Football Snippets...Flashbacks: QPR's Summer of 2004...How The Fixtures Are Prepared

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- 2001 Video: QPR's Last Game of Season at Loftus Road: Crushed

- Article: "Standing Up For The Fans"

- Magilton at Ipswich: Updated - Assessment and Flashback

- Bosnich to Norwich?

- Italian Club Owner Saying Coach Should Have followed His Tactics

- 2009-2010: Championship Football Odds

- 2009-2010 Schedule - Thus Far: Ten Days Till Fixtures Released

- A Premiership Club-by-club Look at Finances

- Football Finances: Deloitte's Annual Report - Including re Championship Clubs

- Portugal in Danger of Not Qualifying for the World Cup

- Naming Your Child After a Player

- Analysis of a Football Transfer: The Process

- Bargain Price to See Wycombe Friendly vs QPR In Style


From QPR Official Site - Summer of 2004

Some of the topics on the Official Site in June and July of 2004

LATEST PALACE FRIENDLY
Newly promoted Premiership side Crystal Palace will take on QPR at Loftus Road Stadium in a pre-season friendly in late July

LATEST DAVIES TALKS RANGERS
Rangers CEO David Davies reflects on a memorable season, and looks ahead to life in the First Division

LATEST GET INVOLVED
The QPR Live Editorial team are always trying to improve their offering and here is your chance to get involved, and win a signed Rangers shirt

LATEST FIVE RELEASED
Five players have been released by Rangers, including Steve Palmer, while several other players continue contract negotiations

LATEST OLLIE SIGNS
Ian Holloway will lead Rangers into the Coca Cola Championship in 2004/05

LATEST ROWLANDS REPUBLIC DEBUT
Martin Rowlands has made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 1-0 win over Romania

LATEST RANGERS PREPARE
QPR have added a pre-season tour of Scotland and a friendly against Bristol Rovers to their already confirmed visit by Dutch giants Ajax in the Summer

LATEST FURLONG SIGNS
Rangers striker Paul Furlong has signed a brand new one-year deal, keeping him at Loftus Road until the end of the 2004-05 season

LATEST TOUR OF SCOTLAND
QPR are teaming up with Lonsdale Travel to offer travel packages for the away tour in Scotland in July

LATEST BIRCH AGREES THREE YEAR DEAL
QPR midfielder Marc Bircham has agreed a new three year deal with the club which will keep him at Loftus Road until 2007

LATEST CARLISLE TO LEEDS
Representatives of Clarke Carlisle have informed Queens Park Rangers of the player's intention to sign for Leeds United

LATEST AJAX PRICES CONFIRMED
The Club have announced prices for Rangers' pre-season Loftus Road friendlies against Ajax and Premiership-bound Crystal Palace

LATEST DON'T MISS OUT
Rangers have confirmed that a maximum of 11,300 season tickets will be sold and supporters should purchase early to avoid disappointment

LATEST AWAY SEASON TICKET
Fans are reminded that if they want to purchase an away season ticket they need to send applications to the Box Office by Friday 2nd July

ATEST FIXTURES 2004/05
The fixture list is out and Rangers will welcome Rotherham United to Loftus Road on the opening day of the Coca Cola Championship season

LATEST BLACKBURN & JONES DEPART
Queens Park Rangers Football Club have announced the departure of Club Chairman Nick Blackburn and Plc Chairman Ross Jones

LATEST BEAN SIGNS NEW DEAL
Marcus Bean has signed his first Professional contract with Rangers, putting pen to paper on a one year extension to his existing one year deal

LATEST DAVIES DEPARTS
Queens Park Rangers FC can confirm that David Davies is to leave his role as Chief Executive next month

LATEST SAMANTHA TAYLOR DEPARTS
Commercial and Marketing Director Samantha Taylor has announced that she is to leave the Club

LATEST QPR 0 AJAX 1
Solitary goal wins pre-season friendly for Dutch champions against Rangers at Loftus Road

LATEST QPR WORLD LIVE
Two events for QPR World subscribers to enjoy this evening: a live Q&A with Chairman Bill Power and full commentary on Rangers v Ajax

LATEST BRING ON AJAX
After a gruelling week In Scotland, Ian Holloway can't wait for the game against Dutch champions Ajax

LATEST CAMP OFFER CONFIRMED
Queens Park Rangers can confirm that a formal offer has been made for Derby County goalkeeper Lee Camp

LATEST A FANTASTIC WEEK
QPR Fitness Coach Scott Rushton was delighted with the squad's trip to Scotland and the players' efforts both on and off the pitch

LATEST LINE UPS FROM LOFTUS ROAD
Ian Holloway has selected a strong starting XI as Rangers play host to Dutch Champions Ajax

LATEST TICKETS LATEST
Tickets are on sale for Rangers' first three home games of the season - plus details of the trips to Watford and Sunderland

LATEST LIVE Q&A WITH BILL POWER
Rangers Chairman Bill Power will be answering YOUR questions ahead of the Ajax game on Wednesday

LATEST ICT 1 QPR 1
Holloway 'delighted' after a second half Jamie Cureton equaliser earns Rangers a share of the spoils against Inverness Caledonian Thistle

LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS #1
We bring you the first of a four-part analysis of Rangers' rivals in this season's Coca Cola Championship

LATEST DEVLIN ON ROTHERHAM TICKETS
QPR Chief Executive Mark Devlin has spoken about the suspension of tickets for the Rotherham game on Saturday afternoon

LATEST ROTHERHAM SALES SUSPENDED
Queens Park Rangers Football Club announce that ticket sales for the game against Rotherham have been temporarily suspended, with immediate effect

LATEST LIVE THE DREAM
Queens Park Rangers offer YOU the chance to receive your very own squad number for 2004/05 - now accepting payment by 'phone!

LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS #4
The final instalment in qpr.co.uk's preview of Rangers' 23 Coca Cola Championship opponents for 2004-05

PAPER TALK DO THEY MEAN US?
QPR.CO.UK takes a look at the papers' view of Saturday's victory - plus a broadsheet's analysis of Rangers' prospects for the season

LATEST PREDICTION LEAGUE LATEST
The QPR Prediction Competition returns! Join nearly 300 other Rangers fans in predicting the outcome of all QPR's Coca-Cola Championship fixtures.

LATEST OLLIE REMAINS FOCUSED
Ian Holloway was delighted with his side's win over Crystal Palace, but remains focused on the job ahead

LATEST QPR 3 PALACE 0
On a sweltering day in west London Rangers hand out a three-goal drubbing to Premiership new boys Crystal Palace

LATEST LINE UPS FROM LOFTUS ROAD
Richard Johnson returns from injury along with Gareth Ainsworth, while Ian Holloway hands Jake Cole his first start in today's pre-season match against Crystal Palace

LATEST SANTOS SIGNS
Ipswich Town defender Georges Santos has signed a two-year deal with Queens Park Rangers

LATEST NAIRN COUNTY 0 QPR 3
Rangers secure comfortable victory on first game of Scottish tour with goals from Rowlands, Gallen and Thorpe

QPR Squad - July 2004
1 Chris Day
3 Gino Padula
5 Clarke Carlisle
6 Dan Shittu
7 Matthew Rose
8 Marc Bircham
9 Tony Thorpe
10 Kevin Gallen
11 Gareth Ainsworth
12 Marcus Bignot
13 Nicky Culkin
14 Martin Rowlands
16 Wesley Daly
17 Marcus Bean
20 Arthur Gnohere
21 Marien Ifura
22 Kevin McLeod
23 Richard Edghill
24 Jake Cole
25 John Fletcher
26 Ryan Johnson
28 Jamie Cureton
29 Paul Furlong
30 Richard Johnson
32 Jack Perry
40 Andrew Power


How Fixtures Are Prepared - With the fixtures out in ten days....

Originally from May 2007 - the Football League Play off programme, The Observer - Slightly adapted by each club. Change the year and the club and presumably pretty much the same now

How Football League Fixtures are Prepared
Bristol City Official Site - FIXTURES ALREADY BEING PROCESSED - Thu 31 May 2007

The 2006/07 football season may have just come to an end with three exciting play-off finals - but already the fixtures for the 2007/08 campaign are being compiled.

The process of building a season's fixture list is a complicated one, with fans eagerly waiting for their release on June 14th.

Football League fixture secretary David Cookson says: "I know that an awful lot of people wait for the day when the fixtures are released.

"Most of the hard work gets done during late May and June, right after the play-offs, but really it's an all-year thing."

The League begin by contacting FIFA and UEFA for their worldwide match calendar, which includes competitive and friendly international games. After that the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup dates are pumped into the computer.

Then the League can concentrate on its own games, working backwards from the May Bank Holiday for the play-offs. All other Saturday and Bank Holiday dates are then processed, before finally midweek dates are scheduled.

Cookson adds: "You can't have two neighbours (such as Bristol City and Bristol Rovers) playing at home on the same day, regardless of which divisions they are in."

That's an added complication. Worse follows when the League receives details of annual events such as Reading's V Festival, Shrewsbury's Flower Show, Brighton's Gay Pride and even Bristol's Ashton Court Balloon Fiesta.

These events use valuable police sources in their respective local areas and also cause traffic problems, so this has an impact on when home games can be scheduled.

For example, City are almost certain to be away on the opening day of the new Football League season as the Balloon Fiesta will be held in Ashton on the same day.

Cookson continued: "There are so many requests from clubs. We always try to accommodate any requests from the Police or clubs, but you can't please everybody.

"The requests are increasing each season and the demands are harder than ever to meet."

Fans often complain about having to travel long distances on Boxing Day or midweeks. But it's not always the fixture computer's fault.

"Derby games at Christmas are very much a thing of the past," Cookson admitted. "Often the local Police forces don't want them and the clubs don't want them either.

"While clubs don't want to travel too far, they also don't want to play their neighbours because at Christmas you're always going to get a good crowd, so why have your best fixture on the best day?

"More and more clubs are sending us a list of 13 or 14 clubs they don't want to play at Christmas, which makes our life almost impossible."

The same applies for Bank Holidays where Police forces charge double time. A high profile opponent on a Bank Holiday can send the club's bill through the roof.

Atos Origin are the company that supplies the fixture computer software, while Glenn Thompson is the man who devised the home and away match sequence.

A draft fixture list is produced before release day, which is ratified by The Football League, Premier League, six clubs and - on behalf of supporters everywhere - a representative from the Football Supporters Federation.
- However, with 92 clubs and several millions supporters waiting for the fixtures - you're never going to please everybody.
- "It works as well as it possibly can, bearing in mind all the external pressures," Cookson concluded. "You'll always miss something but I think we do a pretty good job of it, all things considered."
- Sources for this article: Football League play-off programme, The Observer. Bristol City

Flashback: Axing Dowie
"...You give a chance to people who deserve it," said Briatore. "Gareth deserves a chance. I gave Michael Schumacher a chance in Formula One, so it's ridiculous we need someone with experience.
"I was not happy with the football that Dowie was producing, simple as that...."
"Briatore also said Ainsworth is his own man, even though it appears evident that he has pressed for Tommasi, Parejo and Di Carmine to be brought in from the cold.
"The coach is important but the money is coming from us. If we had not made the decision about Dowie, the season could have been a big disaster. I'm not scared to make a decision. Not making a decision is often a bad decision." Huw Turberville - Telegraph Nov 3 2008