Saturday 3:00pm has traditionally been football time in the United Kingdom. But this weekend, of all the premier league fixtures only Aston Villa v West Ham is a that traditional time. Manchester United v Wigan is on Saturday lunchtime, and the other eight games are on Sunday.
Some have suggested that it is linked to the role of television but Richard Scudamore, disagrees:
“Out of the 10 matches only three have been displaced ostensibly for television … The remaining six have been moved due to participation in the Uefa Cup, transport issues and a combination of the police and Uefa.”
But, and I think he is right, Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters’ Federation, made the key point that UEFA Cup participants only play on Sundays because they are scheduled on a Thursday to avoid clashes with televised Champions League games.
Are we losing out on a good tradition by not having most of our games on Saturday at 3:00pm, with results in at around 4:45pm? What do you think?
