Inspiration Strikes

I’ve got so many other things to deal with in life at the moment that carving out time to write blogs is difficult and England’s insipid performances haven’t been cutting it.

If there was any surprise in Scotland going out in the first round with a whimper once more that might inspire me.

Given this Euros completes a dozen such exits from a dozen major tournaments across their entire history, it’s actually as surprising as the election result will be next Thursday…

So instead of focusing on the international bore fest, that hopefully improves immensely in the knockout stage, I’ve been looking at the EFL fixtures that were released yesterday morning.

Emails from Stockport County, AFC Wimbledon and Sheffield United have given me an overview of all 3 EFL leagues, but it was the latter two’s derbies that caught the eye.

The True Dons beat their bastard offspring for the first time at home last season and have an early opportunity to repeat the feat next season as that lot come to Plough Lane on 14th September, with the return battle set for January 25th 2025.

That derby of real vs fake has been a regular fixture of the EFL, but one that’s returning to the docket is the steel city derby.

The Blades will be out to prove themselves after their cross city rivals managed the great escape last season when they failed miserably. Their first time to cut the Owls to pieces will be on home turf on 9th November.

Wednesday will have the chance to blunt the Blades’ egos back at Hillsborough on March 15th 2025 which feels late in the season, but at least they don’t have to wait till their final home game of the season to welcome their local rivals back to their home perch.

That’s how long Brentford have to wait to destroy the cottage boys back at the Hive, May 18th 2025, having already trashed the cottage for Cravens on November 2nd 2024.

The new EFL season doesn’t start till Friday 9th August and the Premier League not until the 16th, so till then I can just hope that the England performances and results at the Euros improve massively or that inspiration strikes from elsewhere.

If neither occurs then have a great summer and I’ll be back for the 2024/25 seasons