Winter fixture pile-up a nightmare, say fans

FANS of Premier League clubs have expressed concern at the scheduling of next season’s fixtures.

A group backed by the Football Supporters’ Federation say the Premier League are making it increasingly difficult for fans to attend away matches.

The group — made up of representatives from supporters’ trusts — have pointed to the run of 10 fixtures, for each club, which have been arranged between November 25 and January 1, up three matches compared to two seasons ago.

They said: ‘Over this period, where family commitments and money are at a premium, supporters face two league games a week for five weeks. Little or no effort has been made by the Premier League to try to minimise away travel.

‘Newcastle supporters travelling to all five games will face three trips to London in that time, and travel a total of 2,484 miles. Some supporters will have to make hard choices with regards to match attendance.’

They also criticised the timing of the announcement for TV fixtures, due on July 10. This, however, only includes August and September and an announcement for fixtures running into October will be made on August 11, the day before the season starts.

‘ Earlier announcement of these would enable matchgoing supporters to take advantage of cheaper train fares,’ they added.

The group are also unhappy with the selection of midweek matches. They said: ‘As an example, Burnley supporters travelling to Bournemouth face a return trip of 570 miles on a Tuesday night.’