Unfortunately the FA have decided that if you want to commit as heinous a crime of copyright as actually letting the world know what teams you're going to be playing, you have to pay a few hundred quid for a licence to have the privelege. Needless to say this money has not been paid, and Footymad caught me trying to be clever. Not that I blame them, it's a stupid rule in the first place and I can understand they don't want to be hunted down for their skin by the footballing authorities.
However, apparently I can refer to one or two fixtures in a general overview type situation, as long as I don't reproduce the entire thing. God forbid that I, as an unimportant football fan, should steal the FA's thunder and accidently stop people viewing one of their authorised outlets of the fixture list.
Not that I'm at all bitter, of course.
The first third of the season
We could've had a worse start, I think it's fair to say. We've got what could be termed as "winnable games" although they're all generally from the middle of the table mish-mash, that special place where anyone can beat anyone; what's more we start at home against a team from North London who reckon they're a big club. This is followed up by a journey to the Black Country, where suffice to say we had a bit of a love-in last season. Unfortunately there's a nasty little run where we face three "big guns" consecutively in November and December; it starts away in a place called Merseyside against a team who play in red, then at home to a team from London in blue who finished 1st last season, followed up to a trip up north again, this time to play a team in red who used to be very good but now aren't quite so good and are going to be driven out of business by an American. Could see us going a few weeks without points, that.
The winter of discontent
Rather amusingly, and for the first time I can remember, we've got a game on New Year's Eve. It's against a team from London who play in white and have notoriously bad support, so God knows how many they'll bring down on a traditionally busy day like that. Still, a perfect excuse for pre and post match drinks all round I think. Playing at home on Boxing Day is always a nice bonus, as we welcome one of Harry Redknapp's former clubs. We also face that team in red and white who come from London and who are rubbish in Europe a couple of days later, a midweek journey which will be the last time we ever travel to their current ground. We face the team in blue and the team in red I alluded to earlier in succession again, which could be a bit of a pain. Before that we have a team who look like barcodes and play in a very cold place away, so the month of February could be a bit of a toughy.
The run-in
If by some miracle we're looking for the higher end of the table, then our run-in could be fantastic. If, however, we're involved in a relegation scrap then their could be trouble as we come up against some of our likely bottom-dwelling rivals. We face two promoted teams - one at home and one away - as well as a bunch of thugs from up north who have a knobby Scottish striker, and a team in white who live near the Thames; all could be six-pointers. Thankfully, we travel to another London team with a sour faced manager whose season is always falling apart by this point, so we could get an easy win there.
So there you are. A perfect preview of the season ahead, and what's more we avoided the wrath of the FA and everyone's happy.