Pompey kick-off at Fratton against Fulham

So, the fixtures for the 2009/10 season have been confirmed and we now know we kick-off against Fulham at Fratton.

Unfortunately greed runs the game so without a payment, which we simply cannot afford or justify to make - £250 plus vat - we at Vital Pompey, or anyone on the network for that matter, are not allowed to publish the full fixture lists for the coming season...

This, despite the fact that we pay so much for the 'privilege' of following football that we already do! More is demanded from us to simply list fixtures, which is not something that can be justified at what is demanded, sorry asked... This is also despite the fact that a new European Court of Justice ruling should put pay to the charging for fixture lists; unfortunately no one is in the financial position to challenge the leagues at present!

It is a joke - but not a joke that we can laugh at...

You can of course view the full fixture list on the Pompey Site, as I am sure you already have/will.

I can mention a couple standout dates though, well what I class as standout - that is not something that they can fleece us for, or complain about, although perhaps they will?

The first Fratton game is of course the opener against Fulham, with our first away trip being against Birmingham, who of course return to the premier league this season, a week later. Boxing Day is always a date that we look to with anticipation and this season we are on our travels to face West Ham, a regular occurrence!

I must confess that the first fixture I did look for was Spurs at Fratton, and to a lesser extent, seen as I did this last season, the meeting at White Hart Lane - although I feel I could be 'pushing my luck' to publish these dates, even by month alone, so I will 'quit whilst I am ahead!' We have all looked and all know when those dates are, particularly the one that will see Jamie's Dad return to Fratton...

Of course by the time TV has had its say countless numbers of fixtures, as released, could change and many most likely will, not to mention when we play teams in the Europa cup meaning switches to Sunday again - but at the moment those are standout dates for my diary and I await the kick-off the 2009/10 season against Fulham, get in there!

We now know where we start and finish; we just need to know who will be our owner, manager and who will be left from the current playing staff! All of which can, and hopefully will, be decided in the not to distant future.

Despite admittedly being pretty pleased at the end of the 2008/09 season that it was over I soon started to eagerly await the new campaign, and not because of the takeover talk, because I love Pompey, I enjoy the travelling and I enjoy the meeting with my mates before, during and after games, even if I cannot promote these dates - roll on August...

PLAY UP POMPEY!

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