Watford game moved to Friday 12 May

So when is their game against Chelsea being played? And will an extra 20 hours make any difference to either team's chances?

Oh, the joys of being an exiled Evertonian... (good job I hadn't already booked my train ticket)

Looking on the bright side of things. Goodison under the lights!

5-0 Everton. Rom hat trick, Davies & Mirallas.

Alas, the man who pays the modern day 'footballing piper' not only calls the tune, but when it is played too.

I'm sorry, EFC but you have been bullied into this decision; thousands of fans always have a couple of pints on the last game, Friday night ruins that experience.

Five of my other mates today putting their season tickets on StubHub too as they are at a pre-arranged Chester Races meeting which is also on that day.

We all move our lives around weekend games and Saturday/Sunday is achievable but Friday night just doesn't fit at all, it's not even on TV.

We have all been inconvenienced so Chelsea can be on TV on Monday, how is that acceptable for EFC & Watford fans? If the game was on TV I would get that as they pay the money but it isn't.

We've been well and truly stuffed this year with Friday night games.

Money talks, but it doesn't have to do much travelling to get the football, so it's time the fans in this country really united to show both the football clubs and the television companies what the late great Jock Stein said about the crowd is so true!

Then they get to play Chelsea on the Monday.

When you sup with the devil .

I had accommodation arranged for the Saturday night. Now that's fucked and we won't be coming. Sorry, sons, but no-one gives a fuck about the fans.

It stinks and will carry on stinking while the TV money rules the game. It is easy for me, I live five minutes from the ground. I'm thinking of the many fans who come from all over the place. Everton should be thinking about them as well, not only thinking but paying compensation.

This happens every season several times and this time Sky are shouting about 17(?) premier league games in ten days or some such bollocks in their battle with BT.

I think I read that viewing figures are dropping this season on Sky, so maybe it's peaked. We'll see in due course I guess.

Whatever, they and Watford should jointly and publicly invite Sky to fully compensate any fan (eg, Frank #6, Alan #9) who can show that he/she is out of pocket as a result of this decision.

This is not on the television so I don't know why Sky are allowed to call the shots because of the Chelsea v Watford game. So as far as I can see, Everton are in their rights to say No and stick with the normal Saturday kick-off.

As many have said, people bought tickets for this game because it was on a Saturday; now, many will not be able to attend...who compensates them???

In the end, the Premier League has the final say in when a fixture is played. A club cannot refuse to play a fixture.

I'm not sure how the contract between Sky and the Premier League works in terms of scheduling but you can bet for £4 billion they get quite a say.

He who pays the piper...

I then booked my flights after the Anfield debacle even though I was well pissed off with Everton and now my flights are worthless. I will be very disappointed if I find out Everton could have refused to change the date.

Obviously Sky are trying to orchestrate the fixtures for that week with a game virtually every day, so even though it looks like the title may be over they are hoping the top 4 places aren't settled by then.

I would like to hear Everton's version on why they have moved this fixture forward.

Again, there isn't an Everton version. They don't get to decide when a game is played. They could make representations but ultimately it's the Premier League's call.

I fully understand that we have to abide by what the Premier League say. But why have they asked for it to be moved? And I ask again: Why couldn't it have been moved to a 12:30 kick off on Saturday?

I mean, this same Premier League made Leicester play us on a Sunday afternoon a couple of days before playing Athletico Madrid in midweek.

Now I could well understand if they had moved that game to a Friday, so again I ask: What was the reason for moving this game? I think as paying customers, we do deserve an explanation.

It's a disgrace as always. I'm hoping we will lose this 'small club' mentality at some point. It's about time we stood up and said No to Sky and everyone else.

Football is about the fans. Without the fans' support, there would be no money, no Sky Sports etc. Stuff the lot of them.

Now how many of their games have been suddenly moved to a Friday?

Same goes for Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal? Does the league accommodate them due to the influx of transients? Should be rhetorical I know.

I know we have some loyal travelling fans who travel almost every home game. The numbers in comparison just don't give us leverage with the Premier League. In short, we've been rubber-dicked.

There is no small club mentality. We cannot refuse to play a fixture.

In the end it's not just football fans paying for football, in fact over 1m watch every televised game in the UK and as many as 100m may watch worldwide. That's where the the 80 odd million comes from that funds the club.

You might not like that but it's the reality of the current football business model and no amount of stamping your feet changes that.

I suspect the moving of the fixture is related to the televising of the rearranged Chelsea-Watford game to the Monday.

Only giving Watford one day to recover versus Chelsea's two could be seen as giving Chelsea an unfair advantage when potentially it could be a title decider.

All Chelsea's games in May will be televised on the basis Sky would not allow a title winning game to be televised.

It will all be down to maximising TV audiences which is unfortunately what we are signed up to by taking 80+ million a year TV revenue.

It wouldn't make a bit of difference if you played their games at 3am. The motorways would still be full. You try getting off at the Rocket on the M62 any time 3 or 4 hours before kick-off.

We play a little game when we're stuck in traffic, winding the windows down and get chatting as if we're going the game. We've had them from as far as Devon for midday kick-offs, been on the road since 5 am.

A middle-aged couple both with their bellies bursting out of team shirts, sitting with packed lunches on their knees. Other assorted loons, from the length and breadth of the country, fill the queues of traffic on a regular basis.

The hotel in Yorkshire was very nice and I caught the second half on TV.

I just don't see the point of Friday games as it's the busiest and, if using public transport, the most expensive day to travel. Getting up the M6 on a Friday is never an easy trip at it's best.

The answer would be for the Premier League to set out dates when they would confirm all fixtures and kick-off times for a period of games, say, six weeks ahead.

Travelling fans could then choose to gamble on no change before the announcement or wait until afterwards potentially facing more expensive travel costs. This isn't ideal but it it does give certainty, the lack of which pisses everyone off.

I can't see a way of avoiding clashes with other arrangements for celebrations, etc done months ahead sadly.

If this is a goer, is there a national forum to push it? For £80 mill, we are stuck with TV calling the shots.

I'm not going to name who sent me it as they were very kind enough to reply to me personally, of which I'm grateful. I've cancelled my hotel and sold my tickets on StubHub in 40 minutes!! No cash lost... just a lads' weekend, which is priceless.

My parting shot to the club was: “How far does football need to pull itself away from the fans before it realises what it had?”

I appreciate it's not great for anyone travelling who has already got a ticket. We've seen various fan clubs getting together to get the 㿀 is plenty agreement. It would be good if dates of games could not be moved once we are within 4 weeks of the kick off. Maybe the fan clubs could campaign for that?

I find it both insulting and astonishing that since away fans now only have to pay 㿊 for a ticket that some clubs have actually reduced away allocations, the very same clubs that receive 㿼 million each off sky.

I certainly agree, match going fans are pretty low in the pecking order.

The problem is of course attendances are at an all time high. The other lot showed, however, that fans can still have a voice when they got their club to U-turn on price increases.

To be fair to our club, they have taken quite a proactive approach to reducing the cost of tickets in the last few years, which probably explains why we now sell out every week.

Liverpool's owners said they won't do the Anfield Road, because if the fans are not prepared to pay the money, then its not really financially viable?

This concerns me because they don't seem to have a longer term vision, and they may end up selling the club too soon!

Why does the prospect of LFC's owners selling the club soon concern you? Or have I misinterpreted what you said?

Cheers,

James.

ust tweeted the club, expressing my views. A disgrace.

They seem to think that everyone can drop plans at a moments notice just to satisfy Sky, the Premier League and Everton caving in to demands.

Fucking last home game of the season and I can't go. Friday night... my arse – for the last home game of the season!

Maybe this might change now that the new stand is up and running, but I thought they should have spent a bit of money after Xmas, when they were still in with a chance of the title, and I'm hoping this prudence, can keep their-trophy-room empty for years to come, whilst "Moshiri's millions" can finally re-open our own!

Nevertheless, I'd be interested to hear what Graham makes of the apology Alan @ 32 got from the club.