The Premier League will announce tomorrow that the Newcastle vs West Ham match is set to be moved from the Saturday 3 pm slot on 23 November to the Monday Night Football slot at 8 pm on 25 November.
This disgraceful move by the EPL is set to leave many fans unable to attend the fixture, fearing they will be stranded in the North East. The last train from Newcastle to London King’s Cross departs at 9:35 pm, meaning Hammers fans would realistically have to leave at halftime to stand any chance of getting home by train.
The decision is a cynical and shameful one from both the Premier League and Sky, who have shown zero consideration for traveling football fans, prioritising their TV audience instead.
Why they chose the fixture requiring fans to travel the longest distance on a late Monday night is baffling. Gameweek 12 features a South Coast seaside derby with Brighton traveling to Bournemouth, which would have been the obvious choice for a late fixture.
It’s long overdue for a representative from Sky and the Premier League to step forward and explain this decision—or better yet, attempt to get from Newcastle to East London or Essex after 10 pm on a weekday.
We seem to have reached a point where the League, TV companies, and even clubs have shown increasingly low standards in their treatment of fans this season. We already knew that supporters were seen as an inconvenience by those in charge, but now they’re not even trying to hide it.
Disgraceful.
Is the last train from Newcastle to Kings Cross really at 9.35pm ? I thought all East Coast Main line services to and from Scotland went through Newcastle.
What do you honestly expect? you pay the piper you call the tune so for those few hardy souls who will still make the trip i salute you as no doubt you will have to take at least a day and half off of work…unless you fly up then stay over and come back the next day.
Even 17:30 on Saturday’s at home is an absolute ball ache for travelling. Ruins the whole day for the none football supporting members of the family.
The upside of all that money from the tv companies is that the premier league is awash with money and can attract the best players from all over the world.
The downside is that Sky and Tnt can click their fingers and tell the PL to change a game and there is nothing they can do about it.