Posted September 5, 200717 yr A new top-flight record will be set on Saturday 6 October when just one Premier League match kicks off at the traditional 1500 BST time. Only Aston Villa's home game against West Ham starts at 1500 BST, with one game starting at 1245 BST on Saturday and eight games taking place on Sunday. "This is a matter of great concern," said Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation. "It is extraordinary and it will be a dark weekend for football supporters." Clarke added: "It's symbolic of the way things are going but the views of the match-going fan seem to be bottom of the list of priorities. The Saturday three o'clock kick-off is a great tradition of English football "We will certainly bring this up at our next meeting with the Premier League." Manchester United v Wigan is the other game taking place of Saturday, 6 October but is kicking off at 1245 BST as it is being televised. Three other matches are being televised on the Sunday, four have been switched because teams involved are playing in the Uefa Cup on the previous Thursday and Manchester City v Middlesbrough has been moved for policing reasons. The City game was originally due to be played in the last week of the season but as their ground is the venue for the Uefa Cup final, Uefa asked the club to switch their Middlesbrough matches to play at the Riverside on the last weekend of the season. As United are at home on Saturday, 6 October, City have to play on the Sunday. A Premier League spokesman said: "It is a combination of factors - teams featuring in Europe, television games and policing issues. "We always try to give fans as much notice as possible as our research shows that if we do that, then they can make the appropriate travel arrangements." Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said fans' concerns had to be listened to. "The Saturday three o'clock kick-off is a great tradition of English football and one that supporters, myself included, would like to see continue," said Sutcliffe. "But I am sure fans whose clubs are competing in the Uefa Cup are happy to trade that off for a place in Europe. "While TV rights have contributed to the success of the Premier League - money from which is now filtering down to lower league and community football - fans' concerns need to be listened to when fixtures schedules are drawn up." Source: BBC Sport This has been happening for the past few seasons now and every season it gets worse and worse and it's not just happening in the Premier League now. I've been to 4 York games so far this season and only once has it kicked off at the 'traditional' time of 3pm on a Saturday because of the the fixture list and TV coverage of the games, and the worst thing is the clubs lose money if anything, for there being TV coverage of the games! To me football just doesn't seem the same if it's not played on a Saturday afternoon. :lol: There's a completely different atmosphere to as there normally would be on a Saturday.
September 5, 200717 yr Its a concern, but that's modern football, the only answer is allow Sky\Setanta to Televise 3pm K/O. Also you cant expect the teams playing in the UEFA cup to play on Thursday and then Saturday.
September 5, 200717 yr I don't like it when Chelsea are on at 3pm as it means i have to watch a poor quality live internet feed.
September 5, 200717 yr I don't like it when Chelsea are on at 3pm as it means i have to watch a poor quality live internet feed. Ooooo where from?
September 5, 200717 yr It's ridiculous. Blackburn have only played at 3.00pm on a Saturday once this season and it's a good few weeks before we do again. Last season we went eight weeks without a single one with UEFA Cup games and Sky showing them live. :arrr: We were supposed to be playing at 3.00pm that week where there is only one game as well but it got moved to Sunday as we've got a UEFA Cup game on Thursday.
September 5, 200717 yr Ooooo where from? Put Sopcast or TVU into google, they're downloadable programs where people stream foriegn channels, Fox sports US and some Asian channels show Premiership games each week (usually the ones that sky don't show).
September 5, 200717 yr When I first started paying attention to the Premiership in the 1998/99 season, I seem to remember they had eight games at 3.00pm on a Saturday and two on a Sunday. Sometimes it'd be a Sunday game and a Monday night game. None of this lunchtime and evening malarkey anyway.
September 5, 200717 yr Man Utd still havent played at 3pm on a saturday this season, their one saturday game was a 5.15pm kick off against sunderland. It is crazy, there are usualy 4 or 5 games moved each weekend at the moment. However in december (i think) there are about 2 weekends in a row with all 10 games set as 3pm kickoffs however i think this is cause sky and setanta have only picked games up till the some point in November so no doubt they will get moved
September 6, 200717 yr I have no problem with it Sky and Setanta money over the years is the large reason why the Premiership is considered by most to be the worlds top league and so many superstars come to play here so if Sky and Setanta are paying so much to clubs then it is only right that they dictate schedules He who pays the piper calls the tune Edited September 6, 200717 yr by Vic Vega
September 6, 200717 yr There are good reasons for certain matches to be played early though - eg, Celtic/Rangers or other local derby games where there's needle between fans - it stops fans from getting a skinful in the pub and causing sh!t at the game
September 6, 200717 yr Put Sopcast or TVU into google, they're downloadable programs where people stream foriegn channels, Fox sports US and some Asian channels show Premiership games each week (usually the ones that sky don't show). Thank you ^_^
September 17, 200717 yr I have no problem with it Sky and Setanta money over the years is the large reason why the Premiership is considered by most to be the worlds top league and so many superstars come to play here so if Sky and Setanta are paying so much to clubs then it is only right that they dictate schedules He who pays the piper calls the tune But what would happen if gates fell by thousands because of the non-3pm Saturday kick-offs. After all football would be nothing without the fans.
September 17, 200717 yr Author But what would happen if gates fell by thousands because of the non-3pm Saturday kick-offs. After all football would be nothing without the fans. The big teams gates will never suffer. Most of the grounds in the Premier League sell out each week and it's very had to get tickets for games. It's more likely to be the lower leagues that will suffer...
September 17, 200717 yr The big teams gates will never suffer. Most of the grounds in the Premier League sell out each week and it's very had to get tickets for games. It's more likely to be the lower leagues that will suffer... The only grounds in the Prem i see not selling out reguarly are Middlesbrough, Derby and Fulham
October 9, 200717 yr Also you cant expect the teams playing in the UEFA cup to play on Thursday and then Saturday. The Premier League clearly did - why else would Chelsea v Tottenham have been played at 12.45pm the Saturday after the latter team played in Spain the previous Thursday? (And, no, I don't support Tottenham. Or Chelsea, for that matter.)
October 9, 200717 yr The only grounds in the Prem i see not selling out reguarly are Middlesbrough, Derby and Fulham and Wigan :P
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