it’s just a tough league to be involved in and to try and get out of. I certainly wasn’t one of those pining to be relegated as we could comfortably be down here for a good few years. 

Your second line is pretty accurate 😀

[LiberalCommunist]

Lovely set of games. So bored of Spuds and Utd. Really looking forward to this.

And who wants to waste some easy fixtures on the first month where we always give points away. This could be the wake up call we need.

 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

3 hours ago, ant said:

All too aware of this from 2nd January 2016. Drove up with a mate, somehow still hungover from NYE.

Wanyama sent off and we limply lost 1-0.

The drive home was in silence, mentally cursing the A11. Which I swear is one of the most boring roads in the land.

This year there's also the A12 to Ipswich which must be worse. The A11 at least takes you right in to parking and a close(ish) walk to the ground.

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Is it? September looks a little rough but we have the best opportunity of the entire league to go into it with momentum.

 

What are they basing that on though?

From experience and not just looking at rankings of teams, you know that games against promoted clubs in the first few games are a pretty bad draw.

[davefizzy14]

Hopefully we can get off to a fast start and build from there

[LiberalCommunist]

In with a chance of the bed-wetters cup. 

For sure. 

[JRM]

1 hour ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Lovely set of games. So bored of Spuds and Utd. Really looking forward to this.

And who wants to waste some easy fixtures on the first month where we always give points away. This could be the wake up call we need.

 

Completely agree , lots to look forward to there, but then again I tend to enjoy trips to Hillsborough more than Old Trafford personally. 

Would be nice to know the tv games sooner to book travel,  Plymouth away South Coast derby will be nice down there in the sun, shame they tend to give small away allocations 

[egg]

Those August and September fixtures are cracking. 5 proper clubs at home, and some brilliant away days. Nice. 

[Charlie Wayman]

11 hours ago, aintforever said:

Fuck me. Relegation hits home when you see that list of shite.

Exactly what I thought as well, bloody depressing.

[egg]

9 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Exactly what I thought as well, bloody depressing.

I can't believe any football fan whines about home games to Norwich, QPR, Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds in the first 5 home games. All recent or recent ish PL clubs, and all proper football clubs. 

[Charlie Wayman]

1 minute ago, egg said:

I can't believe any football fan whines about home games to Norwich, QPR, Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds in the first 5 home games. All recent or recent ish PL clubs, and all proper football clubs. 

I'm used to dining at the top table!

[egg]

Just now, Charlie Wayman said:

I'm used to dining at the top table!

Away days at Bournemouth and Brighton, and perpetual defeats at spurs, city, Liverpool, etc may float your boat mate, but I'll be quite happy to go to games where people who only want that are elsewhere. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

31 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I'm used to dining at the top table!

Bournemouth, Luton, Brentford, Fulham, top table at Wetherspoon’s? 

[StDunko]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I'm used to dining at the top table!

But getting served shit on toast for dinner, and having to pay top dollar for it.

[Mixedkebab]

10 hours ago, LGTL said:

Welcome to the Championship. Cheers SR for getting us back involved with this utter shite. 

Horrific start, wouldn’t surprise me to be bottom half by November and fighting for 6th could be the best we hope for. We never ever start well. 

What a top fanbase we have 

[AlexLaw76]

Crap start, crap end

[Give it to Ron]

Champ’ away allocations 23/24

Bham 2250
Bburn 7500
Bristol C 3000
CCFC 2200
Hudd 2300
Hull 2000
Ipsw 2100
Leeds 2500
Leic 3000
Boro 2000
Mill 3000
Nwich 2000
Plym 1500
PNE 5800
QPR 3000
Rham 2300
Sheff W 3500
Southmpton 3000
Stoke 2600
Sun 2500
Swansea 2000
Watford 2000
WBA 2000

[Mozz]

On 22/06/2023 at 09:44, Saint86 said:

Presumably there will be more surity in the championship games as there is less need to move fixtures around for the European "big teams", and less TV coverage in general.

The Athletic did a piece on the new EFL/Sky deal last month that says:

Quote

As part of the deal, the EFL said that Sky Sports will release their TV picks for up to the FA Cup third round ahead of a ball being kicked in the 2023-24 season.

So should at least get significant advanced notice compared to the PL.

Some people might be unpleasantly surprised regarding the amount of games that could be moved away from Saturday 3pm though.

Of the twelve Championship games each weekend, five will be broadcast by Sky (on a combination of TV & streaming).  This means that those five cannot be played at Sat 3pm as the blackout remains in place.  The plan is that a typical week will see these split out with one on Friday night, two on Saturday lunchtime (streaming) and the final two at some point Sunday or Monday.

[Whitey Grandad]

25 minutes ago, Mozz said:

The Athletic did a piece on the new EFL/Sky deal last month that says:

So should at least get significant advanced notice compared to the PL.

Some people might be unpleasantly surprised regarding the amount of games that could be moved away from Saturday 3pm though.

Of the twelve Championship games each weekend, five will be broadcast by Sky (on a combination of TV & streaming).  This means that those five cannot be played at Sat 3pm as the blackout remains in place.  The plan is that a typical week will see these split out with one on Friday night, two on Saturday lunchtime (streaming) and the final two at some point Sunday or Monday.

Bugger

[Kenilworthy]

25 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Bugger

Is the deal for this season? Or does it start in 2024/25?

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Mozz said:

The Athletic did a piece on the new EFL/Sky deal last month that says:

So should at least get significant advanced notice compared to the PL.

Some people might be unpleasantly surprised regarding the amount of games that could be moved away from Saturday 3pm though.

Of the twelve Championship games each weekend, five will be broadcast by Sky (on a combination of TV & streaming).  This means that those five cannot be played at Sat 3pm as the blackout remains in place.  The plan is that a typical week will see these split out with one on Friday night, two on Saturday lunchtime (streaming) and the final two at some point Sunday or Monday.

Thanks Mozz, thats interesting. I knew there was an improved TV deal for the champ etc. this year, but didn't know the specifics. Might see quite a lot of saints on tv depending on how well we do.

[Gru]

22 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

Is the deal for this season? Or does it start in 2024/25?

5 year deal begins in 2024.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/05/english-football-league-agrees-new-935-deal-with-sky-sports#:~:text=Under the deal 1%2C059 league,iFollow service for domestic viewers.

[Mozz]

49 minutes ago, Gru said:

5 year deal begins in 2024.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/05/english-football-league-agrees-new-935-deal-with-sky-sports#:~:text=Under the deal 1%2C059 league,iFollow service for domestic viewers.

Indeed, apologies for missing that pretty important fact.

Hopefully it won't impact us at all in that case!

[InTheChannel]

https://inthechannel.blogspot.com/2023/06/fixtures-not-so-deep-dive.html?m=1

 

Fancy a not so deep dive into the upcoming campaign. Check out the link 

Thanks

[Cabrone]

Really up for this, a proper league that anyone could win. Ppl are complaining about the first 2 months but if we are serious about getting out of this it's a fantastic opportunity to get some real momentum going.

Screw the plastic Prem losing all the time.

[benjii]

Quietly confident that the first match will be on the Friday night, for Sky.

[SotonianWill]

3 minutes ago, benjii said:

Quietly confident that the first match will be on the Friday night, for Sky.

is that because sky already announced this yesterday?

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, benjii said:

Quietly confident that the first match will be on the Friday night, for Sky.

I'm loudly confident it will be.

[Osvaldorama]

On 22/06/2023 at 12:57, Nordic Saint said:

Russell Martin's teams don't exactly get off to flying starts to their seasons. I guess they are too busy concentrating on their passing stats.  One win from their opening 8 games is about par:

 

Swansea 2022-23

30 July Rotherham United 1–1 Swansea City D

6 August 2Swansea City 0–3 Blackburn Rovers L

13 August Blackpool 0–1 Swansea City W

16 August Swansea City 2–2 Millwall D

20 August Swansea City 0–2 Luton Town L

27 August Middlesbrough 2–1 Swansea City L

31 August Stoke City 1–1 Swansea City D

 

Swansea 2021-22

7 August Blackburn Rovers    2–1    Swansea City  L

14 August  Swansea City    0–0    Sheffield United  D

17 August Swansea City    1–3    Stoke City   L

20 August   Bristol City    0–1    Swansea City  W

28 August     Preston North End    3–1    Swansea City L

11 September 2   Swansea City    0–0    Hull City  D

15 September   Swansea City    0–0    Millwall    D

18 September   Luton Town    3–3    Swansea City  D

 

MK Dons 2020-21

12 September Doncaster Rovers Away 1–1 D

19 September 2Lincoln CityHome 1–2 L

26 September Crewe AlexandraAway 0–2 L

3 October Ipswich Town Home 1–1 D

10 October Portsmouth Away 1–2 L

17 October 0Gillingham Home 2–0 W

20 October Oxford United Away 2–3 L

24 October Blackpool Away 0–1 L

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus Christ 😂. What did we see in this fella 

[Pamplemousse]

22 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

Champ’ away allocations 23/24

Bham 2250
Bburn 7500
Bristol C 3000
CCFC 2200
Hudd 2300
Hull 2000
Ipsw 2100
Leeds 2500
Leic 3000
Boro 2000
Mill 3000
Nwich 2000
Plym 1500
PNE 5800
QPR 3000
Rham 2300
Sheff W 3500
Southmpton 3000
Stoke 2600
Sun 2500
Swansea 2000
Watford 2000
WBA 2000

Don't we give 3,300?

 

Out of those teams, I can't see too many taking the full allocation. I reckon we'll open up Block 43 for home fans a fair amount (if there is demand of course)

[east-stand-nic]

On 22/06/2023 at 15:31, Saint86 said:

Well, we'll know where we are come start/end of September. Looks a tough start on paper - But if we want promotion we should be winning those.

Thoughts

1. Wednesday have just sacked their manager/coaching setup, which for a newly promoted team that needs momentum and to strengthen efficiently seems a poor decision.
2. Norwich at home will be a good test - one we shouldn't lose and you would hope we win (but manager needs time yada yada)
3. I think Plymouth (A) will be tough. Good manager, great atmosphere around the club, carrying a lot of momentum and confidence in how they play.
4. QPR are not very good - this is a great chance for a win 😄
5. Sundarland (A) will be very tough, and a promotion contender 6 pointer to boot.
6. Leicester (H) - Promotion favourite at home, if they live up to their billing that's a must win.
7. Ipswich (H) - Promotion favourite at home, if they live up to their billing that's a must win.
8. Boro (A) - another that will be very tough, and a promotion contender 6 pointer to boot.
9. Leeds (H) - What a run? just going to predict a win here for the hell of it.

Then finally, Stoke (A) and Rotherham (H), and relax.

Reality is we have to start hot in August (very un saintsy) and then carry that into a very tough run of games in September. Martin does know the league in all fairness, and if we can be in touching distance after Leeds we should be setup nicely for the rest of the season.

Not sure how people think this is a tough start, although of course at this time there are a lot of unknowns for the season to come. We don't even know how good our team/squad might be. But looking at these fixtures i would say;

Wednesday newly promoted, might struggle as many do at the quite big jump up, especially with no new manager in place yet and only 6 weeks left for him to get them into shape etc.

Norwich no idea what to expect from them this season but they have no big funds and thus i expect them to be mid table ish or a bit lower. Not gonna be top 6.

Plymouth, like the Owls, as good as a season they just had, they will probably stumble a bit, but might get off to a good start with feel good factor. Not top 6.

QPR got off to a good start last term but then slumped badly. Not top 6, but maybe they have a good start again.

Sundarland, like a lot of teams who fail in the play off's, likely they will slump a bit this season and not be top 6 again.

Leicester, might lose a lot of their better players and by all accounts have a limited spend budget. They might be bottom half.

Ipswich, we should be winning these sorts of games. They will not be top 6.

Boro, similar to Sunderland, they may have peaked this last season and not do so well. It is often the case in the championship i have noted.

Leeds, toughest game of the lot so far as i can determine.

All this said, pretty much totally unknown as i said at the beginning as we have no idea at all who we will have lining up for us and how good RM may or may not be. Nonetheless i am very excited for the season as we have something to play for. In the EPL we have nothing to play for other than survival.

[Mustapha Fag]

4 hours ago, east-stand-nic said:

Not sure how people think this is a tough start, although of course at this time there are a lot of unknowns for the season to come. We don't even know how good our team/squad might be. But looking at these fixtures i would say;

Wednesday newly promoted, might struggle as many do at the quite big jump up, especially with no new manager in place yet and only 6 weeks left for him to get them into shape etc.

Norwich no idea what to expect from them this season but they have no big funds and thus i expect them to be mid table ish or a bit lower. Not gonna be top 6.

Plymouth, like the Owls, as good as a season they just had, they will probably stumble a bit, but might get off to a good start with feel good factor. Not top 6.

QPR got off to a good start last term but then slumped badly. Not top 6, but maybe they have a good start again.

Sundarland, like a lot of teams who fail in the play off's, likely they will slump a bit this season and not be top 6 again.

Leicester, might lose a lot of their better players and by all accounts have a limited spend budget. They might be bottom half.

Ipswich, we should be winning these sorts of games. They will not be top 6.

Boro, similar to Sunderland, they may have peaked this last season and not do so well. It is often the case in the championship i have noted.

Leeds, toughest game of the lot so far as i can determine.

All this said, pretty much totally unknown as i said at the beginning as we have no idea at all who we will have lining up for us and how good RM may or may not be. Nonetheless i am very excited for the season as we have something to play for. In the EPL we have nothing to play for other than survival.

So, 3 teams that have been promoted,  still carrying the feel good factor which may cause some decent early season results,

2 relegated teams, who like us are in real unknown place at the moment, new managers, players to come and go yet

2 play off teams who may or may not continue that form, but Boro one of promotion favourites 

Norwich I don't expect to be as bad as last year

And QPR, I remember a lot of defeats to these buggers

 

We could get off to a flier, but, with new tactics to learn, players to integrate it could also be a slower than expected start, looking forward to it

[Lee On Solent Saint]

11 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

Don't we give 3,300?

 

Out of those teams, I can't see too many taking the full allocation. I reckon we'll open up Block 43 for home fans a fair amount (if there is demand of course)

Maybe QPR and Millwall. Sheff Weds normally have a decent away following. Bristol City as fairly local possibly. Sunderland at a push,

[JRM]

On 23/06/2023 at 10:25, Give it to Ron said:

Champ’ away allocations 23/24

Bham 2250
Bburn 7500
Bristol C 3000
CCFC 2200
Hudd 2300
Hull 2000
Ipsw 2100
Leeds 2500
Leic 3000
Boro 2000
Mill 3000
Nwich 2000
Plym 1500
PNE 5800
QPR 3000
Rham 2300
Sheff W 3500
Southmpton 3000
Stoke 2600
Sun 2500
Swansea 2000
Watford 2000
WBA 2000

Not sure if ccfc is Cardiff or Coventry but I know both of those have made more tickets available to teams with bigger followings. I expect most of our away games will make it to general sale 

Any idea how many season tickets have been sold?

Going to be some big crowds in the division next season, Sunderland have sold over 32,000 season tickets, Norwich / Leeds have a waiting list for theirs, Leicester will probably average 30k, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, sheff wed will be high 20k crowds.

[JRM]

2 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Maybe QPR and Millwall. Sheff Weds normally have a decent away following. Bristol City as fairly local possibly. Sunderland at a push,

Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland will all bring the full lot despite the distance (Leeds whenever, other two as long as a Saturday) 

I think QPR will they always like bringing big numbers down, as will Millwall if doing well. 

Bristol City brought the whole bit last time we played them, Birmingham City,  Coventry, Ipswich, Plymouth,  Watford all could fill it if doing well. 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

On 23/06/2023 at 10:25, Give it to Ron said:

Champ’ away allocations 23/24

Bham 2250
Bburn 7500
Bristol C 3000
CCFC 2200
Hudd 2300
Hull 2000
Ipsw 2100
Leeds 2500
Leic 3000
Boro 2000
Mill 3000
Nwich 2000
Plym 1500
PNE 5800
QPR 3000
Rham 2300
Sheff W 3500
Southmpton 3000
Stoke 2600
Sun 2500
Swansea 2000
Watford 2000
WBA 2000

Thanks. That helps manage expectations. As a Premium member and not a season ticket holder, Plymouth might not get to us but glad to see a couple of London clubs have 3,000 allocations - though does it all depend on how many the club decides to take?

[The Cat]

9 hours ago, JRM said:

Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland will all bring the full lot despite the distance (Leeds whenever, other two as long as a Saturday) 

I think QPR will they always like bringing big numbers down, as will Millwall if doing well. 

Bristol City brought the whole bit last time we played them, Birmingham City,  Coventry, Ipswich, Plymouth,  Watford all could fill it if doing well. 

Plymouth will probably fill most away ends this season, especially where they haven't played that team for a while.

Despite the drop off in tourist fans there should be decent attendances in most games around the league.

[Behind Enemy Lines]

On 22/06/2023 at 12:24, Lord Duckhunter said:

Waiting till July 8th for the other tv fixtures is a fucking piss take. I understand during the season because the broadcasters will want to see how the season plays out, but fuck me, surely the league could have given them the fixtures yesterday & announced Aug TV games at the same time today. Do they need over 2 weeks to study which fixtures would make good viewing. I could fucking do that in 10 mins. 

It is frustrating I agree and would be great if it was done quicker. 
 

But I’m guessing they’d need to decide what fixtures they want, then wait for confirmation from the clubs and the police etc that it is feasible to be moved to a Friday, or any day other than a scheduled match day. Then if one team can’t fulfil that, onto the next chosen game and wait for their responses?