just what ive been saying..
Are Sky killing the beautiful game?Jan 12 2007
By Jimmy Pilnick, Liverpool supporter
ISN'T it ironic that in the week "Reclaim the Kop" was launched, the single biggest factor responsible for taking the game away from the fans has reared its ugly head yet again, namely Sky TV? Those ever-so-kind TV schedulers have just announced that our games against the Mancs and Arsenal are the latest in a long line of fixtures to be moved to 12:45.
Everything Sky bring to the game makes me feel queasy, from Richard Keys constantly referring to the Premiership as "the best league in the world" as Watford and Sheffield United bore us senseless, the over-hyping of games to American Wrestling-style proportions, presenters saying a game is sold out when the viewer can see rows and rows of empty seats, their insistence in using "Premiership Records" as if the previous 100 plus years of football didn’t happen, and the whole "Soccer AM culture" which has infested almost every ground in the country
What really gets my back up more than all of that, though, is the amount of our games that have started early this season. Trips to Sheffield United, Everton, Chelsea, Bolton, Man Utd, Charlton and Watford have all been "Skyjacked", as have home games against West Ham, Spurs, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Man Utd and Arsenal. That’s fourteen games in total, OVER A THIRD OF OUR SEASON, and I’m sure there are more to come! In contrast, under half of our league games have kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday. We didn’t kick off at the traditional time until October while, unbelievably, we had to wait until December for an away game to start at 3pm on a Saturday.
I don’t know a single person who likes 12:45 kick offs. For home games, luckily for local fans like myself it merely means having your pre-match pint at breakfast time! For away games, or for Reds who have to travel a fair distance to get to Anfield, it means getting up and travelling at ridiculous hours of the morning. To make fans travel to Norwich and Southampton, as was the case two seasons ago, is the ultimate abuse of loyalty. 12:45 games are generally poor and lacking in atmosphere, although funnily enough the Sky presenter is usually quick to point out the lack of atmosphere without the tiniest shred of irony. The players hate them, the fans hate them, Rafa Benitez has publicly admitted he doesn’t like games kicking off early as it throws his preparation into chaos, yet what are Liverpool FC doing to prevent this?
A few years ago, our loveable rivals from the other end of the East Lancs found themselves in a similar predicament. Their fans and Ferguson kicked up a fuss, and now they hardly have any early kick offs. Do Liverpool even raise an objection to all of these games being switched, or are we happy to take the TV money and ask no questions?
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One thing is for sure, unless the club does do something about it, the ridiculous amount of 12:45 games will continue. Liverpool will attract more TV viewers than the vast majority of clubs, so in today’s age it’s inevitable our games will be shown live. All I ask for is a bit of fairness. Saturday at 5:15 or Sunday at 4pm are much more preferable TV slots, but why are Liverpool hardly ever on at those times? It’s ludicrously unfair to single one team out for a shed-load of early kick-offs. I read somewhere that the team with the second-most 12:45 starts this season have played FOUR TIMES at that unearthly hour, half the number of the number of times The Reds have done so up to now!
It’s grossly unfair that over a third of our games have been moved to early kick offs, including our four biggest home games and even our match on new years day. Fans’ patience is wearing increasingly thin. I hate saying this, but I wanted to see 10,000 empty seats at Anfield on New Year’s Day. Maybe then, the message would have got through to those who schedule these ridiculous kick off times, and those who readily accept it. The trouble with Liverpool is that if 10,000 people stopped going the match, another 10,000 would take their place. Those who run football think that no matter what ludicrous scheme they throw at the fans next, we’ll keep coming back for more. But it won’t last forever.
The club has shown its willingness to listen to the fans via its involvement with the "Reclaim the Kop" campaign. Whether they are merely paying lip-service, only time will tell. One way to prove they aren’t doing so would be to say "no" the next time Sky ask to switch one of our games to 12:45. The fans, the players and Rafa Benitez don’t want them. It’s about time we were granted our wish
Are Sky killing the beautiful game?Jan 12 2007
By Jimmy Pilnick, Liverpool supporter
ISN'T it ironic that in the week "Reclaim the Kop" was launched, the single biggest factor responsible for taking the game away from the fans has reared its ugly head yet again, namely Sky TV? Those ever-so-kind TV schedulers have just announced that our games against the Mancs and Arsenal are the latest in a long line of fixtures to be moved to 12:45.
Everything Sky bring to the game makes me feel queasy, from Richard Keys constantly referring to the Premiership as "the best league in the world" as Watford and Sheffield United bore us senseless, the over-hyping of games to American Wrestling-style proportions, presenters saying a game is sold out when the viewer can see rows and rows of empty seats, their insistence in using "Premiership Records" as if the previous 100 plus years of football didn’t happen, and the whole "Soccer AM culture" which has infested almost every ground in the country
What really gets my back up more than all of that, though, is the amount of our games that have started early this season. Trips to Sheffield United, Everton, Chelsea, Bolton, Man Utd, Charlton and Watford have all been "Skyjacked", as have home games against West Ham, Spurs, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Man Utd and Arsenal. That’s fourteen games in total, OVER A THIRD OF OUR SEASON, and I’m sure there are more to come! In contrast, under half of our league games have kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday. We didn’t kick off at the traditional time until October while, unbelievably, we had to wait until December for an away game to start at 3pm on a Saturday.
I don’t know a single person who likes 12:45 kick offs. For home games, luckily for local fans like myself it merely means having your pre-match pint at breakfast time! For away games, or for Reds who have to travel a fair distance to get to Anfield, it means getting up and travelling at ridiculous hours of the morning. To make fans travel to Norwich and Southampton, as was the case two seasons ago, is the ultimate abuse of loyalty. 12:45 games are generally poor and lacking in atmosphere, although funnily enough the Sky presenter is usually quick to point out the lack of atmosphere without the tiniest shred of irony. The players hate them, the fans hate them, Rafa Benitez has publicly admitted he doesn’t like games kicking off early as it throws his preparation into chaos, yet what are Liverpool FC doing to prevent this?
A few years ago, our loveable rivals from the other end of the East Lancs found themselves in a similar predicament. Their fans and Ferguson kicked up a fuss, and now they hardly have any early kick offs. Do Liverpool even raise an objection to all of these games being switched, or are we happy to take the TV money and ask no questions?
Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT
One thing is for sure, unless the club does do something about it, the ridiculous amount of 12:45 games will continue. Liverpool will attract more TV viewers than the vast majority of clubs, so in today’s age it’s inevitable our games will be shown live. All I ask for is a bit of fairness. Saturday at 5:15 or Sunday at 4pm are much more preferable TV slots, but why are Liverpool hardly ever on at those times? It’s ludicrously unfair to single one team out for a shed-load of early kick-offs. I read somewhere that the team with the second-most 12:45 starts this season have played FOUR TIMES at that unearthly hour, half the number of the number of times The Reds have done so up to now!
It’s grossly unfair that over a third of our games have been moved to early kick offs, including our four biggest home games and even our match on new years day. Fans’ patience is wearing increasingly thin. I hate saying this, but I wanted to see 10,000 empty seats at Anfield on New Year’s Day. Maybe then, the message would have got through to those who schedule these ridiculous kick off times, and those who readily accept it. The trouble with Liverpool is that if 10,000 people stopped going the match, another 10,000 would take their place. Those who run football think that no matter what ludicrous scheme they throw at the fans next, we’ll keep coming back for more. But it won’t last forever.
The club has shown its willingness to listen to the fans via its involvement with the "Reclaim the Kop" campaign. Whether they are merely paying lip-service, only time will tell. One way to prove they aren’t doing so would be to say "no" the next time Sky ask to switch one of our games to 12:45. The fans, the players and Rafa Benitez don’t want them. It’s about time we were granted our wish
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