Derby day kick-off time changed.
Posted on September 30th, 2010 | 37 Comments |
The only real surprise about the move is that it wasn’t made sooner. The return leg at Sunderland was moved forward pretty much as soon as the fixture list was released, yet the game at St James’ Park remained untouched.
So why did the bizzies wait until after the tickets have started to be sold before making the decision to apply to the Premier League for permission to move the game to an earlier 1:30pm kick-off? I, and many others, suggested that it may want to be moved to an earlier time, so why has it taken the authorities so long to cotton on to the same fact?
We’ll probably never know that now and no doubt there will be some legitimate reason, a reason that no doubt many of us could have forseen some months back.
I have a feeling that the atmosphere could be pretty dark around Newcastle for this derby. Don’t get me wrong, other matches against Sunderland are hardly knittting contests and always have an edge to them, but this is the first derby for a couple of seasons and no doubt there will be some Newcastle fans, and Sunderland fans, wanting to make a statement.
The move to the earlier 1:30pm kick-off should put a stop to that to an extent, but it won’t stop it completely. One thing it will stop is too many people having too much to drink before the game. There is now not enough time for the vast majority of people to go to the pub for more than a couple of hours before kick-off and drink enough alcohol to make themselves a problem. It also removes the likelihood of the Sunderland fans getting into Newcastle and waiting around for long.
As I said, I’m not surprised by this, just a little peeved that it has taken this long for the authorities to cotton on to what a lot of people have been saying. The derby is going to be hot enough, without everyone having to wait around for it and kill time on the day of the match!
Howay the lads!
Am i 1st?