No, no, no. One after the other the emails from professional clubs arrive as responses to our requests for pre-season friendlies. At least the clubs in question have had the decency to reply – 50% of the requests we send out go unanswered, consigned to the trash folders or passed around the clubs until they fall into someone’s spam filters. We did consider the idea of requesting friendlies in writing, rather than email, but there’s even less certainty that the request will end up on the desk of the right person, or even if they are in the office during the close season.
Every season we start the planning earlier and earlier, based on feedback we get from the pro clubs that their schedules have already been locked down when we ask. And initially they all say “it’s too early for us to be arranging our pre-season games” before letting us down gently a few weeks later.
At our level it is all about who you know – there’s very little chance of success trying to appeal to the benevolent side of a pro club, they don’t care. They are doing you a favour and if something more attractive comes along you will be dropped like a stone. Likewise, with the average life expectancy of a Football League manager now around 14 months, the summer is a fertile time for change and anything agreed is quickly disagreed when the new man comes in as we found out last season when an unnamed current League One club pulled out of a friendly at The Pan with a few weeks notice due to a change in manager and no chance for us to fill it with a similar fixture. Cobblers is what we said to that this time last year.
We quickly filled our local away games and extended the hand of friendship to our old friends from Dulwich Hamlet and Burgess Hill Town who would bring a fair few thirsty fans but every year we try to have one friendly that will get our fans tapping their feet in expectation.
Our “headline” act this year is a decent one and one that has come about through the patient building of a wider relationship. We’ve enjoyed a good relationship to date with Chelsea and whilst we would have loved to have seen Conte’s men come down to the Pan, their DS side is still an attractive draw. Who knows, there could be a famous name or two in the pack come the 22nd July.
If you don’t ask you don’t get so we asked. Multiple times. And then they said yes. It’s likely to be an attractive enough game for the fans of both sides that we will beat our budget for gate receipts from our pre-season games from this one game alone which puts us on a strong footing financially for the start of the season.
At least there is some logic in our Pre-Season plans which is more than can be said for my once beloved West Ham. Their “European Tour” as they are calling it consists of three games against two opposition, one of which is a fellow Premier League side (someone obviously hasn’t been reading the Pre-Season Friendly rule book). Despite the platitudes that come out of the club, surely someone up on high must have questioned the logic behind the games. A pre-season training camp in Germany (not sure what’s wrong with Butlins at Camber Sands like in the old days) followed by two games against Werder Bremen in 24 hours but in locations over a hundred miles apart. It’s not even that they are playing in well-known stadiums or in cities that have some link with either club – Schneverdingen has a population of around 20,000 and one of the biggest places of interest is a bog called Pietzmoor. Twenty four later they decamp in Löhne (literal translation “wages” – how apt) in Nord-Rhein Westphalia.
But then they ramp up their preparations by heading to Iceland where they will take on Manchester City. Iceland. What’s the point of that? No disrespect to Iceland but is there any relevance to the game being played there?
“It is fantastic that we will make history by becoming the first Premier League clubs to face each other in Iceland, and we are really looking forward to visiting Scandinavia, where there is a very big West Ham following.
“Iceland captured the imagination of everyone with their fantastic performance at the European Championships last year and, although the country is small in population, they have a huge love for football.”
The words of Slaven Bilic apparently. Not sure what definition of Scandinavia he has read but according to Encyclopedia Britannica, Iceland is a Nordic Island Country and not part of Scandinavia. But even so, what a flimsy reason to suggest why the game is being played there. I certainly struggled to find any evidence of the West Ham Fan Club, Reykjavik branch (Chelsea and Spurs yes). On West Ham’s official website there is a directory of hundreds of fan clubs not not one from Iceland. Perhaps the club has confused the popularity of the discount frozen goods store in Green Street?
Good luck to the Hammers fans heading off to follow the side. I’m sure the players will acknowledge your loyal support as always even if the club continue to wear their blinkers.
Last year marked the twentieth anniversary of the death of Bobby Moore. The date was marked with numerous events and presentation across the footballing landscape, especially in the East End. I never saw Bobby play in the flesh, but I have heard enough stories of his playing career from my Dad and brother to know that he was a special player. It is all too often in life that we only really remember the contribution of someone to our lives when they are taken from us.