Opening Day opponents

[sheedys big toe]

when was the last time we played the r's away 1st, we alway's seem to play them here then away.

 

[TGW89]

when was the last time we played the r's away 1st, we alway's seem to play them here then away.

2002/03 season:

- I had no pubes
- Facebook was a type of portrait album your nan had
- Moyes was still ginger
- Rooney was still ours
- The X Factor would not hit our screens for another 2 years
- "Youtube" autocorrected to "Your Tube"
- The Simpsons was still funny
- Broadband was a fashion accessory for people with large heads
- The PS2, Gamecube and original Xbox were the main players, and you could still buy PSX, N64 and Dreamcast games from Woolworths
- John Stones was still in Primary School
- Ryan Ledson was just STARTING school

Any more ways the world was different last time the fixture "Liverpool (A)" appeared in the top half of the calendar?

 

[Goat]

when was the last time we played the r's away 1st, we alway's seem to play them here then away.

We request it.

 

[composter]

Palace home, and let joy & revelry be unconfined

 

[Luke]

Swan Jacks away.

 

[TGW89]

We request it.

I heard once that it was actually THEY who do, and although I don't know what we request, the fact that we've never objected to the RS' request has resulted in the GP derby being played first every single year without fail since August 2003.

I don't think that (between the ever-presents of the EPL) any fixture has seen 11 (soon to be 12) straight years of the same order so there is SOMETHING going on obviously.

Furthermore, when someone put it to the EPL last year, a spokesman said that no club can dictate when they play certain teams or in what order, they can only point out teams they don't want to play on certain dates/times.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - that I do not buy!

Also, any guys expecting the RS (home or away) on day 1 will be sorely disappointed. Although there have been exceptions (such as West Ham v Spurs 99, Chelsea v West Ham 2000 and Boro v Newcastle 2004) no significant "derby" match ever gets played on the opening day as all teams are paired with what the league considers to be their closest rival and then exempted from playing them. The same I think applies to the final day - we will never play the RS on the final day.

My guess is such pairings will be:

Us-RS
City-United
Villa-WBA
Leicester-Stoke
QPR-Chelsea
Newcastle-Sunderland
West Ham-Palace
Arsenal-Spurs

With no nearby rivals, I imagine Burnley, Hull, Swansea and Southampton would be fair game to play anyone.

 

[Lewisefc92]

I predict...
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
Burnley vs Man City 12.45 BT
Chelsea vs Newcastle MNF
Everton vs Southampton
Sunderland vs Leciester
QPR vs Liverpool SUN
Man United vs West Brom SUN
Spurs vs Swansea
West Ham vs Arsenal SNF
Hull Vs Stoke

 

[Jamo Martinez]

Derby County at home.

 

[royalblue66]

The first game is going to be a downer if Kone is up top, sorry if I have pizzed on someone's cornflakes.

 

[streeky]

Away to QPR

something tells me promoted side away,i make you right blagger, qpr away.

 

[canuckblue]

Palace away. We'll lead 3-0 after 78 minutes and still win 3-0.

 

[TGW89]

I predict...
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
Burnley vs Man City 12.45 BT
Chelsea vs Newcastle MNF
Everton vs Southampton
Sunderland vs Leciester
QPR vs Liverpool SUN
Man United vs West Brom SUN
Spurs vs Swansea
West Ham vs Arsenal SNF
Hull Vs Stoke

My full list

16/8/14
Chelsea v Newcastle (12:45)
Crystal Palace v Stoke
Everton v Swansea
Southampton v Aston Villa
West Brom v West Ham
Sunderland v QPR
Burnley v Liverpool (17:30)

17/8/14
Arsenal v Hull (13:30)
Leicester v Man City (16:00)

18/8/14
Man Utd v Spurs (20:00)

 

[nsno-chris]

United - Home
Chelsea - Away
West Brom - Away

First 3 games of the season. For some strange reason this was my dream last night; why was i dreaming about football fixtures??

 

[TGW89]

United - Home
Chelsea - Away
West Brom - Away

First 3 games of the season. For some strange reason this was my dream last night; why was i dreaming about football fixtures??

The night before the 09/10 fixtures came out, I dreamed that we had West Brom at home on day 1 - despite them not even being in the Prem that year, with the Goodison derby being played first at some point.

Then I woke up, and the reality was even more disappointing than the dream - Arsenal at home and the GP derby on 28th November. This was just before all the Lescott nonsense, the Benfica sketch and our insane autumn injury crisis.