The reasons for Tottenham's Premier League clash away at Southampton kicking off at the unusual time of 7pm this evening have been revealed.
It’s no surprise that Spurs are playing on Sunday as this has been the case all season, particularly after Ange Postecoglou’s side have been in Europa League action on the Thursday prior.
Though, usually the north London outfit are in either the 2pm or 4/4.30pm time slot whether or not they’ve been selected for live TV coverage.
Now, as Southampton vs Tottenham was selected for live broadcast by TNT Sports, it was originally scheduled for a 12.30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday, December 14 because Premier League games broadcast by the channel are usually scheduled for that timeslot.
However, the fixture had to be moved due to Spurs’ European commitments as they’ve been afforded extra recovery time.
Furthermore, the game can’t directly overlap with Sky Sports’ Sunday slots which is filled by Brighton vs Crystal Palace at 2pm, followed by the Manchester derby at 4:30pm and a midday kick-off wasn’t viable due to Spurs’ tight European schedule as they faced Rangers in Glasgow on Thursday night.
As a result, the Sunday 7pm slot is the only one available in order to avoid televised clashes with Sky Sports’ live offerings.
An unusual kick-off time and one that has been heavily criticised by The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA).
“The Sunday evening kick-off slot is really unpopular with match-goers as public transport options are limited and it’s no good for families with young kids,’ a spokesperson for the FSA said in a statement to the Times.
“When the general slot was announced the Premier League told us it was a ‘contingency’ — but it seems to be getting used an awful lot for such a provision.
“A big part of the problem is allowing broadcasters to choose ‘conditional’ picks which are then moved when a team progresses in Europe.
“The Premier League puts broadcasters first by allowing them to select such games knowing full well conditional picks are very likely to be rescheduled again.”