Fixtures List - Outbreak of Common Sense at the FA

Big pre-planned press announcement days are always a good way of burying bad news.  Normally it's the government trying to slip in a few lines about some dismal failure in amongst all the press releases on Budget day.  This time, with all the excitement generated by the release of the new football season fixtures list today, I hope that fans saw the Football Association trying to bury its own bit of bad news.  In a rare outbreak of common sense they announced that the FA Cup Final will take place 17 May, a week after all other league games had concluded.

However rather belatedly and using another PR trick of turning what should have been an apology into a good news item they finally admitted that they had got it wrong.  FA general secretary Alex Horne said: "We're aware fans and media have been calling for the FA Cup final to have a day to itself and we're delighted that this is going to happen for 2014."

Well done chaps.  Despite all the communication channels and modern media it's only taken you three years to realise! At last we all as football fans from which ever club we support can now enjoy the showcase finale at the end of the season in the manner in which it was intended.

Now let’s hope the FA can continue with their apparent run of common sense and schedule the kick off time so that all fans, who want to, can actually travel to and from the match Wembley by train on the same day.  I know we don't know which teams will be playing but If Alex Horne is reading, can I suggest his next task is to flag 17 May with the railway companies now, to at least attempt to ensure that there will be no maintenance works planned on that day and the possibility that extra coaches might be put on would also be nice.  At best this would show that the FA really does care about the fans and at worst it shows they tried and deflects the criticism on to the railway companies.

Elsewhere I have to take my hat off to the dedication of the Charlton media team in getting the fixture list out to supporters.  At the rate they must have been typing to bang that information out on the website, facebook and twitter, someone must have triggered off the smoke alarm at the Valley.

I would always prefer a first fixture at home but we could do worse than away to Bournemouth in August and I'm looking forward to the start of the season.

COYR......