So it was fixture Friday again. It is good to know that the season will soon be on us, but the fixtures themselves tell us little. No doubt like me, you noticed who the first game was, then maybe made a few notes about what you were doing in August, made a special note about 3 September, 2 January and 8 April and for the rest of the season said “Ah yes, that’s interesting” and moved on to something else.
I don’t think anyone will ever be happy about the big hole in the season between November and December. Ah yes, but we all know that it is all about absurd money and crawling to those who are causing our current “cost of living crisis” by raising oil prices. Why do we put up with this? However, it does give us a chance to watch some of the very good football played in other Divisions and at Junior level.
And then we have the New Year. Before words like “tired” and “fatigue” entered the vocabulary of the overpaid, there would often be about three fixtures in four days at New Year, but one game is enough for the poor darlings who aren’t even getting their midwinter break this year. Oh dear!
The other annoying thing about the fixture list is that there is no point in making plans for going to a game on a Saturday. There is at least an even chance that it will be changed to a Sunday. Possibly as far as Celtic are concerned, the Champions League means that we will not play on a Thursday night, so there will be fewer games on a Sunday. I keep thinking, you know, that 3.00 on a Satruday afternoon is not a bad time for a football match.
So how are Celtic now placed? Well, really no great advanrage or disadvantage, You have to play everyone else sooner or later, and although there will be those who are seeing conspiracies about when the “difficult” games are, it is basically up to how Ange and company perform on the day.
Don’t make plans for 14 January or 26 February. I would like to think we will be playing in the Scottish League Cup semi-final and final on those days, and the Scottish Cup final will be as late as 3 June next year. Let’s hope we are in that game with the other two trophies already in the bag, but in the meantime our season kicks off at 4.30 pm on Sunday 31 July against an Aberdeen club who persist in upsetting their supporters by selling their best players! The flag will be unfurled that day, I understand.
David Potter
David Potter’s new book, Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style is featured in the new edition of the Celtic View which is out now and available from the Celtic Stores. You can also pick up the Willie Fernie book there too or order direct from Celtic Star Books, link below…
This is the second year in a row that our opening fixture has been on my birthday. The defeat to Hearts last year ruined my day so hopefully we’ll beat Aberdeen 9-0 this year and my day will go without a hitch. Having said all of that if we lose to Aberdeen and win the treble and the Champions League I’ll grudgingly accept that, Hail Hail David I can’t wait for the season to get underway.