Pre-season Friendlies

[Davidimp]

Announced our first ones today
Hartlepool away on July 16th
Blackburn home on July 23rd
Someone else on July 26th

Anyone else had any announcements yet?

 

[Greenacres]

Give us a chance, we have half a squad and no manager...arranging friendlies is the last thing on most people's minds!

However, I predict we will probably visit one or more of Shortwood, Brimscombe and Thrupp, Slimbridge and maybe Gloucester City. As for the home game(s), I'm hoping for Brentford or Wolves but it will probably be someone like Cardiff, Swansea or Bristol City.

 

[Si Robin]

We'll have similar to FGR - the usual curtain raiser is Evesham away, and we'll end up with one of the midlands teams like Birmingham or WBA. I wouldn't mind Wolves, I don't recall the last time we played them.

 

[thewwfc]

ye gads, you can tell someone’s missing their football already when they start getting excited about pre-season friendlies.

Can’t stand them myself, haven’t been to one in a decade at least - but fair play to those who go, it’d be shit if everyone showed as snotty an attitude as me towards them.

But it’ll probably be the usual smattering of local non-league sides mixed with the odd higher level side.

Considering what an easy trip we’d be for a bunch of London Prem sides though, it’s surprising how rarely that happens - we have hosted Spurs, West Ham and Chelsea over the years, but there’s others (Arsenal) we’ve never played at all. Oddly, Leicester was our “glamour” friendly last season.

 

[Si Robin]

I only do one or two in the summer, and that's usually the Evesham game. It's a chance to have a chat with the players and, usually, have a beer on a warm, sunny evening with no worries about the result.

 

[HutchECFC]

Tiverton (a) & Taunton (a) both confirmed, as per usual.

Hoping for a Champ side at home, now we've actually got a pitch we can use. Bristol City/Cardiff/Swansea would be decent enough.

 

[Si Robin]

Bath have announced that we're going there on the 9th July.

I've never been to Twerton Park, so could be a chance to tick it off.

 

[Dinmiru]

We have a trip to Portugal although Evatt is adamant they'll be no games there its strictly for a fitness camp. Longbridge Town, Chorley, Oldham & Southport all recently confirmed. Seems there's a mutual fan boycotting of the Oldham friendly though due to the terrible ownership they're currently under & their fans don't want anymore money going into their owners pockets. Then we'll finish with most likely two out of Bburn/PNE/Bpool nearer to the end of pre season I'd suspect going off the past few years.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Apparently Melksham have announced a date for a friendly at theirs, we're obviously keeping quiet about such big news.

 

[Greenacres]

Apparently Melksham have announced a date for a friendly at theirs, we're obviously keeping quiet about such big news.

Even though it is a pre-season friendly it could be a tricky opponent...wasn't it them who thrashed Swindon in a friendly before the season that just finished?

(It was probably at the time when Swindon had about five senior players in their squad and just filled the remaining places with youth teamers and anyone who fancied a game)

 

[HutchECFC]

Also now announced the massive game that is Truro (H)

 

[codaplenty]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott Brown use his 'local knowledge ' and get Celtic down for a friendly. Even their 2/3 rd teams would help fill the ground

 

[Luke Imp]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott Brown use his 'local knowledge ' and get Celtic down for a friendly. Even their 2/3 rd teams would help fill the ground

Wouldn't even accept a friendly against them lot, absolute numpties. When Chris Sutton was our manager they came down and wrecked the place.

The police bill was ridiculous. Vaguely recall Accrington playing them, or were due to play them, and it was a £20k police bill.

 

[Davidimp]

Wouldn't even accept a friendly against them lot, absolute numpties. When Chris Sutton was our manager they came down and wrecked the place.

The police bill was ridiculous. Vaguely recall Accrington playing them, or were due to play them, and it was a £20k police bill.

I stayed away that day as I feared it would be mayhem and so it proved.
The pub I went back then was targeted by trouble makers.
Think celtic played at Sunderland quite recently, utter mayhem.

 

[Greenacres]

I stayed away that day as I feared it would be mayhem and so it proved.
The pub I went back then was targeted by trouble makers.
Think celtic played at Sunderland quite recently, utter mayhem.

What is it with the Glasgow teams...when Rangers came down a few years ago for a European final they tried to destroy Manchester...just don't get them. Anyone who thinks that the Old Firm teams should be admitted to the Premier League probably needs their head examined, their fans are largely awful and we can do without them...and all the other baggage that seems to poison their relationship.

It is odd, I spent some time in Scotland and the rivalries between other teams, where there is a real local rival, thinking Hearts/Hibs, Dundee/Dundee Utd, is nothing like as bad as the Glasgow teams...it is largely pretty friendly away from derby games.

 

[thewwfc]

Wouldn't even accept a friendly against them lot, absolute numpties. When Chris Sutton was our manager they came down and wrecked the place.

The police bill was ridiculous. Vaguely recall Accrington playing them, or were due to play them, and it was a £20k police bill.

We played them when Martin O’Neill used to manage them (2002), in a testimonial for a Wycombe player.

There was no bother whatsoever from their fans…(I suspect any hardcore Danny Dyer wannabes know full well that we are poorly served if you want a scrap).

But. It was still a £9500 police bill - which was kind of pointless because the whole point was to raise a bit of cash for the player whose testimonial it was. In a crowd of 5000, that’s a hefty chunk of the gate.

 

[HutchECFC]

Yeovil (a) and Torquay (a) both added to our schedule.

 

[MatthewArgyle]

Our friendlies so far are Plymouth Parkway,Bristol City,Yeovil Town,Truro City and Torquay United. I wonder if we'll play a friendly in Spain as Argyle are spending a week there for pre season.

 

[Greenacres]

There seems to be a pattern developing here, with very few surprises among the pre-season friendly opponents. I was hoping for Bristol City, but it seems like Plymouth have nabbed them already...mind you we did knock them out of the Carabao Cup last season so they might try to avoid us even for a friendly...guess that leaves us Cardiff and Swansea...again!

 

[Marked Ox]

Our pre-season schedule so far:

A week's training camp near Marbella from 23rd June and an Oxford United XI will play away at Slough Town on Wed 20th July.

 

[SVH]

We done a training camp in Wales last time we played Cardiff in pre-season so I suspect we'll do the same again.

Sat 9th July Cardiff City Away
Sat 16th July TBC
Tues 19th July Norwich City Home
Sat 23rd July TBC

 

[kieran_vale]

Only ones am certain we’ll have are our usual non-league opponents Kidsgrove, Stafford Rangers and Newcastle Town. Beyond that probably end up with a friendly against Forest and/or WBA at a rough guess.

 

[thewwfc]

We’ve announced a bunch against local non-league sides, but these are only for our “development squad” of hopefuls, and apparently any WWFC XI here will be chock-full of the ever-plentiful A. Trialist brothers (Andre, Angus, Antony etc).

Here’s the lucky contenders:

Bracknell Town
Aylesbury United
Chesham United

 

[Marked Ox]

Our pre-season has been confirmed. After the week training camp in Marbella:

Saturday 2nd July	Oxford City	a	6.30pm
Saturday 9th July	North Leigh	a	12.30pm
Saturday 9th July	Banbury United	a	4pm
Tuesday 12th July	Hungerford Town	a	7.45pm
Wednesday 13th July	Eastleigh	a	7.45pm
Saturday 16th July	Coventry City	H	3pm
Tuesday 19th July	West Brom	H	7.45pm
Saturday 23rd July	AFC Wimbledon	a	3pm

The first team squad will be split between the North Leigh and Banbury games with the rest being made up of 1st year pros and Academy players where gaps exist or on the bench. Likewise Hungerford and Eastleigh as Karl Robinson has done this on non-Covid affected pre-seasons, unless Hungerford becomes an Oxford XI fixture.

Coventry and West Brom seem like a good test even though they won't be money makers like a good PL club. I'm happy with this approach to the main games.

I'm sure Wimbledon fans are excited to be playing us again.

 

[thewwfc]

Coventry and West Brom seem like a good test even though they won't be money makers like a good PL club.

I'm not really sure that many clubs could be counted as real "money makers" for PSFs, unless you bag a Top 6 Prem club stuffed full of internationals.

And even then, you run the risk that they just send the second string.

As you say, a decent Championship side is probably a good test anyway from the playing side.

I always laugh though when people read anything into the results of PSFs (not saying that anyone on this forum does so).

They're a fitness exercise, a chance to try bedding in the new players, experiment with tactics etc, no more, no less.

We've been promoted in seasons when we've lost most of our PSFs (some even to non-league opposition) and got relegated when we beat Prem sides - means nothing.

 

[Si Robin]

I always laugh though when people read anything into the results of PSFs (not saying that anyone on this forum does so).

I ran a PSF table a few years back in League 2 (all tongue in cheek of course) - I don't have it to hand, but I don't think it was too far off in the Prediction league that year.

I might do it again this year.

The only rule is that the game has to be a standard 90 minute match of two halves. None of this 3 periods of 30 mins bullshit.

 

[DippyDon]

I'm sure Wimbledon fans are excited to be playing us again.

Karl Robinson away at AFC sounds anything but friendly...

 

[SVH]

The season we got promoted we played Ipswich in a pre-season friendly a week before the start of the season and if you didn't know you'd have thought we were the league one team.

 

[Luke Imp]

City's full pre-season fixture list:
July 2 - Gainsborough Trinity (A)
July 12 - TBC (N)
July 16 - Hartlepool United (A)
July 19 - TBC (A)
July 23 - Blackburn Rovers (H)
July 26 - TBC (H)

City XI side:
July 13 - Sleaford Town (A)
July 20 - Lincoln United (A)
August 2 - Eastbourne Borough (A)

Shame we're not playing Lincoln United on a Saturday again, that was a staple of our pre-season schedule and swelled the coffers of them.

The Eastbourne Borough one is presumably tied to the deal for Charlie Kendall but a weird time to have it, three days into the season albeit a Lincoln XI.

 

[Marked Ox]

Karl Robinson away at AFC sounds anything but friendly...

That did raise an eyebrow on our forum.