The Mail Bag
Kick-Off 17:45 Tuesdays???
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According to a steward at the BATE match, we will be playing home ties in the knockout stages of the Europa League on Tuesdays at 17:45 hrs. How many people will be in the ground by kick off is a different matter.
Isn't a factual announcement of course — sheer hearsay on my part — but he informed me that stewards are already being briefed on their arrival at the ground by 3pm. It's apparently — a Uefa directive. Liverpool will have 8pm Thursday night home kick-offs according to the steward.
As it's a new competition, I guess that the knockout rounds are seen as fair game by Uefa to set new standards and precedents. Everyone surely knows that it won't work in England but another sign that the game is bit-by-bit changing for the worse.
Alan Chadwick, Posted 17/12/2009 at 21:10:03
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I think now, we will see if the powers that be at Everton Football Club have any kind of backbone, or if they are just a bunch of spineless bastards.
If I was Robert Elstone, I would be turning up at the draw this afternoon with the clubs legal team, and tell UEFA that if this kick off time is not changed, then they can expect a court date and be sued for loss of revenue.
Having a kick off time for an English club at home, when a huge amount of the English workforce will still be in work, is a complete and utter disgrace, and just shows that UEFA couldn’t give a flying fuck about the fans. (Who needs fans when we have a shitload of sponsors!)
For me, we should have our Europa League game on Friday night (8pm) and our Premier League game on the Monday night.
Either that, or tell the redshite to go fuck themselves - after all, they shouldn’t even be in the competition.
Wtf has that got to do with this tournament? Why dont they simply give the daft match timings to the team that has only dropped into the tournament because they were eliminated from the laughably named Champions league?
Uefa and Fifa are the epitomy of why so many fans are becoming completely disillusioned with football these days.
This afternoon’s draw should be interesting....What are the bets we get Juve and the RS get Hapoel Telaviv?
I don’t see any smoke and mirrors. Whether you like it or not, we are a smaller club than Liverpool.
Them’s the facts lads...
Everton were never going to get precedence over the Shite.
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Yeah good one. Lets kick ourselves in the nuts, because you lot think there’s a conspiracy and we should be crowned ’king of the footballing world’..
Wise up.
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Whilst I personally don’t think it’s a conspiracy, a 5.30 kick off will be hard enough for people living in the city to get to, let alone those of us who don’t live in Liverpool.
It’s not so much kicking ourselves in the nuts as UEFA doing the kicking.
Explain to me why I have to take a day off to go to a fucking home match because the Fucking Redshite have come into a competition they don’t want to be in? Fuck them, Boycott it.
Of course there’s a undercurrent of sleaze and wink-wink at Uefa headquarters. Yes, the Sshite do get preferential treatment because they're a bigger club... The dog on the street knows it.
http://www.sporting.pt/Info/Futebol/Liga/futebol_liga_classificacao.asp
I’d love to get through this and Atletico. Lisbon and Madrid, that’s not a bad touring itinerary.
The same thing will happen if both teams qualify for the last 16, as both teams were the 2nd set of matches to be drawn out for that draw — hence presumably both due to play their 2nd legs at home on the same night. I guess the fairest thing then would be if Liverpool volunteered to play their glast 16 game on the Tuesday. All if and buts I suppose. Just have to stay cool and use it as additional motivation.
Maybe I was a bit knee jerk in saying boycott the game but Uefa do enjoy fucking us over and I am sick of it. We definitely need to make some sort of gesture. When has European football ever been played at 5:45 in this country?
Now, surely they have helped us out there, because it meant we could rest the 1st team for Sunday? It just gets a little boring, all this ’The world is against us’ shite.
I agree it’s a silly kick-off time at 5:45 (only done to avoid the Champions League matches 2 hours later and maximise Tv money for Uefa - and us) and I don’t know anything about your job, but could you....
Take a day’s holiday?
Talk to your boss, leave early and either start earlier or make up the time another day?
Buy a helicopter???
There is one good thing, mate. At least it won’t disrupt our game at the weekend afterwards and give us time to prepare for that one.
5:45 Tuesday — spot on for me!
I find not playing all league games at Sat 3 pm a lot more annoying than leaving work early or taking a day off for a European game.
B) My boss hates football and couldn’t give a shit if I don’t go
C) Have you seen the price of helicopters.
D) Where do you work Peter in the Park End Car park
If your Boss has a brain (don’t answer that one!) he or she would see an opportunity to do you a favour and gain some loyalty and respect from an employee, ie you.
Of course, if you always shoot from the hip about everything you don’t like, then maybe they couldn’t give a toss.
Like I say, I don’t know your job, your boss or you, but it’s just a thought.
(a) Because you have to as otherwise you can’t get to the match
(b) Noted
(c) Yes - £129 for pilot plus 1 at my place - v. reasonable
(d) I work for Fast Helicopters
Karl why should he use his holidays up? The Kopites wont have to. Even if this was resolved by a primitive toss of a coin at least Kevin wont be left feeling like a second-class citizen.
Everton get treated like this because they fucken accept it.
I have no idea of the working hours or statutory holidays in Norway,but they will all get there whatever time.
If Everton do not get to play at 8 pm for the next round then I would fully back the club withdrawing from the competion on a matter of principal and seeing as this club has abandoned all its principles this will never happen.
or am I being too sensible ?
How are they gonna block Priory off as usual? What about all the people arriving home in their cars to the streets around the ground that are blocked off as usual on a match day.
It’s not gonna happen. This kick-off is gonna be moved.
I think Everton have played it well today by exposing this.
When the fixtures are published every June for the fllowing season we all know some dates will get moved. For most of us, if we want to attend, those changes may either make it impossible or mean we have to take a bit of holiday etc. If you fancy a trip to Lisbon you will have to make arrangements etc.
This is no different. Stop bleating about LFC, it’s boring and makes us seem small-time and paranoid.
It means diffrent things to different people. Kev finds it is less likely he will attend. Personally, as I don’t live in Liverpool, any evening game means a day off work and what puts me off is getting home at silly o’clock in the morning and having to get up at 6am and go to work the next day. A couple of hours extra in bed seems good to me, but that’s just my perspective, and as I say above, it’s better for the Team to be playing on a Tuesday than a Thursday to avoid disruption of the following weekend’s fixture.
There’s more than one way of looking at anything. You can either be half full or half empty. Anyway, as Greg says it will probably get overruled by the Police, and if not, we have 2 months to get used to the idea and make arrangements.
Kevin Jones is right, can you imagine Spurs supporters accepting this if Arsenal were in it? Imagine trying to tell Sellic that because Rangers fucked up in the CL, they would have to kick off at a time guaranteed to have a detrimental effect on their attendance?
You say you don't live in the City, but Kevin does... and he is likely to work with Kopite colleagues who will not be inconvenienced at all. It's not about paranoia, it's about fairness of rules.
Nobody else in Europe would even notice if Everton's Kick off time was put back to 6:45 — except the thousands of people who would then be able to attend — It would be the fair and sensible thing to do.
As long as you are prepared to accept second-class status, I’m afraid we will always be treated like a second-class club.
If they are playing by the rules, what’s the problem?
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1 Posted 18/12/2009 at 06:28:30
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If this effects our revenue from ticket sales we have a right to be very cheesed off with UEFA.