The decision to postpone Wanderers’ home game with Ipswich was a late one, but whether it proves to be the right one remains to be seen.
After three Wycombe players were called up for international duty, not all of them first-team regulars, the Chairboys had the option to call the game off.
They duly did so, with just six days’ notice, sparking much debate about the potential advantages and disadvantages of playing the Tractor Boys when scheduled to do so.
Wycombe Wanderers postpone fixture with Ipswich Town due to international call-ups #Chairboys #ITFC https://t.co/sz8xzXdHYa
— James Richings | Bucks Free Press (@James_BFP) August 31, 2021
Eight of the 12 League One fixtures this weekend have been postponed for this reason, so it’s a decision that a lot of clubs have made, but is it sensible for Wycombe?
READ MORE: Wycombe vs Ipswich postponed due to international call ups
Wanderers had made a good start to the season, going four games unbeaten in the league before losing to a very strong Sunderland side.
The scheduled opponents, Ipswich, have given manager Paul Cook the licence to build what is essentially a third-tier dream team, but the 19 new signings are yet to gel.
The Portman Road club have drawn all three of their home league games 2-2, and were beaten on the road at Burton Albion and Cheltenham Town.
Ipswich will surely improve as the season goes on, so now would have been as good a time as any to play them.
The three players that were called up for Wanderers were Anis Mehmeti, Daryl Horgan, and Tjay De Barr.
With #Wycombe's diverse squad I was surprised to see the fixture scheduled in the first place. But matches have gone ahead after losing even more than three players due to #Covid, so there's a certain inconsistency in the rules.
— Nigel Hurneyman (@Nigelh7n) September 1, 2021
Mehmeti and Horgan are both key first-teamers, but promising youngster De Barr has played just 17 league minutes for Wycombe to date.
Due to Wanderers’ policy of releasing very little information about injured players, it’s difficult to say whether adequate replacements are available for the trio, so the decision could be an entirely justified one if a couple of attacking players are still struggling with knocks.
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However, there’s also the issue of revenue coming in from what would’ve been a bumper attendance.
There were more than 8,500 present the last time the Chairboys played host to the Suffolk club.
The game is now likely to be played on a Tuesday night, and Wanderers would do well to attract 6,000 punters for that one.
Wanderers' League 1 fixture with Ipswich Town - scheduled to take place at Adams Park on Saturday 4th September - has been postponed after the #Chairboys received international call-ups for three players.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) August 29, 2021
In addition to ticket sales, the new regime at Adams Park is big on the matchday experience, so any revenue from food and drink will also be significantly lower.
You can certainly understand the move to postpone the game from a purely footballing point of view if the squad is looking thin, but from a commercial point of view, it’s questionable.
That’s backed up by the fact that Wanderers have several more home fixtures on international weekends across the season, so either the club are going to take a huge hit on matchday income, or will have to do without a couple of key players for those games.
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