The Premier League fixtures were released last - but they will be subject to change with Sky Sports demands (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
The Premier League fixtures were released last - but they will be subject to change with Sky Sports demands (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
In the end it’s not that far removed from Terry Jones classic line in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, “He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a naughty boy.”, in that what the EPL released to the nation last week, “It’s not a fixture list any more its merely a guideline.”
So, starting on Saturday 16th August with the visit of Fulham, Brighton will play 38 League fixtures ending in, the arrival of Manchester United at the Amex on Sunday 24th May 2026.
The words ‘subject to change’, loom large. Sky Sports are telling anyone who wants to know that last year’s roster of 128 live EPL games on their specific platforms will now rise to at least 215 games., and that’s without factoring in both Amazon Prime’s picks and that of TNT Sport.
In short there will be more live topflight games televised next season than ever before, and who basically gets the rough end of the deal, all 38 club’s legions of season ticket holders and general fans.
I first had a season ticket at Goldstone in the late 1980’s, back then Brighton played their Saturday home games at 3pm and their midweek fixtures were either on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, kicking off at 7.45 pm.
Then in 1992, top level domestic football rebooted, seduced by Rupert Murdoch’s millions, clubs and fans now constantly dance to the TV paymasters’ tune.
Don’t get me wrong, I learnt a long time ago, not just in life but predominantly in football, if you dance with the Devil you’re going to get pricked up the backside by his horns, every club has benefitted from the financial explosion in football, but to reiterate it does come at a cost to the rank and file fans.
Last week’s fixture list apparently told us that Brighton will kick off at 3pm on a Saturday 33 times, home and away, midweek, four times, and then 4pm on the final Sunday of the season, but there’s more chance of Donald Trump being made a freeman of Tehran than that actually happening.
I get it that in the past, especially since we joined the ‘top table’ in 2017, we’ve had fixtures amendments, but this new TV deal means its probably going to be the worse it’s ever been.
Take Boxing Day for example, according to last week’s information no games, believe that you’ll believe anything, with a planned full EPL programme on Saturday 27th, there was speculation in the media, that at least four games would be switched for Live TV on Boxing day, kicking off at 12noon, 2.30pm, 5pm and 8pm.
As always, no trains on a Boxing Day, so what about the respective four sets of away fans on that day, a good chance one of them will be the Albion at Arsenal, how are they going to get to and from the game, especially if we are either of the late ones?
Cliche alert - it is what it is – and where would the clubs be without the TV money? But then again where would the clubs, and football as a whole, be without their rank and file, and very loyal fanbase?
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