Everton have been scheduled for another Monday night game – their seventh of the season – and now fans of the club are calling for greater protection.
The Everton Fan Advisory Board called for action on broadcasting after the Merseyside club has been on the wrong end of scheduling decisions which has given them more Monday night games than anyone else.
Everton’s newly opened Hill Dickinson Stadium has only seen three Saturday 3pm fixtures so far this season.
Everton Fan Advisory Board said: “The decision to move yet another home fixture to a Monday evening, the seventh such change this season, is yet another signal of the disregard football authorities and broadcasters have for football supporters.
“It has become a pattern that is placing unacceptable strain on supporters, forcing fans to absorb additional travel costs, rearrange work and family commitments, and navigate significant logistical challenges at short notice.”
The Premier League’s voluntary guidelines say a club should only be selected for Friday night or Monday night five times across a season. The EFC Fan Advisory Board say the breach of these guidelines are “materially damaging supporter accessibility, matchday experience and long-term engagement”.
They will now be raising it directly with broadcasters and the Premier League, as well as calling on Everton to advocate for supporters during scheduling discussions.
Monday Night Football 2025/26
MNF fixtures are known until Mon 4th May (GW35) and it’s a very uneven picture. #EFC and #MUFC a big draw for broadcasters but these unsocial slots cost travelling fans extra time off work etc.
We understood no club was meant to play more than 5… pic.twitter.com/g9wxtsT98K
— The FSA (@WeAreTheFSA) March 29, 2026
Reporting from Dale Johnson at BBC Sport shows that Everton aren’t the only team impacted: Manchester United have had eight games moved to Friday or Monday. Five have been at Old Trafford, more than a quarter of their home games.
Elsewhere, West Ham United are on seven and Leeds United are on six.
Lessons from Germany?
There are no Monday night kick-offs in Germany and to fans of English football who’ve been putting up with Monday night football for decades, this may seem absolutely remarkable.
Back in 2018, the Bundesliga executives proposed Monday night football as part of the league’s next broadcasting cycle and the backlash was ferocious to say the least.
Supporter groups across the Bundesliga organised demonstrations and protests against the proposals under the “Gegen Montagsspiele” banner culminating in boycotts which left stands such as Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall empty.
Those protests in Germany forced the Bundesliga to back down and Monday night games were excluded from the league’s TV deal that came in from the 2021-22 season.
Gegen Montagsspiele protests have continued in Germany, as the Monday night slot is still used for women’s games – something supporter groups are now targeting.
What does the FSA think?
Whenever the FSA has done straw polls on our social media account, Monday night kick-offs have always been the least-popular among matchgoing fans.
Supporters tell us Monday nights are uniquely inconvenient for the vast majority of matchgoing fans, particularly away fans.
In the latest TV package, more than half of the Premier League’s 380 games are moved from the traditional Saturday afternoon slot for TV broadcast.
Similarly, Sky Sports’ five-year deal with the EFL sees 138 games moved for broadcast, with the option to increase that to 158 in the final two years of the contract. Supporters of EFL clubs do benefit from more advanced warnings on fixture changes from the start of the season until the FA Cup 3rd Round.
However, this all adds up to a lot of inconvenience for fans trying to plan their travel to games – more time off work, bookings cancelled, deposits lost, and travel during unsociable hours.
Matchgoing fans clearly feel that TV has an undue influence over the fixture schedule, particularly as TV selections aren’t always released in a timely enough manner to allow fans to book cheaper travel and accommodation.
With clubs, the Premier League and broadcasters often passing the blame onto one another, the FSA has been pushing the powers-that-be for answers. Sadly, major decisions around TV picks still happen behind closed doors with little-to-no input from supporters.