Rick McEwen, Capital Canaries Norwich v Ipswich is the biggest occasion in the East Anglian sporting calendar. But again this year we are being forced to suffer the inconvenience and muted atmosphere of a Sunday lunchtime kick-off.

Rick McEwen, Capital Canaries

Norwich v Ipswich is the biggest occasion in the East Anglian sporting calendar. But again this year we are being forced to suffer the inconvenience and muted atmosphere of a Sunday lunchtime kick-off.

Ridiculous as it may seem, but there has not been a Saturday encounter between the 'Old Farm' now since 1988.

And you have to go even further back to February 1983 (28,001 squeezed into the ground, half of them wearing Tacchini with a wedge or mullet haircut, and Keith Bertschin scoring the winner against his former club) to find the last Saturday derby played at Carrow Road.

The decision to make East Anglian football a Sundays-only pastime comes from the police forces of Norfolk and Suffolk, and I implore them to demonstrate a little flexibility in future.

According to Home Office stats Norwich & Ipswich fans are among the best behaved in the country, with arrests at City matches over the last three seasons being less than half the average for the division.

Meanwhile other police forces manage to deal with local rivalries and allow matches to be played on a Saturday (recent examples include Man U v City, Spurs v Arsenal, Celtic v Rangers, Cardiff v Leeds, Southampton v Portsmouth and Millwall v Bristol City).

Even Leeds v Millwall was played at 3pm on Saturday last week, and I bet they weren't asked to 'Shake Hands'.

If Ian McPherson and Simon Ash are reading this, here's the deal; allow our games to be scheduled on a Saturday and see what happens.

If it all kicks off then your point will have been made and we can revert to the Sunday Snooze, but please, give it a go and Give Us Our Derby Back!

t The appointment of Glenn Roeder has given all City followers a lift, and it is to be hoped that our players raise their game accordingly; not just tomorrow, but for the remainder of the season. Twelve of our squad could find themselves out of contract in the summer and, if they have paid attention to the recent careers of Phil Mulryne or Mark Rivers, they might realise that being offered a new deal at Carrow Road is worth the effort. Here's wishing Good Luck to Glenn Roeder and his newly-appointed coaching team; the only way is up!

t Can I repeat the call to arms for Ron Davies? Our great striker of the 1960s is in a bad way and needs money for a hip transplant. Visit www.giveittoron.co.uk, and give generously to a man whose health has been ruined by his career.