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    How far in advance do you plan going to football matches?

    We have a house calendar and I have written in football matches on pretty much every Saturday between now and the end of December. Plus some Tuesday night matches and other games. Looking ahead to next year, and Mrs Thistle has an appointment in Cambridge that was scheduled back in 2020 and conveniently falls on the Tuesday after Shrewsbury play Cambridge on the Saturday so that's another one pencilled in. Then I am half thinking of the Sunderland away trip in April next year. Beyond that I have nothing planned (and tbh that's only tentative).

    So, does anyone have plans further ahead than April 2022? (Anyone going to be brave enough and say they have booked a hotel in (or near) Qatar in December?)

    #2
    My combined sport-watching / running / gig-going calendar currently extends to a gig in December 2022 (and it'll only be a matter of time til that goes into 2023 - some tours have already been announced for or moved into then) and some potential USian sport-watching in September 2022. But for football itself, I have the Carlisle fixtures to the end of the season to plan around and that's it.

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      #3
      Because of the selling at markets and events, Mrs P runs a two year rolling calendar. I give her the Clarets home fixtures at the start of the season and cross off the ones that clash. Shifting matches for TV is the real PITA.

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        #4
        I have vague plans, but can't make anything concrete until fixtures come out. For instance, a twice deferred trip to Florida is inked in for summer 2022 and once the MLS, USL and MLB fixtures for that period are released, I will try and work in at least one sporting event during the time we're there.

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          #5
          I've tentative plans to attend the QPR v Fulham match on April 2. It's also a meet up with an old Fulham supporting friend, so it'll be quite special. But who knows what the travel restrictions will be by then?

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            #6
            I have the start/end date of Euro2024 and Paris 2024 Olympics in a spreadsheet- I'll be just over 5 years in my current job (hopefully) and thus entitled to an extra month's paid holidays in 2023-24. Had my eye on Germany 2024 since they won it, the kids will be 13 and 15 so we're planning and saving for the summer of sport.

            And like others I print Dundalk fixtures (for me) and Shamrock Rovers fixturres (for her) at the start of the season and they go onto the family calendar, up to 9 months in advance.

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              #7
              As soon as the fixtures come out the calendar is updated, with likely away trips in red ink.

              We then plan weekends away, So, this weekend was York, while popping down to Hillsborough. We have weekends planned in Cambridge and London (Wimbledon).

              Away trips to places within 2- 21/2 hours are planned in. So, Crewe, Cheltenham and Accrington.

              In other words my games are planned in June.

              Obviously, there's the spur of the moment away game and away Cup games (excluding the U23 Cup), but yeah, pretty anal really.

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                #8
                I've got plans and tickets for sporting events up to and including the September/October 2023 Rugby World Cup and am buying Ryder Cup Rome 2023 tickets (which falls on Wales's match-free weekend in the group stages of the RWC) when they go on sale tomorrow.

                For football I normally have season tickets for Wales qualifying campaigns and Wimbledon (though they haven't sold the former this time around, understandably) but the furthest away I currently have tickets for is the 2022 Women's Euros (though that does have some crossover with the next Commonwealths in Birmingham which I am putting my applications in for this month).
                Last edited by Ray de Galles; 21-09-2021, 22:14.

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                  #9
                  The only ones I ink in when the fixtures are out are Argyle away at a new club (none this season but for example, Salford 2 seasons ago was inked in as soon as the fixtures were publisehd) and I'll keep the dates for the first 3 full rounds of the FA Cup free in case we get a new one away. I do also try to work around the Plymouth Parkway away ones within an hour or so of Bristol as I try to do all of those albeit they are droppable if a chance to do a decent new ground/trip crops up.

                  Pre-covid and when I was still able to continue doing trips for my book (currently a year behind schedule due to covid), I wouild tend to plan the next 4months out on a rolling basis with all of the planning linked on when different countries league fixtures come out and when they firm up on them. That's really hard for some countries (e.g. many of the Balkan ones) but pretty easy in more reliable ones (e.g. Switzerland).

                  In truth my planning is pretty sad as I will generally track countries league fixtures the season before I plan on going, so that I can work out at what point they normaly firm the kick-off times and day/date, so that I knew how far in advance I could firm up flights, etc. But even that kind of preperation that hasn't always worked, one set of plans for Albania changed the afternoon I arrived as they moved the games around 24 hours before they were scheduled and in Sarajevo once, I had a morning kick-off moved back a day 1 hour before kick-off (luckily i was still in my hotel so could change plans). And don't get me started on 3rd level footie in Azerbaijan, or womens footie in Azerbaijan either. I do plan back-up plans when I can but that's pretty hard in quite a few countries.

                  So in summary I do plan but the moment you move out of the relatively well organised nature of footie on the English pyramid (few are as good), its not that easy.
                  Last edited by super furry dice; 20-09-2021, 21:43.

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                    #10
                    Got tickets for the Women's Euros next June. So that. But that is unusually far ahead for me, and I would only do that for international tournaments. For club games it would hardly ever extended beyond 3 months in advance.

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                      #11
                      I don't really plan much in advance. I keep an eye on our home fixtures and the away ones that I can reasonably travel to, but in normal times thats complicated by ice hockey. I was at the Irvine Meadow v Auchinleck Talbot Scottish Cup tie on saturday and planned that with about 10 days notice as it fitted in with a visit to a family friend. Usually I'll plan an away day Saturday around the Monday before the game.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by super furry dice View Post
                        when I was still able to continue doing trips for my book (currently a year behind schedule due to covid),
                        Which book is this? I'm curious (sorry if covered before).

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by super furry dice View Post
                          The only ones I ink in when the fixtures are out are Argyle away at a new club (none this season but for example, Salford 2 seasons ago was inked in as soon as the fixtures were publisehd) and I'll keep the dates for the first 3 full rounds of the FA Cup free in case we get a new one away. I do also try to work around the Plymouth Parkway away ones within an hour or so of Bristol as I try to do all of those albeit they are droppable if a chance to do a decent new ground/trip crops up.

                          Pre-covid and when I was still able to continue doing trips for my book (currently a year behind schedule due to covid), I wouild tend to plan the next 4months out on a rolling basis with all of the planning linked on when different countries league fixtures come out and when they firm up on them. That's really hard for some countries (e.g. many of the Balkan ones) but pretty easy in more reliable ones (e.g. Switzerland).

                          In truth my planning is pretty sad as I will generally track countries league fixtures the season before I plan on going, so that I can work out at what point they normaly firm the kick-off times and day/date, so that I knew how far in advance I could firm up flights, etc. But even that kind of preperation that hasn't always worked, one set of plans for Albania changed the afternoon I arrived as they moved the games around 24 hours before they were scheduled and in Sarajevo once, I had a morning kick-off moved back a day 1 hour before kick-off (luckily i was still in my hotel so could change plans). And don't get me started on 3rd level footie in Azerbaijan, or womens footie in Azerbaijan either. I do plan back-up plans when I can but that's pretty hard in quite a few countries.

                          So in summary I do plan but the moment you move out of the relatively well organised nature of footie on the English pyramid (few are as good), its not that easy.
                          Every time you mention Albania I get slightly sad I couldn't go out there with you.

                          And while I know your planning is meticulous I never knew it was to this level of detail.


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                            #14
                            Like others I've got the games of the teams I follow pencilled in when their fixtures come out. So that might be over a year in advance when it comes to Wales. With Doncaster it'll be the aways that aren't too far away, and the ones that are new grounds I can be arsed to make the journey too. Though these will usually get whittled down due to being on dates that renders them unfeasible as a non-driver (eg. Morecambe away on New Year's Day) or not being able to justify the expense of the journey (eg. Sunderland from London on a Friday night).

                            Beyond that I've got the round dates for Welsh Cup competitions noted down, as whilst I'm happy watching pretty much anything locally, I do prefer cup matches. So will pick out likely ties when the round draws are done. Anything that doesn't fall in the above I'll probably just decide on the day before.

                            Given some of the responses above this seems to make me relatively devil may care.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Sporting View Post

                              Which book is this? I'm curious (sorry if covered before).
                              Cheers for asking, its a book on football landscapes across Europe. Basically its largely on grounds that few people know (well there are some well known ones, e.g. Imotski) that either have great scenery (e.g. mountains), a quirky stand, a unique setting (sad person i am i skipped a derby with full on pyro in Macedonia to watch a 3rd level game in a cement factory) or something else unique (e.g. a UNESCO site in the backdrop). Most of the grounds are all lower league and i am deliberately avoiding the knowns like Barca or Dortmund. Every country in UEFA is going to feature - i'm 50 down - so its been a long labour of love. The pics will not be of empty grounds as I find them really dull without action and/or fans in.

                              I had a publisher and lost a publisher, had a co-author and lost a co-author, but i'm happy about that as i have found a company that will print to the spec and format i want. (Some of my "promo" pics got nicked for the book '365' and i eventually got a credit in it, but imo '365' has been done pretty poorly, some of the cropping beggars belief, so its really made me determined to do it all myself). (Sorry for the long answer). (I will try to post some example pics some time albeit with a big (c) label on them as i don't want them nicked again!).

                              Greenlander yeah i wished you'd been able to join us. It was an experience and Gjirokaster was off the scale. A wonderful place. Hopefully we can get somewhere else together as part of my final few trips and once their done, there's a few I fancy going back to.

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                                #16
                                I've got a ticket for tomorrow night but probably won't be going. That's about it really.

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                                  #17
                                  I'm mixed on this. I like planning my match going - how to get there, which pub to go to, etc but not too far in advance. I'll be going to a game at the weekend but haven't decided which yet. Even if I'm planning to go abroad to see a few matches I leave the actual commitment quite late - two months at the most. I hate committing myself months or years in advance. Perhaps that's an age thing - in the 70s you just turned up at sporting events and got in. I lived a few miles from Headingley and was at university in Nottingham and if you turned up early enough for a test match - 9 to 9:30am - you got in and that's what I did. I've been to test matches since but only because I've been offered a ticket or it's the fifth day and no tickets have been sold. Even that's changed now. I simply can't commit myself long enough in advance to arrange tickets for myself. Having said that, a friend has just invited me to his stag do - he's the one who's done the cathedral equivalent of the 92 - which is in April next year and I've said I'll go. It's in Lincoln and involves a football match so I'll also be breaking my rule about not going to a ground I've already been to unless Middlesbrough are playing.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Capybara View Post
                                    ...he's the one who's done the cathedral equivalent of the 92...
                                    I want to know more. What does he class as a tick? Going inside? Attending a service? An edition of Songs of Praise? Buying a tea-towel from the gift shop?

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                                      #19
                                      Now that I’m into my 60s I don’t plan anything too far in advance.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Uros Predic View Post

                                        I want to know more. What does he class as a tick? Going inside? Attending a service? An edition of Songs of Praise? Buying a tea-towel from the gift shop?
                                        Good question. You are more inquisitive than I am. I'll ask but he's very religious so I'm sure it involves doing something religious.

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                                          #21
                                          I've got a mental map for Football on a Saturday afternoon which takes in the following factors: distance to the ground, ease of public transport (including distance from railway station to ground), who the opponents are, are they playing on a 3g pitch, league positions of the teams/which round of the Cup it is.
                                          ​​​​​​
                                          Until the start of this season, I went on my own with my kids, but there are three adults and my kids going together regularly this season, so as often as not I get a message on about Monday or Tuesday saying 'do you fancy (XXX club) on Saturday', to which I invariably say yes without having thought it through in the slightest.

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Uros Predic View Post

                                            I want to know more. What does he class as a tick? Going inside? Attending a service? An edition of Songs of Praise? Buying a tea-towel from the gift shop?
                                            You have to figure he can't claim the cathedral if he doesn't recieve communion?

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