Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part two

Burton Albion

Adam – @adambafcdrew

17^th in League Two – “Disappointing, stressful, forgetful”

We haven't lost any key players this summer. With Gary Rowett having been given the Burton job permanently not long after the season finished, he's been bringing his own players and staff in. And I was incredibly impressed when he signed up Zander Diamond in defence. Over the last three seasons Burton have had problems with a leaky defence, and I think Diamond seems like a big leader who can play a big part in sorting that. And he's still in his late 20s. Marcus Holness who we've signed from Rochdale seems decent too, despite being built like an overweight Sunday League player.

I am feeling confident we will be in a comfortable mid table position with the squad Rowett's building. It would be extremely disappointed if we find ourselves battling relegation for the third season running. Last season, we flirted with the playoffs a fair bit in the first half of the season, which shows what we are capable of; but then went on that shocking run and nosedived down the league which was depressing. I hope that kind of thing doesn't happen again. I think we'll finish in the top 14 of what is now a very tough league with some big clubs in.

There's a fair few good games I’m looking forward to, despite so many long midweek away games. I'm looking forward to these three the most – a weekender in Torquay when we play them on September 22nd will be brilliant, with many other Brewers staying over; Rotherham away on opening day will be a great occasion because it's the first league game at their new stadium and Gillingham at home on the final day because it’s the date of my dad’s birthday.

Cheltenham Town

James – @whyalwaysjimbo

6^th in League Two – “Pride, Heartbreak, Wembley”

Summerfield has gone to Shrewsbury, we've bought Deering in from Barnet but not sure how well he could play a central midfield role-in a midfield two with Pack or Penn, see him more as an attacking midfielder maybe at the top of a diamond.

I think we should expect play-offs at a minimum. We've only lost one player we didn't want to lose, the others (Low, Lewis and Smikle) were all released and were really squad players. However the league is very strong-so I'd be happy with a play off place as long as we make it count this time.

I’m mostly looking forward to the ones local to me because of where I live; Northampton for example. I’m also looking forward to York because a lot of my family live there and other games where I'd get to see my favourite twitter followers, such as Barnet away.

Chesterfield

Ryan – @ryandickens_cfc

22^nd in League One – “Disappointing, underperformed, unbelievable”

The club released ten player including our longest serving at the time, Derek Niven and a key player in Gregor Robertson who was a good defender for us but struggled a lot with injury over the past few seasons. So far during the summer break we have made five signings and we have promoted three youngsters from the youth team. To replace defenders Gregor Robertson and Simon Ford we have brought in Sam Hird from Doncaster Rovers who will be our new captain for the new season and Terrell Forbes, former Leyton Orient defender to improve our defence overall. We’ve also signed former Scunthorpe midfielder Sam Togwell who is very experienced and will prove to be an important asset within the team. The most exciting signing that Chesterfield has made this summer for me has to be Marc Richards from Port Vale who is a proven goal scorer at League Two level scoring 15+ goals for Port Vale in previous seasons. Richard O’Donnell is a goalkeeper which we have signed from Sheffield Wednesday who will challenge current Goalkeeper Tommy Lee for a place in the starting line-up.

After the disappointment of not being able to stay a League One club the fans expect a strong season ending in promotion come next May. I predict that Chesterfield will finish 5th and hopefully we can achieve promotion through the playoffs. The fans expect to bounce straight back to League One at the first time of asking however League Two is looking very strong next season and this will be a very difficult ask.

I am looking forward to Plymouth away because it is a new ground for me and it should be a very good day out, perhaps even make a weekend of it if the weather is nice. Rotherham away is also a match I am looking forward to most because it is a brand new stadium and Rotherham is close to Chesterfield therefore we will take a lot of fans and hopefully create a very loud atmosphere. Finally I am also looking forward to Fleetwood away which is scheduled to be our last away match of the season. This will be a very tough match as both teams should be at the top end of the table still pushing for promotion if nothing has been decided by this point. A weekend in Blackpool is also too good to turn down.

Dagenham + Redbridge

Nick – @NickDRFCMurphy

(The Daggers Scale)

19^th in League Two – “Disappointing and injury-ravaged”

We've lost a wealth of experience in Mark Arber, Peter Gain and Jon Nurse along with Damien McCrory – however that was necessary in order to stay sustainable. The acquisition of Gavin Hoyte looks to be a good one from what I've seen so far though, he's a very quick and energetic player. I expect the likes of Mickey Spillane, Billy Bingham and Brian Woodall/Dwight Gayle to perform well in the coming season, they're young and will be looking to build on their last campaigns.

I'd be more than happy with a mid table season to be quite honest, although I can realistically see us pushing towards a play-off place should everything come together and we avoid a mass of injuries this year. I'd take a punt at a nice mediocre 10th at this current stage.

I'm quite looking forward to Barnet and Southend as they're two of the more local games. For a new ground though I'm quite excited about visiting Bootham Crescent as it seems quite old fashioned – I like a ground with a bit of personality to it!

Exeter City

Rodney – @roddersecfc

23^rd in League One – “Not good enough”

We’ve lost several players with our player of the year, Troy Archibald-Henville being sold to Swindon. Others we lost include: Daniel Nardiello, David noble, James Dunne and Richard Duffy who all took better offers at other clubs. Despite losing these players we look to have signed some adequate replacements – Kevin Mmankwaah, an experienced right back. We’ve also signed defenders: Craig Woodman and Pat Baldwin, and midfielders Tommy Doherty and Arron Davies, all who have a wealth of experience at this level and higher.

At the end of the season and the loss of several players I wasn't feeling confident, but with the squad Paul Tisdale has assembled so far I’m feeling quietly optimistic for the new season. I think we can manage a top half table finish, even the playoffs.

It’s no real surprise to the game I’m most looking forward to – the renewal of our rivalry with Plymouth Argyle. There’s nothing like a derby game and I’m looking forward to our game at Christmas and the trip to Home Park near the end of the season.

Fleetwood Town

Sam – @SamFTFC

(SamFTFC)

1^st in Blue Square Premier – “Unbelievable, exciting, nerve-racking”

We lost Jamie Vardy, the greatest ever player to play for Fleetwood Town. I have never seen a player like him; 34 goals and a load of assists. Quick, agile and an eye for goal, he’s now applying his trade in the Championship. He was key to our promotion campaign last season. I think the signing that will replace him is David Ball. He has already cut it in the Championship, he is sharp and can certainly finish as he has already proved pre-season. We have made a lot of signings and every single one looks promising so I expect them all to stand out come competitive matches.

With the current squad I fully expect us to gain promotion to League One. We have higher-league experience in the team and we are a club that like to push forward forever aiming high. I can see us securing at least a promotion place and hopefully we will do the business and then be in League One.

The games I’m looking most forward to have to be Morecambe and Accrington Stanley home and away. I absolutely love derby games and I am fully looking forward to them. I think they will be well battled matches and hopefully we'll come out on top in each.

Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part one

Accrington Stanley

Mel – @melstanley01

14^th in League Two – “Could do better”

We haven’t lost any major players, luckily we managed to keep hold of the likes of Amond, Nasalia and Hatfield –players I believe to be key this season. New signing Shepherd looks good.

I’m positive for this season and have fairly high expectations. I’m hoping for a push for play-offs or, at worst, a top half of the table finish.

The main game to look forward to is Rochdale’s return to League Two – for obvious reasons. In terms of moving forward, they’ll prove to be a test as they have a lot of our former players and management. From my point of view (like others), I think that’ll prove to be the most interesting game.

AFC Wimbledon

Rob

16^th in League Two – “Baptism of fire”

In the close season we released Jack Turner, Chris Bush, Fraser Franks, Gareth Gwillim, Bret Johnson, Jamie Stuart, Reece Jones, Ricky Wellard, Kieran Djilali; in addition to Ryan Jackson, Lee Minshull, James Mulley and Max Porter who were all told in January that they would be leaving. Replacements include a Venezuelan goalkeeper Jaimez-Ruiz, left-back Warren Cummings from Bournemouth and right-back Curtis Osano. We have permanently signed centre back Pim Balkestein, who was on loan last season as well as Angus MacDonald (defender) on loan from Reading.

I expect our Goalkeeper Seb Brown to have a good season along with Jack Midson who will hopefully top the goal scoring league. I expect this season to be very tough and anywhere outside the relegation zone would be nice and fancy a decent run in the FA cup.

I’m looking forward to a better trip to Barnet this season without the rain and thumping defeat. Wycombe is a ground I went to with Wimbledon FC so fancy a day out there too!

Aldershot Town

Rhys – @rhys9emberson

11^th in League Two – “Record breaking season”

We have lost our captain, fans’ player of the season and player of the season, Darren Jones, to Shrewsbury; as well as Straker to Southend. Our replacements – Sonny Bradley and Troy Brown – both were on loan last season. Troy has signed permanently and Sonny is on a season long loan from Hull City. We have signed Tonkin from Oxford as a replacement for Straker.

We have broken our transfer record this summer, signing Craig Reid from Stevenage and have so much strength in depth. In other years it’s been easy to predict the starting 11, but this season it is very difficult. My season expectations are to finish in the top half and once again challenge for the play-offs. I think we can sneak into the play-offs and maybe finish 7th.

On a personal level, my aim is to do 20 away games this season. The fixtures I looked for when they were released were Oxford away Wimbledon away as their both excellent away days normally; as well as the first and last game which are Plymouth and Rotherham away. Wycombe at home is always a home game to look forward to as it’s the return of Gary Waddock the man who guided us into the football league. Exeter is the first home game and I am looking forward to once again being on my beloved East Bank chanting for 90 minutes. I am also looking forward to York away and hitting The Stone Roses bar – and York will be a new ground for me.

Barnet

22^nd in League Two – “No real surprise”

We released a fair few players at the end of last season, most of which, were out of contract. Whilst a lot of players in May, the remaining players to depart left once the new manager (Mark Robson) took over. The stand-out players, for me, to leave would be McLeod, Mark Hughes and Sam Deering (who’s now at fellow League Two club, Cheltenham). We all knew McLeod would leave, and despite his goals in the first half of the season, he didn’t really seem to have his heart in the club anymore. We were all surprised to see Mark and Sam leave though, as both were influential last campaign, and Hughesy was our skipper (who kept us in the League with that winner at Burton!). Whilst we’ve not really found that 20-goal a season striker to replace McLeod, we have signed Jon Nurse (ex-Dagger) and Jake Hyde has returned to the club after a stint up in Scotland. We’ve also signed the majority of West Ham’s former youth squad, with the pick of the bunch probably being Ahmed Abdulla, who’s had league experience after brief loan-spells with Swindon and Dagenham.

I really don’t know how we will get on this season, but it’s fair to say, I don’t set my expectations very high after the last three seasons. Part of me expects a similar performance, riding chances and maybe even running out of luck! I’d be happy with anything above 18^th, to be honest. New manager, new squad and new philosophy, what could go wrong? It’d be nice to end our football at Underhill on a high, and have something to be happy about for once.

Like every other season, I’m looking forward to Northampton away – even though it’s on the final day! Our penultimate game is our last at Underhill, so I’m looking forward to that, although part of me will feel sad as I’ve grown up with the stadium for the last 18 years or so. York and Fleetwood, both promoted last season, will be new grounds and should be fairly good weekends, in very different parts of the country! Living in Essex, I suppose I have to mention the local games in Southend and Dagenham as well – not that we ever have much luck at either!

Bradford City

Tim – @tjroche

18^th in League Two – “Nearly a disaster”

It was sad to see Dave Syers and Simon Ramsden depart for Doncaster and Motherwell respectively. Both players were popular amongst the fans but unfortunately injuries meant they didn't get a chance to shine last season. The pair were offered new deals but on heavily reduced terms, so it was understandable that they decided to move on. I feel we have brought in some good replacements in Gary Jones and Nathan Doyle though, the latter is an especially popular signing after an impressive loan spell in 2006-2007. Our marquee signing is undoubtedly Andrew Davies. Having spent much of last season at Valley Parade on loan from Stoke City, it looked inevitable that his future lay much higher than League Two. However to our surprise he opted to stay with the Bantams, signing a one-year deal. He is a cut above at this level and will look to continue his central defensive partnership with last season's Player of the Year, Luke Oliver.

Despite our brush with the relegation zone last season, I believe that we possessed the nucleus of a potentially good team. We very rarely got beat by more than the odd goal so it makes sense that rather than making wholesale changes, Phil Parkinson has focused mainly on adding to the existing squad. For the first time in a few seasons we have not seen a large-scale 'clear out' of the squad so I feel that continuity could be a crucial factor in any success we have this season. Most of our fans seem to be enthused by the signings we have made and there is an air of positivity around the club once again. We have sold nearly 9000 season tickets and our supporters seem excited for the new season. Bearing all this in mind, I predict a finish of 5th for Bradford City.

League Two seems to have a more 'Northern' feel about it than in recent seasons, so there will be a nice selection of local trips for our fans. I am particularly looking forward to Fleetwood Town and York City. An early meeting with our old friend Steve Evans at Rotherham United is another to whet the appetite!

Bristol Rovers

Henry – @HJBurridge

(Henry J Burridge Journalism)

13^th in League Two – “Praise Lord McGhee”

Most of the players that we’ve cut were either loans or deadwood, the only real loss being winger Mustapha Carayol, who left for Middlesbrough after some Twitter shenanigans. Of the players Mark McGhee has brought in, David Clarkson looks the pick; assuming we can keep him fit he should rack up a decent goal tally in League Two.

Scottish centre back Garry Kenneth also looks a quality acquisition on paper after he was released by Dundee United, but we could still do with another player in central defence. The main issues are up front, we look very light on options and lack somebody with enough pace to frighten the opposition. McGhee has said he’s still in the market for another four players, and some experience in midfield would be especially handy, but he’s cutting it quite fine!

I’d like to say we’re going for promotion, but without some quick recruits I expect us to fall short. It’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from and we look rather flimsy in the middle but, with the right additions, a play-off spot would please most supporters.

As I’m at university in Plymouth, Argyle away was the first fixture I scoured the list for, and hopefully we might beat them for once so I can avoid more ridicule!

With Swindon going up last season Rovers have lost all their traditional local rivals, which is a bit of a disappointment, leaving Cheltenham as our closest opponents. It doesn’t quite have the same edge that games against Bristol City or Swindon do, but it’s a great day out and we’ll be sure to pack the away end.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Or I suppose you could call it the good and the bad/ugly. Yes, I’m talking about the kits for next season. Sunday afternoon was the Barnet FC Community Day, which traditionally sees the unveiling of the kits for the coming season. Like many others, I was unable to attend the event, so had to rely on social media to catch a glimpse of what the boys are going to be wearing for the next year. In all fairness, I never get overly excited about the prospect of a new kit: it’s been years since I last bought one and none of the designs of late have really wowed me. That said, none of them could be much worse than what I next witnessed. I was casually walking around Sainsbury’s doing the weekly shop when I refreshed Twitter and saw: “And here is the #BarnetFC away kit for next season, modelled by the legends side” – yes, I made the terrible mistake of seeing the away kit first!

Away

My initial reaction was “what the hell is that?” before showing my mum who agreed: “that’s not very nice at all, is it?”. I mean we’ve played in purple and white in the past, in fact historically, we’ve played in purple. I’m not sure if it’s because we aren’t used to predominantly purple, or if it’s because of the shade (which to be honest, looks rather pink), but looking at it just makes me want to throw up – it is SO ugly. Did someone seriously believe it would be a good idea? I can’t even envisage many people buying it! We’ve become the butt of jokes on Twitter – people complaining about their own kits have stopped, because in comparison, theirs aren’t even that bad!

AFC Wimbledon – “Wow. Barnet's new away kit. Not made for anyone over 8 stone.”

Notts County – “wow Barnet's away kit is pink with a white stripe? If it is, it is vile”

Hereford – “Barnet's Away Kit for next season. Oh dear.”

Derby – “#dcfcfans you think our away kit is bad?”

Oxford – “HAHAHA the Barnet away kit!”

It’s just absolutely horrendous, and even days – and numerous glances – later, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t think I will any time soon, either.

Home

After seeing the away kit, at least I knew the home couldn’t be any worse; particularly given it’s our last season at Underhill – we are due a decent looking shirt to show off at home. Unfortunately, having just viewed that monstrosity, I wasn’t immediately blown away. If anything, I was relieved it looks half-decent. Since that first glance, I think we can be reasonably happy with the home shirt; for starters, stripes are back – no more of that standard block colour like the majority of other teams’ shirts. More importantly, the amber is back! No more of that horrible sicky orange colour (for a season, at least) that seems to have become accustomed to our club – we are supposed to be black and amber, after all!

Up close as well, it looks pretty good, and just seems apt for the final year at our old home. In 2007, a gold and black commemorative kit was brought out to celebrate 100 years at Underhill, so it seems like a nice idea for out 125^th anniversary of the club’s existence to bring out a home shirt like this. It’s got a bit of a retro feel to it.

I just hope we get a sponsor sorted so we don’t have a repeat of last year when we had to wait until October before the shirt was released for sale. I suppose the next thing we have to look forward to are the signings the club is going to make – particularly given our small numbers at current.

And this is why I love the close season!

A bit of much needed excitement...

Earlier this week saw (possibly) the most exciting day of the close season - fixture release. If you were to say you weren't looking forward to it or don't really care, you'd be lying. "You play both teams twice, once home and once away" is probably the worst thing I've heard someone say - it's a lot more exciting than that! It's the opportunity to get your calendar out and start marking when you'll be busy, looking at train websites in advance to see how much it's going to set you back, seeing where you'll start and end the campaign and the first chance to see when you'll be facing your rivals. Amidst all the excitement comes the "oh no, we've got to travel x miles on a Tuesday night", as well as knowing those fixtures aren't set in stone, and the chances are at least half of your games will get re-arranged for whatever reason! But of course, there are always those certain dates and grounds you look out for, and always check first, for whatever reason.

After finding out we play Birmingham City away in the first round of the League Cup, I don't think the League fixtures have really disappointed - with two of our three matches in August at Underhill. Barnet begin and finish the season like this:

Opening three games:

18.08.12 Port Vale (a)

 21.08.12 Bristol Rovers (h)

 25.08.12 York City (h)

 Closing three games:

13.04.13 Torquay United (a)

20.04.13 Wycombe Wanderers (h)

27.04.13 Northampton Town (a)

The next fixtures I always look out for are Boxing Day and New Years Day. The last few years we've struck it lucky with the former with local matches against Dagenham + Redbridge and games at Underhill. This coming season we play Gillingham away on Boxing Day (hardly appealing!) and Aldershot at home on New Years.

Like most fans, the final date I look out for is the weekend of my birthday - largely in the hope it'll be a decent away trip somewhere an enjoyable couple of days can take place. With my next birthday being slap bang in the middle of the week, I had two potential matches to look forward to. Saturday 12th January sees us travel to Rotherham and their new ground, whilst the 19th is a home game against new boys, Fleetwood Town. Although I will, most likely, attend both games, neither really excite!

Then there's the matter of those local games and grounds you look forward to visiting. Living in Brentwood, I look out for Southend (6th October) and Dagenham + Redbridge (15th December). The only disappointment for me is the season-long wait for our visit to Northampton and Sixfields - possibly my favourite away ground/day of all time. Although, I guess it means it gives me the good part of a year to get some funds together and absolutely rinse TGI's of cocktails!

Every year I always make a list of 'new grounds', mainly from those promoted and relegated and the season doesn't disappoint. This coming season I have all six to visit; although, in fairness, I'll probably make half, if that!

To visit:

Rochdale - September 1st

Fleetwood Town - September 29th

Wycombe Wanderers - October 23rd

Chesterfield - October 27th

Exeter City - December 29th

York City - February 16th

Roll on August!

Oh, and you can check out the seasons fixtures here.

Life = made

As an avid reader of Four Four Two, I was pleasantly surprised when one of their team tweeted me asking if they could speak to me about our final game (and survival in the Football League) away at Burton at the end of last season. Of course, my answer was “yes”. Apparently, they had been following my tweets from the day and had staff at the Hereford/Torquay match – and were looking to speak with a Barnet fan to get their side of events. I jumped at the chance and after a number of emails were exchanged, I was told to look out for the July edition. For those of you that haven’t seen it:

 “I was worried about the game all week. The more I thought about it, the worse I pictured the outcome. I felt sick first thing, but on the journey up to Burton, everyone seemed pretty upbeat. Most of them believed we’d stay up. We’ve done it on the last day of the last two seasons – we’re survival specialists!

When we scored early, I thought: “this is our day”. But we were in shock when we heard that Hereford were three up. Then Burton got one back and a draw wasn’t enough for us. As Zola stepped up to that penalty, I thought we were doomed. My heart was in my mouth. But he skied it. That shot saved our season.

At half time, someone said to me “Hereford could win 27-0 – but we could get a late winner and stay up”. Everyone was still strangely confident. It got a bit mental: at one point, a rumour spread that it was 3-3 at Edgar Street. But then we scored the second. The celebrations were crazy. Everyone was chanting Mark Hughes’ name and bundling.

We held on well and Dean Brill made a blinding save in the final seconds. Our 992 fans – a huge following by our standards – went mad at the end. Who’d have predicted both teams winning their game? We chanted ‘we are Barnet, we’ll never go down’ for about 20 minutes. The players came to celebrate with us, and everyone was elated. I didn’t celebrate that much afterwards – just a couple of drinks. I felt relief more than anything. Every year, so many people write us off, and every year we somehow manage to survive.

I just hope it doesn’t happen for a fourth season running. I don’t think we could go through it all again.”

#paninidoubles

So in my entry yesterday, I mentioned I was one of those geeks collecting the stickers. I thought I’d better join the ‘doubles club’. I’ll try and keep this updated as much as possible!

Need

Contents

PSS        1        2        3        5

Venues and Stadiums

7        13        14        15        16        19        22        24        26        29

Countries

31        33        34        35        36        37        38        41        42        45

Poland

49        51        53        56        58        61        62        63        64        65        66        67        68        69        71        74        76        77

Greece

79        80        81        82        84        87        90        93        98        101     102     104     105

Russia

107     108     109     116     118     120     121     123     124     127     128     129     132     134     135

Czech Republic

137     140     142     143     144    151     152     155     156     163

Holland

165     168     174     175     178     179     180     182     185     186     193

Denmark

195     197     198     200     201     204     205     206     207     208     210     214     216     219     221     222

Germany

224     225     228     229     231     232     233     237     238     241     242     244     246     250

Portugal

254     255     259     261     262     263     265     269     272     274     276     278     279

Spain

281     282     284     287     288     291     293     294     297     298     301     306     307     308

Italy

312     313     314     316     318     320     321     322     323     324     330     332     335     338

Ireland

339     340     341     342     344     345     348     350     352     353     357     360     364     365     366     367

Croatia

373     375     376     379     380     381     384     385     386     388     394     395

Ukraine

397     399     400     402     403     407     408     412     414     415     418     419     422     423     425

Sweden

426     428     430     431     432     437     440     447     452     453     454

France

456     457     458     459     461     465     471     473     477

England

486     488     490     491     492     495     496     499     500     503     505     509     512

History

514     515     517     519     520     522     524     526     527     528    529     530     532     533     537     538

Swaps

10        28        94        95        97        115     119     125     130     130     131     138     139     146     188     209     209     260     270     285     304     325     326     334     334     354     356     359     362     370     393     401     444     460     466     467     469     480     482     498     506     507     510     534     535

Something to look forward to…

With the Football League season well and truly over after last weekend’s League One and League Two playoff finals at Wembley, it seems like such a long time until football returns. It is in fact only a week away, with the Euro 2012 competition commencing next Friday. The most exciting part of that for me is this:

Yes, I am one of those sad geeks over the age of 21 collecting.

I am also a part of that minority that cannot get excited over the national side and England’s chances. I don’t think I can even explain why, I’ve always felt that way. I will never understand why people get so overly optimistic, they must know themselves they sound stupid saying really out-there statements like “England will win the Euros”. Let’s all be honest, they won’t.

I’m not a pessimist, I’m just a realist.

I mean, I support Barnet. I know they aren’t very good; I’ve never for one moment pretended they are. Every year we scrape relegation on the final day. Every year I predict a lower half finish. It’s just how we are. I’d be kidding myself if I said we’d get promotion, make the playoffs, even finish top 10. It just wouldn’t happen – although would be a lovely surprise (and somewhat, a miracle) if we were. So why is supporting England the same? You get those people who get outrageously ahead of themselves, like the national side is some kind of super team, it’s just average. I know my opinions on the matter are unpopular, but it’s true.

I can’t even get excited over England games the way I do about Barnet either. I watched that friendly last weekend in silence – I didn’t really have anything to say on the matter. I didn’t cheer when the goal went in, I didn’t moan about substitutions or anything. But then again, watching England in a friendly, is like watching your club team pre-season. I can’t get excited about pre-season friendlies either; even if it’s against the likes of Arsenal ‘reserves’ and even more so, when you’re playing a team at least five divisions below you.

I sometimes think maybe this lack of enthusiasm is down to not watching an international match live. But on the other hand, I really don’t think it’d appeal to me. I think watching an international game at a stadium would have the same impact as that poor girl who knows nothing about football who gets dragged to football by her obsessed boyfriend! And don’t even get me started on the people who take time off work to watch England matches, or phone in sick the next day when they’ve had too much to drink. I’d much rather be earning money!

Now don’t get me wrong, I watch the tournaments and enjoy watching them – but that isn’t because of England, it’s to be entertained by some of the best footballers in the world, and to see who can cause the biggest shock. That underdog country that springs a surprise on the rest of the competition makes it all that more watchable; like Greece in 2004, defying the odds.

Group B, tipped this year’s ‘group of death’ looks the most interesting. Denmark, Germany, Holland and Portugal. Trying to vie for the two quarter final places will be interesting. If you look back to qualifying, Germany won all 10 of their games and only conceded seven goals. Denmark finished top of their group, ahead of Portugal who had to go into playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Holland also finished top of their group, scoring more goals than Germany, but losing a match.

And of course, midway through the competition, the Football League fixtures are announced – June 18^th at 9am. The League Cup draw is often the day before. At least then we can start to plan our first away trips, and who we will be travelling to on that dreaded Tuesday night.

I shouldn’t really complain, all in all, it’s a pretty good summer of football, right?