THE fixture computer can be cruel at times.

As a football reporter following Bury up and down the country, I have a real empathy with put-upon supporters who follow their team every game home and away.

Next Tuesday’s 350-mile round trip to Stevenage is just another example of idiotic planning in a season that has already seen the Shakers’ loyal following forced to journey to Luton for a midweek game.

Wherever possible, I don't think supporters should ever be forced to take a day off work just to make it to an away game.

And night matches can be fantastic occasions when grounds are full, so surely it makes sense to try to restrict them to derby games.

Bury are not the only ones who are made to suffer, it seems every club in the land, from Premier League down to the Conference, have a similar story to tell.

Saying that, if it was just a random numbers game, and there was no sensible planning applied to the whole process, then the JD outfit’s chances of landing local midweek ties this season were not great.

For some reason, northern clubs are vastly outnumbered in League Two, with only with Morecambe, Accrington and Tranmere really that close to Gigg Lane.

One interesting aside to this is the potential carrot for Bury to dramatically reduce their travel costs by winning promotion.

While in League Two there are only nine clubs out of the 24 in the division that are within a two-hour car journey of Bury, there are 15 currently in League One.

Promotion could see Bury facing local sides Preston, Rochdale and Oldham, as well as Fleetwood and Crewe.

There are also four big Yorkshire clubs – Sheffield United, Bradford, Doncaster and Barnsley – in the division.

League One also beckons for Wigan and Blackpool, who are fighting against relegation from the Championship, while Shrewsbury and Burton Albion, who are not a million miles away from Bury, are in the running for automatic promotion from League Two.

So the quota of clubs in the third tier next season within that two-hour radius could increase to 19.

This is not something that will be, or should be, utmost in the minds of Bury’s players or management as they focus on promotion to League One.

But it would be a welcome bonus for the board and just reward for those fans preparing for another midweek quest down to Hertfordshire.

The prospect, though, makes me wonder why the authorities ever got rid of the regionalised Division Three North and South.

In a time when crowds are dwindling and clubs in the bottom two tiers are struggling to stay afloat, surely increasing the number of local games would have a massive beneficial impact.