Vicarage Road On The Up
I’ve probably seen Ipswich play at Watford, five or six times in the past and have always been struck at the dilapidated main stand to the left of where the visiting supporters sit.
This year though things are different, in that not only are the seats less rickety in the Away stand, but that a new stand is going up to the left.
Vicarage Road On The Up
One thing that wasn’t different was the result! I can’t remember ever seeing Ipswich win at Vicarage Road.
A Gluten-Free High Street In Watford
I went to see Ipswich play at Watford yesterday and ate lunch in Carluccio’s in the High Street there. Their restaurant is actually in a sandwich between Nando’s and Jimmy’s World Grill, both of which seem to cater for gluten and other allergies.
A Carluccio’s Sandwich
There is also a Pizza Express on the other side of the road.
For the first time, I used the Overground to get to Watford, by travelling to Watford High Street station. This station is due to be rebuilt in the next few years as part of the Croxley Link project. As the Watford Junction station and the tracks through it are also being remodelled, it looks like Watford is getting a full transport makeover.
Network Rail were going to close the West Coast Main Line in the Watford area for track works this Summer and in February next year. But these closures have been cancelled, according to this article in Modern Railways. It looks like that some nifty project management has been applied. So often this type of major project ends up causing troubles all round, as the project management is non-existent.
Here, Network Rail deserve praise, especially, if it works out as planned.
A Victory For Good Project Management
Network Rail were going to close the West Coast Main Line in the Watford area for track works this Summer and in February next year.
But these closures have been cancelled, according to this article in Modern Railways.
It looks like that some nifty project management has been applied.
So often this type of major project ends up causing troubles all round, as the project management is non-existent.
Here, Network Rail deserve praise, especially, if it works out as planned.
Is This The Way To Develop Railways?
It has been announced today that the government has fully approved the Croxley Rail Link. This report on the BBC gives full details. Here’s their summary.
An extension to the London Underground’s Metropolitan Line to serve the centre of Watford has been given the final go-ahead.
The government gave the £118m Croxley Rail Link the all-clear through the Transport and Works Act Order.
The line will be extended to Watford Junction via Watford High Street and two new stations will open, including one near the town’s football ground.
This seems to be a scheme that has a lot of merits.
Personally, it will mean that when I go to see Ipswich play football in Watford, I will avoid the long walk across the town. I think that because of this ease of access, Watford FC will be one of the bigger beneficiaries, as ease-of-access always brings in more visitors to any venue.
This fairly small scheme will have all sorts of benefits. This paragraph is lifted from Wikipedia.
When the Croxley Rail Link is built, direct services into Watford Junction from Amersham would also be possible, thus linking the commercial centre of Watford to the new developments in Aylesbury, as well as providing the Chilterns with transport connections, via the Junction, to the North and other destinations.
I’ve always thought that Watford should be more of an interchange when going north to take the pressure off Euston.
i think we can honestly say that the £118 million that this development will cost, will return an awful lot more in benefits.
But then we’ve got a bit more clever with some of the schemes we’ve started recently.
The Hitchin flyover will take a few minutes off the times for trains on the East Coast Main Line for £47 million. It will be fully open in a few weeks.
Improvements to the Felixstowe branch line and its junction with the main line north of Ipswich, aren’t the biggest of developments, but they will take significant numbers of trucks off the road.
If you go to the Network Rail web site, you’ll find lots of these smaller projects.
I think we should complete all of these before we decide on the detailed route of HS2.
Watford’s Unfair Loan Tactics
I feel that the number of loan players that are allowed in the Football League is about right, with up to five loan players about to start and only two from one club. But the problem is that international players don’t count.
I know Ipswich lost 2-0 to Watford and didn’t play too badly, but they were playing a team, that was probably good enough to play in the Premier League now. And it’s not just me who thinks it’s unfair, as here‘s Ian Holloway on the subject.
There was a report in the Standard last night, saying that the clubs will be discussing the matter in the summer and possibly changing the rules. Here’s the guts of the article.
The club are third in the Championship after bringing in 11 players temporarily thanks to their owner Gino Pozzo having stakes in Udinese and Granada.
League clubs can only have five loan players in match-day squads but the limit does not apply to players, who have international caps. That means Watford have been to select players such as Joel Ekstrand, Almen Abdi, Matej Vydra and Daniel Pudil without worrying about the rule.
I also thought that UEFA stopped owners controlling more than one club.
The Anonymous Widower 