by Dirk Gently »
17 Jun 2009 09:49
parky Bowman's Quiver Interesting article but I don't understand why the fixture computer can't take account of the distance between grounds. I would have thought that was a relatively simple matrix to program in.
Yes but it would be a case of inputting the difference between every club in that division which i wouldn't have thought its a problem its just they cant be arsed.
Who would it benefit, though? Many clubs like long-distance games to be midweek - the local derbies are always better attended (by home and away fans) on a Saturday than when played in midweek, and so they want these to be played at weekends.
Also, home clubs prefer to have games played at midweek against distant opponents as the thought is that a long-distance match will always have a lower visiting crowd and so the fact it's midweek won't affect it that much more - and it'll also mean they'll have more matches which are police-free and cheaper to put on.
And, as Ian Todd says, it's all so interlinked that if you make one change the knock-on effect is often worse for 4 or 5 other sets of fans - it's like badly-put up wallpaper. Press down one bubble and it comes up somewhere else! Once the Police have had their say and the pairings and local events kick in then it's a miracle they do manage to get any fixture out whatsoever!
PS - don't be too impressed by talk of "the computer program" - it's done in Excel. A fiendishly complicated Excel with all sorts of macros, nested if statements and conditional formatting, yes, but still Excel!
