Fixture changes: Tonbridge's January game moves to October

The National League issued its latest round of fixture changes on 15 October, confirming new dates and kick-off times for matches across both regional divisions. For National League South the effect is a reshuffled autumn, a January game brought forward by three months and two matches pushed into November.

The league's bulletin of 15 October

The announcement, published on the league's own website, confirmed that a number of Enterprise National League fixtures had been rearranged for the coming weeks and that further changes would follow in due course.

No reasons were given for the individual switches. Clubs and supporters were simply given the old date, the new date and, where relevant, a revised kick-off time.

What changed in National League South

Three of the listed changes involve South clubs. Chelmsford City's home game with Farnham Town, originally scheduled for 17 October, will now be played on 2 November at 19:45.

Tonbridge Angels' home match against Chesham United has moved from 17 October to 17 November, also at 19:45.

The third is different in kind. Tonbridge's home fixture with Hemel Hempstead Town was listed for 23 January and has been brought forward to 17 October, kicking off at 3pm.

Tonbridge's January date comes forward

Bringing a January fixture into October is the sort of move that looks small in a press release and large in March. Tonbridge have already played 13 league games, the joint-highest in the division, and now carry one fewer outstanding fixture through the winter.

It also means the Angels played Hemel on 17 October rather than kicking their heels, which matters in a division where midweek fixture congestion tends to punish the clubs with cup runs.

Chelmsford's unusual season

Chelmsford City are the most obvious beneficiary of a postponement, though not in the way they would have chosen. Their meeting with Farnham has slipped into November, and the Clarets go into that month unbeaten in the league with nine draws from eleven matches.

Two wins and nine draws is 15 points and 15th place. It is a record that keeps them clear of trouble and miles from the top, and it makes the rescheduled Farnham fixture unusually important for a side that has not lost in the league this season.

Congestion and the winter ahead

Six of the listed changes involve matches originally scheduled for 17 October, the weekend of the FA Cup fourth qualifying round, though the league did not say whether the cup programme was the cause.

Two of the three South changes push fixtures into the second half of November, when the league programme is already squeezed by the FA Trophy and the weather. The other removes a game from late January, when the same pressures apply in reverse.

For supporters the practical consequences are straightforward. A trip to Chelmsford on a Monday night in November is a different proposition from a Saturday in October, and Tonbridge's Chesham fixture now sits on a Tuesday.

• Chelmsford City v Farnham Town moves to 2 November at 19:45.
• Tonbridge Angels v Chesham United moves to 17 November at 19:45.
• Tonbridge Angels v Hemel Hempstead Town was brought forward to 17 October.
• The league says further rearrangements will be announced in due course.

Further changes to come

The league's wording was explicit that the list was not final. With the FA Cup first round due in November and the FA Trophy draw now made, more movement is likely before the holiday round is confirmed.

Clubs with matches still to be rescheduled should expect dates later in the season. The league has not confirmed which matches will be moved next, and no club has confirmed ticket arrangements for the revised dates beyond the information published in the bulletin.