Is the lack of Saturday matches becoming a problem?

[Johnny Mars Bar]

The club: YOU MUST ATTEND SO MANY GAMES IN PERSON OR ELSE WE’LL RIP UP YOUR SEASON TICKET AND FLOG YOUR SEAT TO A TOURIST YOU FUCKING PLEB. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED A LIFE OR ANY OTHER HOBBIES.

Also the club: we’re going to schedule games on random days at random times on a whim at late notice because we can, suck it up or fuck off.

Honestly part of me is actually hoping to fall foul of their bullshit rules just so I can tell them to shove it up their arse.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Even during that dreadful 06-07 we seemed to be forever playing on a Sunday/Monday and If all the PL fanbases got together then something might get done

Instead we get this obsessive ridicule especially when a few empty seats appear at those midweek home games v Forest and Brighton

 

[WEMBLEY76]

Managed to get to only 3 games this season and considering starting to go and watch a lower league match regularly to fill the gap.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Managed to get to only 3 games this season and considering starting to go and watch a lower league match regularly to fill the gap.

Were they the 3 Wembley games?

 

[WEMBLEY76]

Were they the 3 Wembley games?

The FA cup final was the only Wembley game.

 

[jamielowndes]

That will kill off lower leagues, infact we are fast becoming like serie A in terms of the games

The National League is doing fine while being broadcast on DAZN. I just don't think that's true.

 

[Yankunian]

PL are to blame for this by letting broadcasters dictate everything, PL should have copied what NFL do by broadcasting themselves let people pay a subscription and watch which games they want, majority games at 3pm on Saturday, 1 x 5:30pm game and 1 x 4pm Sunday, European games should all be played on Tuesday & Wednesday regardless of competitions

 

[jimharri]

They quite often do, klopp was always moaning about 12.30 Saturday kick offs after a CL game, and games are moved from Sunday to Saturdays if a team has a CL game on the Tuesday after.

What about a Wednesday CL game? Will the following weekend's game be automatically be put back from saturday? It's three days of a gap. Or just under, anyway (Wednesday night to Saturday 12:30/3pm)

 

[bluesmith]

What about a Wednesday CL game? Will the following weekend's game be automatically be put back from saturday? It's three days of a gap. Or just under, anyway (Wednesday night to Saturday 12:30/3pm)

Only the 1230 Saturday slot is unavailable for teams who have played away on the Wednesday, everyone else can play at any time on the Saturday.

 

[Manc Born & Bred]

Four teams will be playing on Thursdays - Sunderland, Bournemouth, Palace and Brighton. Can't the league fix it in such a way that they play each other on the weekends after European football so fewer games have to moved from a Saturday.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

I think, going off how many times I saw them play Monday night, sometimes three in a row, the rags got the Monday slot more than anyone else. Not sure on their Saturday slots, but that amount of Monday nights, to me, saw them demoted to the worst slot of any given weekend fixtures.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

It would be a disaster for fans who need to travel a long way.

Sunday 4:30 kick offs invariably require a wasted day off work travelling back/recovering. Additionally public transport is terrible. The lad sat next to me missed the after match stuff with Pep on Sunday due to the issues with the transport system

But, if they were mostly on a Sunday, there would be no need for a 1630 kick off. They could have one game at 1300 and the rest at 1500, with an option to watch anytime you wanted.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Is there any reason why CL teams can't play on a Saturday? On either CL day, they'll have three days on one side of the game, and four on the other. Or am I missing something?

Yes, because Sky are wankers...

 

[kippaxwarrior]

The 3pm blackout needs to be killed off. Its a relic from a different time.

The 3pm Saturday blackout isn't the issue here.

At least 4 teams will be playing in Europe on a Thursday night and PL rules state those teams cannot play on the following Saturday, plus the TV deal Sky has stipulates they can move up to 2 games to a Sunday.

Even if the 3pm blackout was scrapped it really wouldn't make much of a difference.

Unfortunately we now live in a football world where less than 40% of league games will be played at 3pm Saturday

 

[blueparrot]

What about a Wednesday CL game? Will the following weekend's game be automatically be put back from saturday? It's three days of a gap. Or just under, anyway (Wednesday night to Saturday 12:30/3pm)

If it’s a Wednesday game then it’s entirely down to whether it’s picked for TV and which slot or left as a Saturday 3.00. Though it would depend who it was against too,if it was against a Thursday team it would be moved.

 

[MCFC1993]

Four teams will be playing on Thursdays - Sunderland, Bournemouth, Palace and Brighton. Can't the league fix it in such a way that they play each other on the weekends after European football so fewer games have to moved from a Saturday.

Definitely something that should be explored. I'd also argue that teams in Europe shouldn't be playing other teams in Europe on the League Cup Final and the FA Cup Semi Final and Final weekends. We can't have a game in hand for 3 months situation again.

 

[jockblue]

The club: YOU MUST ATTEND SO MANY GAMES IN PERSON OR ELSE WE’LL RIP UP YOUR SEASON TICKET AND FLOG YOUR SEAT TO A TOURIST YOU FUCKING PLEB. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED A LIFE OR ANY OTHER HOBBIES.

Also the club: we’re going to schedule games on random days at random times on a whim at late notice because we can, suck it up or fuck off.

Honestly part of me is actually hoping to fall foul of their bullshit rules just so I can tell them to shove it up their arse.

Well you can't say you were unaware that matches are likely to be moved to stupid times/days of the week just like...checks notes...pretty much every season since the early 1990s.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Well you can't say you were unaware that matches are likely to be moved to stupid times/days of the week just like...checks notes...pretty much every season since the early 1990s.

If you think the current scatter gun fixtures are the same as they have been since the early 90s you’ve got fucking dementia.

 

[chesterbells]

The National League is doing fine while being broadcast on DAZN. I just don't think that's true.

100% mate, there’s just no evidence to support that statement at all. It’s just a lazy trope to come out with. The football pyramid is booming as far as I can tell.

I’d actually go a step further than most and say, this is 2026 not 1926. As such, if parts of the football pyramid became populated with semi pro teams instead of fully pro teams, then so be it.
(But like I say, I’m not sure the 3pm blackout removal would lead to it anyway!).

We’ve already got games on telly till 2.30pm Saturday and again from 5.30pm
- how many people who watch lower league could watch those and get to/from their local lower league club as it stands now anyway?!

 

[jamielowndes]

The 3pm Saturday blackout isn't the issue here.

At least 4 teams will be playing in Europe on a Thursday night and PL rules state those teams cannot play on the following Saturday, plus the TV deal Sky has stipulates they can move up to 2 games to a Sunday.

Even if the 3pm blackout was scrapped it really wouldn't make much of a difference.

Unfortunately we now live in a football world where less than 40% of league games will be played at 3pm Saturday

Yeah you're not wrong, I just think that the egregious shifting games into early or late spots on Saturdays and Sundays as well needs fucking off.

But like you said, it's just the norm now. Live sport has always been an attraction for TV and those running the sport are just content to saturate the weekly schedule with it.