Walking into St. James’ Park on Saturday I turned my head to view the latest fan display by Newcastle United supporter group, Wor Flags. Typically these tifos pay tribute to a current or former player, or make a nod towards an anniversary in the club’s history.
But before the Luton game, fans used a rare Saturday 3pm kick-off to protest the massive inconvenience they have suffered at the hands of TV broadcasters on three occasions already in 2024, with two more expensive, environmentally unfriendly disruptions set to follow in February and March.
“TV BEFORE FANS” read Wor Flags’ banner. Four smaller banners flanked this denoting recent Newcastle United away fixtures and kick-off times that had been altered to suit TV schedules:
Liverpool (a) New Years Day 8pm, Fulham (a) Sat 7pm, Villa (a) Tue 8.15pm, Arsenal (a) Sat 8pm. Not included was Chelsea (a) which this week has been moved from Saturday 9 March 3pm to Monday March 11 at 8pm.
Each of these changes have been made by TV broadcasters to suit their armchair audience and the broadcaster’s turnover. Each of them make it impossible for Newcastle fans to travel home via public transport after the game.
The latter point makes a mockery of ‘Green Football Weekend’, a laudable initiative that FourFourTwo helped support this month and is designed to encourage football fans to make greener choices. Tens of thousands of Newcastle fans having to drive home from five re-arranged away fixtures, rather than travel as they ordinarily would via public transport isn’t very green.
Here's a quick idea: make the next Green Football Weekend all local derbies. Hundreds of thousands more fans could catch local transport, cycle or even potentially walk to their games.
Admittedly, not Newcastle fans however. If Burnley can’t get out of the relegation zone, and no northern teams gain promotion from The Championship, the Manchester clubs could represent the two shortest away games in the 2024/25 season: a 290-mile round trip from Newcastle. But at the very least localising fixtures that gameweek would be an effort to minimise travel.
On top of the carbon footprint these TV re-arrangements contribute to is the financial footprint on fans’ wallets. One friend I spoke to in the pub before Newcastle’s draw with Luton told me they had ‘gambled’ on Newcastle’s now re-arranged March 11 fixture at Chelsea not being selected for Monday Night Football. They had already purchased a hotel in London for the Saturday night and managed to secure a later train hom on Sunday March 10 for a bargain £28.
If they still want to attend the now rearranged fixture they will lose the £28 already spent on the train, have to pay an extra £130 to travel back on the Tuesday, and book two more nights in a hotel, plus book two days off work.
In theory, the Premier League, Sky Sports and the police authorities have to finalise which games will be rearranged for television at least five weeks before the original date. But yet another deadline was missed this month. When the five-week target is missed fans in some cases are buying tickets, and arranging travel, for games that have a chance of being rearranged.
Then there’s ticket prices, while the £30 cap on away ticket prices in the league is one of the most sensible policies in the Premier league, for cup games clubs have been taking advantage of fans’ loyalty.
Again, using Newcastle as an example, tickets for their four domestic away games in the cup competitions this season have all been over £30. Fulham charged them £40.
Confirmation for when Newcastle’s game at Chelsea in the Premier League would be played eventually came on Monday evening. The game had been selected for TV and moved to 8pm on Monday March 11. This means Newcastle have had one single Saturday kick-off away from home take place at 3pm, and that game was two days before Christmas at Luton. Oh, and my mate with the £28 train ticket has to type more bank details into the internet.
The missed deadlines make the inconvenience and extra expense incurred by fans even more galling, and the issue of course doesn’t only affect Newcastle fans. Manchester City supporters only found out if they were playing away at Brentford on a Saturday night or a Monday night with just eight days' notice.
Eight of the games belatedly announced they had been selected for TV are at risk of being moved again at short notice depending on the outcome of cup ties.
Luton’s away Premier League game at Burnley last month was switched with five days notice due to The Hatters draw with Bolton in the FA Cup meaning they needed a replay. Luton still took 1,400 to Turf Moor. That number in some ways creates a problem.
TV companies know how much they can push fanbases. Five days notice and Luton still pretty much filled the away end. Certain fan bases continue to travel in numbers, almost regardless of the inconvenience and cost.
Fulham bumped up their FA Cup ticket prices to £40 and despite it being impossible to travel back to Newcastle from that fixture via public transport on the same day, due to a 7pm kick off, Newcastle still sold their away allocation of 3,800 with some Toon fans even appearing in home sections.
The fact the issue of unsociable kick-off times is now reaching manager press conferences shows just how bad the problem is getting. “I do have sympathy for them [the fans],” Eddie Howe told reporters last month. “We’re all at the mercy of TV companies and when they want to schedule games, and I don’t think enough consideration is given to the supporters for what they have to do to get to and from the game."
A regulator would soon solve this issue, but that is for another day. In the meantime, if the Premier League miss their own self imposed deadlines they should subsidise the cost of the relevant away tickets, or even offer travel vouchers to affected fans. Or fine themselves for everyday they miss the five-week deadline by, with the money going to the Football Supporters Association, or initiatives that they’re undermining like Green Football Weekend.
Or (and this is my final ‘or’ I promise) failure to meet deadlines means the game stays at Sat 3pm. They would soon figure it out.
More stories
Farewell sweet Prime: Amazon showed broadcasters how football coverage SHOULD be done and I’ll miss it when it’s gone
Is the original Adidas Predator rubber grip technology still relevant in 2024, as amazing moment of serendipity is discovered 30 years on
The half-and-half scarf: the unacceptable yet unavoidable football match day accessory
