A strange few days lie ahead. What are we facing against City; a wounded beast ready to take their frustration out on their next opponent or a tamed creature who can be frustrated and overcome? And then we have a similarly uncertain experience against United who may (or may not) be resurgent as their latest new era warms up. That we go to Manchester twice in just four days is pretty barmy.
I was just sat here thinking it would be a whole lot easier to play Friday night against City and follow it up the following day with the United game. ‘You what?’, I can here you say. Clearly this idea isn’t one that could feasibly work and I’m sure there are a few dozen reasons it could never function but still, let’s stop and consider it for just a moment.
Maybe it could be a new feature of the season, one I’m certain wouldn’t actually be logistically possible by the way, but imagine you get drawn out to play a double header over a season in a certain city or region. The Premier League double header weekend!
Every club is matched with a city or region once a season. In 2024/25 we head to Manchester to face both teams. Maybe Nottingham and Leicester are paired, Villa and Wolves, the south coast clubs and the London clubs. And these pairs will entertain another club at one point for their own double header. Clearly there are outliers; currently Newcastle does not have a local pair, neither does Ipswich, but bear with me, I’m making this up as I write!
Another obvious issue is that for the second game, the home team will clearly have a big advantage given they will be facing a weakened and / or a tired team. So that needs some real thought I admit. Maybe two clubs visit a city at the same time so the home sides will also face two games but then there is the risk of trouble between supporters on what I expect is a big bender for fans of the away sides. But anyway, we should not let rather sizeable issues like this get in the way…
‘What about the players getting tired?’, I guess you started think some time back. Well, to be blunt player welfare isn’t exactly a priority in this scenario. I guess I could point to the days when teams would regularly play twice in 48 hours (Forest even did it as recently as the 1990s) but one can only imagine the outcry from many managers across the league. It’s a concern, I’ll be honest, but let’s continue anyway.
Let me try and (badly) overcome this rather obvious pitfall. Maybe in return, clubs benefit from a free weekend later in the season or the campaign can be cut down by a week. Clubs undoubtedly have to undergo a real physical test and I can already hear Pep telling me his expensive squad can’t be risked for this stupid novelty. ‘But, Mr Guardiola’, I would reply, ‘Don’t you care that 3,000 of us need to travel to your city twice in four days?’ Didn’t think about that one, did he?! And at this point I’m fairly certain he would back down and give this his backing.
Rather than worry about players getting tired / injured / threatening to go on strike, let’s frame this instead as a real test for a squad and it could have plenty of advantages. Managers need to decide whether to risk players featuring twice in 24 hours or to plan ahead with a split team and field a combination of 20+ players across both game. At this point, I hear Eddie Howe whispering loudly he has too many injuries to play at Fulham and Chelsea in one weekend, but I ignore it. I suggest you do too. I dare say these weekends could be lucrative; no doubt there would be big interest from the Premier League and its broadcasters. They could use some of this extra revenue to help meet the costs of travel, accommodation and Neck Oil for supporters or, more likely, clubs could benefit from a bit of extra cash towards their PSR levels. Maybe restrictions on squad sizes are lifted for these game to further ease the load, allowing long forgotten players in from the cold and give them a new opportunity.
Sure, it would suit the bigger clubs more with their heavier squads but it would also be a really good opportunity for fringe players, bolster the claim of academy players and add a sense of jeopardy as clubs wonder who they will be visiting for their double header. Maybe it’s one of the big clubs who come unstuck at their double header and it opens up the title race. Or a win in Game 1 for a relegation threatened team allows them momentum for Game 2 the next day and it turns their season around. Maybe newly promoted Sunderland (who will also fix that pesky north east pairing issue) have to go to Arsenal and Tottenham over a Saturday and a Sunday in August, Crystal Palace get the Merseyside clubs over Easter. Forest could have Manchester this year and a nice weekend on the south coast next year against Brighton and Bournemouth in September. These games could be a new focal point for the season, proper mini football festivals, and there would be delight and dismay as clubs learn where they are headed when the fixtures are announced. ‘Oh yes, off to Liverpool’ one set of fans would announce, while another stares into the abyss of two days in the Black Country (West Brom promoted for the purpose of this line).
For supporters, wherever they are headed, travel is cut in half as they only visit an area once rather than twice, which brings cost and environmental positives; ticket prices could be sold as a pair for fans who wanted to attend both and could, as happens at Brighton already, allow free public transport around the area over that weekend. Fans would also naturally have big anticipation ahead of their own double header and travel in numbers, organising a wonderful weekend of live football and a great social occasion. Even those not attending the games could arrange a fun weekend about the games which would undoubtedly have to be televised. I’ll confess at this point, this entire proposal is pretty much centred around supporters having a great and easier time, but hey it’s deserved I reckon.
Imagine emerging from our double header with six points. We overcome City with a late Emmanuel Dennis goal (squads are stretched remember) to send us all into Manchester ecstatic and, following a great night out, we hold out at Old Trafford despite severe fatigue to pinch a 1-0 win. We return to Nottingham, hungover and elated. Eagerly awaiting next season’s double header.
Forget what I said at the start. This is a bloody great idea!
GENERAL INFORMATION – MANCHESTER CITY
Last Visit: A 2-0 defeat in September 2023.
Famous Visit: A 3-0 FA Cup victory in 2009
Away supporters are split across three different tiers behind the goal. Having been located in both the lower tier the highest tier, I did find the latter preferable, especially as it is the largest section and where the main bulk of Forest supporters will be.
TRAVEL
RAIL: The slightly earlier kick-off time (7:30pm) does make it easier to make the last train which departs from Manchester Piccadilly at 22:30, arriving back in Nottingham at 00:48.
There are plenty of direct services up to Manchester earlier in the day with a standard return around £37.
It’s a fair old walk to the Etihad but it is do-able, taking around 30-40 mins from memory.
ROAD: This always feels like one of the harder places to drive to and park near. There are certainly options but the game being midweek, especially getting into Manchester closer to kick-off, will make it difficult.
Rest assured, whether using the M1 / M62 or A50 / M6 route, the M60 around Manchester will be pretty busy. If planning to try and park near the Etihad then using the M62 and coming in from the north would be logical, avoiding working your way around the M60 or up through the city centre.
In terms of finding a parking spot, I’m afraid I don’t have any specific answers. But my suggestion is don’t get too close to the stadium – it’s hard work in and it’s even harder after the game. If your legs can stand it, get yourself parked as far away as you can. If you look at the areas in between the M60 and the Etihad there are lots of housing estates, lots of which will have permit parking but further out you should have some joy.
Alternatively, try and avoid driving towards the ground and consider something along the lines of one of these options. While realising that this isn’t ideal on a cold Wednesday night one of these options may work out easier and potentially even quicker:
Crewe – Trains from here to Manchester Piccadilly can be as quick as 34 minutes, although most are a little longer than that. There are about 4 trains an hour. After the match there is a 22:06 which takes 57 minutes and a 22:32 which takes 37 minutes, both arriving into Crewe just after 11pm. A return fare is around £16 but your car journey is cut right down.
Stockport – There are numerous trains every hour into Piccadilly and it’s only ten minutes or so travel time into Piccadilly. Afterwards, there are six trains between 10pm and 10:30pm so plenty of options. A return fare is £6.29.
Altrincham Tram – Probably not as preferable as the above options but there are means of using the Manchester tram system. At worst, this will get you into Piccadilly and you could walk from there.
At all of the above, there will likely be a fee to park.
PUBS
Around Piccadilly there are plenty of really good options – the Waldorf, Piccadilly Tavern and the Crafty Pig spring instantly to mind. A little bit out of town the Swan Street area is really good with lots of good options. Mackie Mayor is a big indoors street good place with a bar included and around there are 2/3 decent options for a drink.
As noted above, allow plenty of time to reach the Etihad from any of these suggestions.
Clearly, many won’t be headed into the city centre before this one but there aren’t many clear drinking options around the ground for away fans. Official advice is generally to drink away from the stadium.
This is the second game of a trial period of not featuring a Q&A with an opposition fan. Eventually we may bring this back but it’s a time-consuming part of the away guide.
For those of you travelling, we’ll see you there.
You Reds
Matt