Hearts have announced that their Scottish Premiership clash with St Mirren will now take place at Tynecastle on Friday, January 13 with a 7:45 pm kick-off.
Robbie Neilson's side were originally due to face the Buddies on Wednesday, December 21 but with a congested fixture schedule of four games in 11 days when the season resumes after a month-long break for the World Cup, the Gorgie side asked the SPFL for the game to be moved to an alternative date. Both Hearts and St Mirren’s league games on the weekend of January 14th were postponed due to Aberdeen and Celtic’s involvement in the Viaplay Cup semi-finals, which opened a gap for a change to what the Jam Tarts' website brands "a popular Friday night slot".
A Hearts spokesperson said: “In a congested fixture list, there was a rare opportunity to move the match to what we feel will be a more agreeable date for supporters of both clubs to attend. From a footballing perspective, it makes perfect sense to alleviate a busy festive period by switching to a free weekend. Tynecastle under the lights is always a special occasion and we hope fans will welcome the chance to kick off their weekend on a Friday night in Gorgie.”
The Friday night football concept has been used in the Scottish Championship throughout the past few seasons with broadcaster BBC Scotland covering the games live. And it feels like the top-flight is now following suit. Both Aberdeen's meetings with Dundee United this season have been moved to Saturday evening kick-off's to much success while Hibernian attracted their highest home attendance in almost 34 years for a Friday night game against St Johnstone in October.
Record Sport looks at the reasons why evening games are a positive introduction to the Scottish game and if there's a possibility that we could see more schedule changes when the season resumes in mid-December.
Appetite is there
The first Friday night game trialed in the Scottish Premiership was a roaring success - even if all eyes were on the long-awaited introduction of VAR. 20,010 punters packed out Easter Road for Hibs' 2-1 loss to St Johnstone in October, whilst the Leith side were defeated 4-1 when Aberdeen staged another Friday night experiment earlier this month.
The St Johnstone clash generated a near sell out crowd, which included the highest amount of home supporters in 33 years - around 19,500. The figure was better than 18,245 crowd for Rangers' visit in August and a tally which is only surpassed by the first Edinburgh derby of the season which attracted 20,179.
Higher attendances possible
Aberdeen's final league game before the World Cup break is another perfect example of how evening fixtures can boost attendances. Their New Firm Derby with Dundee United attracted 17,035 punters through the Pittodrie turnstiles, which was a season high for the Dons, who have played 10 home games in all competitions this campaign. That was particularly impressive when the game was also able to be purchased on PPV within the UK.
The bumper crowd was also boosted by the fact the visitors took a sizeable travelling support up to the Granite City as they sold out their away allocation with a near 2,000 strong following. And in the reverse fixture five weeks earlier, 11,010 watched the Tangerines thrash Jim Goodwin's side - a figure only just bettered by their home game against Celtic in August which attracted 77 more fans.
Gives fans a variety
Saturday afternoon 3pm games have been the norm in Scottish football for over 40 years. But with people's lifestyles ever-changing, having a larger variety of kick-off times each weekend would perhaps be more convenient to the masses.
Many supporters have other hobbies and interests so starting their weekend off with Friday night football allows them to still free up the rest of their time. It means keen amateur, junior and school football level fans can attend, who are most likely to miss out on a regular occasion, as well as students who may work on a weekend.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has been all for improving the experience at Scottish games and with the numbers being returned from the trial games to date, and although it's clear Friday and Saturday night games won't suit everyone, it appears that club chiefs and the league's governing body will be weighing up the option of making these encounters a permanent fixture in the football calendar.
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