So, it’s been another interesting week in the world of the Phoenix. Another bullshit rumour starts up, and manages to enrage pretty much the entire Phoenix fanbase on Twitter…
So, the rumour centred around the Phoenix playing games at Telford rather than Deeside. As with most rumours, the originator was (purposefully?) vague on details, but had enough to convince folks that there was more than a grain of truth to it. As it happens, the rumour was inaccurate. The talk was of a one-off “double header” at Telford, featuring a Phoenix game, and a Tigers game. A “Festival of Hockey” if you like (this was confirmed by Wayne Scholes, and later on Neil Morris). Further research by yours truly (basically I tweeted NEil and asked him) has revealed some more details (albeit scant ones).
We have a home game to re-schedule (V.s Bracknell Bees), after the ice melted at Deeside a few weeks ago. It appears that our options are as follows:
1: Play on a Monday night at Deeside, as all the other Saturday/Sundays we don’t already have a game on are being used by the Deeside Dragons, (which is fair, it is their home rink after all).
2: Play a “Double Header” on a Sunday at Telford.
3: Forfeit the 2 points.
Now, none of these situations are ideal at all. Play on a Monday? Well, that would mean pretty much no crowd, and a heavy financial hot for the club, something we can ill afford currently). Play in Telford? Well, that doubles the travel time each way, and is understandably not something most people want. ANd forfeit the points. Sounds reasonable, but what if we miss out on the play offs by 1 or 2 points (which is a realistic possibility, no matter how much we would like to think it isn’t). People would be pissed off if we missed out because of forfeiting a game we could (probably would) potentially have won.
So the club is in a pretty difficult situation. Whichever option it chooses, there will be pissed off fans. My personal preference if for the one off in Telford. Yes, it is an inconvenience, but I’d rather have the opportunity to be able to get to the game, as a Monday is a total no-no for me thanks to work (and I’d guess the vast majority of other fans too). Although, based on the reaction of some fans, you’d think that playing in Telford was the worst thing the club could ever do, ever! I think people need to take a step back, breathe, and assess the situation overall. WOuld it be an inconvenience? Yes it would. Is it the end of the world, or a personal slight by the club? No, it really isn’t.
Like I have already said, the club is in a pretty awkward situation with this. Whatever decision is made, there will be recriminations all over social media. People will get upset/angry/etc. The question is, which option do the club think will cause the least negative reaction? My money is on Telford. Stay tuned folks, this one isn’t finished yet…