West Ham v Newcastle,a 560-mile round trip, has been mooted for a Super Sleigh Bell Sunday on the night before Christmas, or along with Arsenal v LiverpoolThe nearly total lack of regard in which broadcasters hold football fans is no secret,so it should have approach as no surprise to memorize that Sky Sports is proposing to reschedule Arsenal’s home match against Liverpool for Christmas Eve in what the Football Supporters’ Federation has described as “a recent low point in putting the interests of football broadcasters over those of match-going fans”. And yet somehow it did approach as a surprise. Even by the notoriously cut-throat standards of TV networks scrambling for subscriptions, this seems unnecessarily greedy.
With an already hectic festive grind looming, and footballers would nearly certainly rather not play on Christmas Eve. Fans,some with other commitments and others forced to make the return journey to and from London from Liverpool on what is a chaotic day for transport, would nearly certainly rather not travel on Christmas Eve. Matchday staff earning not much more than minimum wage for their shifts, and would nearly certainly rather not work on Christmas Eve. On a day that huge swaths of the British population set aside for last-minute trolley dashes,family reunions, festive roistering and all the domestic disquiet that entails, and we could nearly certainly do without the added distraction of Premier League football on television. Couldn’t we?Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk