Who knows?

My article from the Grecian match day magazine for ECFC v Halifac 8/10/05

It’s always seemed strange to me that the entire Saturday afternoon football schedule has to be rearranged for the sake of a single game. While that game may be an international that many want to watch, why can’t that game be an evening kick-off, rather than re-jigging a few hundred lower league games and no doubt costing clubs match-day income as fewer fans can make the awkward times that result?

With our match today being moved forward a few hours because of England’s World Cup Qualifier, my thoughts turned to the age old question: if you had the choice would you prefer (a) promotion for Exeter City, or (b) England (or nation of your own choosing) to win the World Cup?

England winning a World Cup would give all levels of football a great boost in terms of increased participation and spectator numbers. For example, football reached new heights of popularity in this country in the years following England’s progress to the semi-finals of Italia 90 and again after Euro 96. Attendances soared through out the 1990’s. In addition to this popularity boost, a World Cup victory would be great for the country and no doubt cause one big party. As I wasn’t alive when we last won a football World Cup I can only imagine what it would be like, perhaps by scaling up the scenes after England won the ashes or the 2003 rugby World Cup.

This feel-good factor and increase in the popularity of the game would no doubt filter down to ECFC and give us a welcome boost in income (at least in the short-term), but for some reason I’m more inclined to go for option (a). It’s been a long time since we’ve experienced the joy of promotion, but I can still vaguely remember the championship-winning season of 1989/90. I was only about 7 years old then and didn’t go to that many matches but have hazy recollections of win after win at the Park. Our home record that season was fantastic, with no home league defeats and only a couple of draws.

Why am I more drawn to promotion for ECFC rather than a World Cup win for England? In recent years I’ve been less and less interested in the national team. While still happily sitting down to watch competitive games, be they qualifiers or the main tournaments themselves, I’ve given up with international friendlies and find myself watching England games with much less enthusiasm and interest than I watch a City match.

I suppose it’s something to do with the fact that I’m more heavily “involved” (in terms of following club news and going to matches) with City than with England. But I also think it’s got something to do with the hugely inflated wages the players at the top of the game make and the fact that sometimes, when you watch internationals, you almost feel as if they’d much rather not have had to turn up.

I may be being unfair on the players by saying that, but the lack of passion and effort demonstrated by some leads me to that conclusion. Of course, in reality, we’re never going to be faced with such a choice. They’re not mutually exclusive events, so we could end up with a double-whammy of promotion and a World Cup. I think we could live with that.

Tis all a bit hectic for me at the moment. I'm 4 weeks into my new year at a new uni: Exeter. I'm having to get used to having a timetable that involves more than a few hours a week - it's not pleasant. 16 hours ish contact time a week plus preparation = Eddy busy. In amongst this I'm trying to fit a bit of exercise. So far this has involved a couple of trips to the gym, a few runs and a few sessions of ultimate frisbee. A rather packed schedule you'll no doubt agree.

This of course has given me a new excuse for failing to write anything on here. While I've been uploading my programme articles there has been a noticeable lack of anything else, and in particular the "exciting 2nd instalment" of my trip to the Pyrenees. It will be done sometime, but probably not this weekend: tomorrow I've got a frisbee training, City are at home and England are playing. Sunday is more frisbee and it's my Mum's birthday so we're off out for dinner in the evening.

I'm not used to all these busy days. Oxford used to involve a lot of lazing around, followed by a few days of solid work, followed by more lazing around. I need to re-adjust my body to a full-time (well kind of) work load. I'll let you know how it goes.

There'll be another programme article up over the weekend (sometime after City's game finishes) - it's another high quality piece that I most certainly didn't do in 30mins early Tuesday morning.......