Ian Appleyard: Excitement mounts but overkill could become a worrying issue

Seems like only yesterday when the last football season came to an end. In truth, it was 55 days ago – when Swansea City beat Reading in the Championship play-off final.

Where did the summer go? Hopefully, it is still on its way.

There have been many local football stories to keep us going; Micky Adams sacked by Sheffield United, Danny Wilson hired. Mark Robins out at Barnsley, Keith Hill coming in. Peter Jackson landing the Bradford City job on a full-time basis, Gary Megson asking for more players at Sheffield Wednesday.

All have kept the pot boiling as cricket, tennis, golf, and rugby league have temporarily pushed football off the back pages of the Yorkshire Post.

From now on, however, football is set to reclaim the throne.

I have brushed up on my knowledge of the new signings and checked for any changes to the game’s rules.

I have studied the form guide and placed my bets.

But one thing I have not done – and for this I make no apologies – is attend any pre-season friendlies.

What? I hear you cry. You have not been to watch either the Owls or the Blades yet? Nor Leeds, Donny, or the Tykes? Why not?

Let me tell you why.

Pre-season friendlies are not competitive games. They are training sessions.

The results of these games are never recorded in any meaningful dossiers and should probably be confined to the rubbish bin as soon as the final whistle blows.

Even the managers say results are unimportant at this stage.

Football clubs play friendlies merely to work on team shape and sharpen match fitness in the countdown to the new season. The atmosphere at the games is generally cold and lifeless.

Do you really want to read about that? It would be akin to judging a new play on the basis of the dress rehearsal.

Or pay £12 and upwards to watch? Surely better to save the cash for the serious stuff ahead.

Admittedly, there has been plenty of time devoted to pre-season friendlies on Sky Sports News. But that is getting rather silly.

Please do not be fooled into thinking it makes a friendly game any more important.

A channel which broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is bound to view pre-season games as an ‘easy fill’.

It also helps to justify the fees they are charging us to watch English football.

Do we really need scoreflashes from a midweek friendly at Walsall for Pete’s sake?

Before long, they will be showing ‘live’ images of the team buses making their way to the grounds.

“And there it is. A superb, executive machine pulling out of Leicester Forest and joining the M1,” the reporter enthuses.

“In a matter of minutes, that vehicle will be delivering Hull’s players to the stadium. Join us again in a few minutes for an update on a truly momentous journey.”

It is called overkill. And that could soon become a worrying issue for the national game.

Back in the early Nineties, overkill was one of the main reasons behind the decline of snooker and darts as TV sports. Fortunately, both are now enjoying revivals.

Look at the growing apathy towards England’s friendly internationals.

These games no longer sell-out and the viewing figures are dropping.

Again, they are merely glorified training sessions which have been dressed up to make millions of pounds for the Football Association.

Do not forget the England Under-21 side, too, and the England women’s team.

The broadcasters went to town this summer on two overseas tournaments.

However, unless I am living on a different planet to the rest of us, I don’t recall seeing any pubs packed to the rafters with people watching the games.

The majority of people I speak to about football also say they rarely tuned in at home.

Do not get me wrong. I am not saying they have no place on the sporting calendar but they are nowhere near as thrilling as watching your own team play at home on a Saturday afternoon.

Crucially, I probably owe all those games, all those meaningless friendlies, a massive debt of gratitude now.

For without them, I don’t think I would be feeling as excited as I am about the start of the new season. It makes you appreciate what you are missing.

I can not wait to walk into a stadium again that is awash with colour, brimming with optimism, and a cauldron of noise.

I can not wait to catch the smell of the greasy burger vans along the roads outside.

Or the moment when the tannoy system is turned up and both teams are walking out onto the pitch.

The moment when the back of the net ripples, the crowd roars, and the hair on the back of the neck rises.

Only when football becomes competitive does it truly generate that sort of passion. Friendlies, alas, do not.

Football reporting has long been my profession and is a job I am still deeply passionate about. The big difference between working at a game and attending as a fan, however, is having to keep a lid on your emotions.

Sports journalists should always be impartial in the press box and, believe me, that gets harder and harder as time goes on.

This will be my 18th season covering football for the Yorkshire Post – and there have been so many changes down the years. Some good, some bad.

You never lose the love for the club you supported as a kid but, equally, you develop an attachment to others after attending their games for the best part of your adult life.

Some supporters do not understand this. They see it almost as treason. Some say they could never watch another club but their own.

Others believe you can not report on a club if you are not also a supporter. But surely, that would only cloud your judgment?

Once on the inside of a new club, you begin to understand what success means to the people who go there. As well as the price of failure.

And as they experience the highs, you share in their joy. When there are lows, you also feel their pain.

Hopefully, that never changes. It is what makes this job so special.

And, hopefully, Yorkshire’s clubs will generate more good news than bad this season. Because I want to report on promotions instead of relegations, play-off final victories not defeats.

Roll on Saturday August 6.

Put your shirt on keeping apart

Hell will freeze over before there is a merger of the two Sheffield clubs.

Who says so? Gary Megson, manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

The story had reared its ugly head again after the Owls and the Blades announced a joint shirt sponsorship deal with Westfield Health and the Gilder Group.

Megson, a lifelong supporter of the Owls, was asked for his observations.

Politically, it could have been a hot potato as both clubs are indebted to the two companies for investment and do not want to be seen as ungrateful in the current financial climate

But Megson was happy to state his view on a possible merger.

“It’s great that the two companies have got involved. It’s novel to say the least,” he said. “I have heard some suggestions that one or two see this as the first step in an amalgamation. Hell will freeze over before that happens!

“Neither club will ever, ever do that,” he insisted. “That just won’t happen. From a football point of view, it’s not a pointer to an amalgamation.”

United supporters are not exactly fond of Mr Megson but, on this occasion, they will surely have raised a glass to his comments.