soccer

A goodbye to blackout games for the forseeable

[BBC]
Brentford players in a huddle
[Getty Images]

The disappointing defeat by Brighton was also possibly our last Saturday 3pm home kick-off of the season.

After this Saturday's fixture at Burnley, our four games in March are all at night.

We have two scheduled home league matches in April - against Everton and Fulham - both of which could move for TV - and then our final two home fixtures in May, West Ham, another which might get switched, and Crystal Palace, which is already on a Sunday.

The constant changing of fixtures - while an accepted downside of being in the Premier League - makes it harder for many people to get to games.

Those who live a distance from the Gtech, people with school-age children and others with different commitments end up missing matches which they would have been at otherwise.

I know we are not the only fans in this position, and I still enjoy being in the Premier League, but it changes the whole football-watching experience.

The Brighton game was only our fourth 3pm Saturday home match of the season out of 14 and it felt like a case of the old cliche of "after the Lord Mayor's show".

After our brilliant run of seven points from the games against Aston Villa,Newcastle and Arsenal - maybe it was inevitable that we would come a cropper against Brighton.

To be fair, they were sharper than us throughout and took their chances when they came. Despite a better second half, we were definitely not at our best.

The other worrying thing was seeing Aaron Hickey limping off after being the victim of a bad tackle. Given his injury record, and especially with the World Cup coming up, let's hope he isn't badly hurt.

At least we saw a Premier League record set, with James Milner becoming the competition's highest appearance-maker - something to remember the day by.

Find more from Ian Westbrook at Beesotted podcast

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