By:
Graeme Hanna
Linfield fans have blasted the announcement of the new season’s first televised games by the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL), with three of the Blues’ opening four away games set to be switched for live coverage.
In total, six games between Matchday 1 and Matchday 7 have been selected for coverage by BBC Sport Northern Ireland. That has left plenty of fans disgruntled and not just at Linfield.
In the Irish League, the traditional Saturday 3 pm kick-off is revered. It is when the majority of fans want to go and watch their team and it tends to be the driver of the biggest away supports, compared to midweek games, or those that are switched for TV. In a semi-professional league like the NIFL Premiership, the presence and loyalty of match-going fans are an imperative, with balance required on rescheduled games.
The Friday night slot is not totally unpopular, far from it. One issue that Linfield supporters have is the frequency of their games that are moved and that pattern has continued this season.
If we look at the list of teams impacted by the number of games selected for live coverage, it goes as follows:
Linfield – 3
Coleraine – 2
Larne – 2
Bangor – 1
Cliftonville – 2
Ballymena United – 1
Glentoran – 1
Another issue with the published list is that the games might need to be rescheduled once again if any NIFL clubs go on to qualify for the Europa Conference League group stage, as was the case with Larne in the last campaign.
Televised games should only be confirmed once everything else is in place, but that has not happened here and it is not a good look for the league’s governing body.
If Linfield, Larne, or Dungannon Swifts go on to secure group stage football, the matter will be taken out of all local hands, with the corresponding domestic games to be played on a Sunday.
https://twitter.com/OfficialNIFL/status/1949802024993759511
Linfield fans’ backlash over televised games
It wasn’t long after the update was published that supporters voiced their opinion.
In response to the official announcement on NIFL’s X account, one Linfield supporter stated, “Since the start of last season, only four Linfield away fixtures have been at 3pm on a Saturday. NIFL massively take advantage of the Blues massive away following as they know regardless of kick off we will still be there!
Another said, “Absolute joke. They wonder why attendances are dropping when they make you buy a season ticket, expecting Saturday 3pm to then get shafted with that (Friday games).”
A neutral fan also observed, “I don’t see how these games can be confirmed while clubs are still playing in European competitions. This shows how much confidence NIFL has in Irish League clubs by scheduling live televised games which will have to be postponed if Larne and Linfield progress on Thursday night.”
That last point is very difficult to refute.
Image credit: NIFL/X
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