00:00 Prior to their Premier League match against Luton Town, Newcastle United fan group War
00:05 Flags displayed their objection to altered Newcastle United kick-off times as a result
00:12 of TV coverage, which impacts travelling supporters.
00:16 Just 48 hours later, the club confirmed that two further matches had had their kick-off
00:22 times changed, including moving a trip to Chelsea in London to 8pm on a Monday night.
00:29 War Flags responded with a statement as a follow-up to their display condemning this
00:34 latest move.
00:37 Given Newcastle's distance from other cities in the country and the renowned, passionate
00:42 following of United, many supporters have argued that they are being taken for granted
00:48 and their concerns simply ignored by the Premier League and the broadcasting companies who
00:54 show the matches on TV.
00:57 The display was also supported by the Football Supporters Association, who on X described
01:02 it as great and added that the kick-off times faced by Newcastle supporters this season
01:07 were "shocking".
01:09 Whilst these specific matches may be an issue only involving Newcastle United and its supporters,
01:16 it opens up a wider debate about the treatment of football fans, in particular those who
01:21 travel to away matches to support their teams.
01:25 Other Premier League clubs have also faced kick-off times that have been changed to less
01:30 suitable hours on less suitable days for their travelling fans because their games have been
01:36 selected for live TV broadcast.
01:39 Many have called for an end to this or at least more transparency regarding changes
01:44 so that fans have time to plan ahead, with some games being moved with very little time
01:49 for supporters to adapt.
01:51 The issue is that the Premier League has large revenue streams coming from selling coverage
01:57 of its matches to big TV companies and are therefore at the mercy of their decisions
02:02 about which games to show and when to broadcast them.
02:07 Fans are then often drawn the short straw as they have no say in when the games will
02:12 be played.
02:14 It is also important to note that we are living in a time with more football being played
02:19 than ever before, with several teams contesting up to four competitions in a season, meaning
02:25 games come thick and fast, with at least one and sometimes two a week for some clubs.
02:31 This all creates expense for the fans who attend the matches in terms of ticket prices,
02:36 travel and if necessary accommodation, with no transport running after a certain hour.
02:42 It was clear to see how much supporters impact the look and feel of football when they were
02:48 absent during the games played during Covid times.
02:52 They also say that football without fans is nothing but in this climate, is it time to
02:57 consider whether that is a fair judgement of the nation's most popular sport?
03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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