The Premier League’s Richard Scudamore confirmed on Tuesday 10 October there will be no 4pm kick-off on Christmas Eve. It’s a decision welcomed by Spirit of Shankly, other supporter trusts and fans, and a decision we believe was reached as a result of coordinated pressure from supporters groups.
Football supporters know all too well the impact that changes to the fixture schedule can have. Plans are rearranged and often expense incurred when a match is moved to accommodate cup football or TV scheduling. We have very little, if any, say, despite being the most put on stakeholders in the game.
Spirit Of Shankly have been made aware that Liverpool’s away fixture against Arsenal, scheduled for 23 December, is being considered for a move to Christmas Eve.
Early in the summer, Spirit of Shankly linked up with Supporters Trusts of other English football clubs competing in Europe this season. We each wrote to our respective club asking them to work with UEFA and the FCO to assist supporters travelling to countries that require a visa for entry. We hoped a collective voice would have a bigger impact.
Following Spirit of Shankly’s consultations and discussions on rail seating, members and supporters have been voting for the past week. They were asked whether they are in favour, against or undecided on the introduction of rail-seating areas in football grounds.
The new season is almost upon us and for those in European competitions, supporters will be looking at their potential opponents. Not just to weigh up the opposition, but also to work out any potential and no doubt costly travel arrangements.
We will host a final public meeting ahead of a vote to decide our position on rail seating, taking place on Saturday 22nd July in The Liner Hotel, Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool, L3 5QB.
Earlier this year we published an updated timetable for making a decision on our position on rail seating. Unfortunately this was delayed, due to securing a venue and speakers for the meeting. However we are pleased to announce confirmed dates for upcoming meetings, so that we can move the debate forward and arrive at a decision.
Following Liverpool Football Club’s (LFC) announcement yesterday about their ‘new supporter liaison and engagement process’ - the result of an independent study undertaken by research company, Populus, Spirit of Shankly is releasing its own, separately commissioned report in order to help to inform the process.
In November of last year we published a timeline of our expected consultation to take place before we asked members to vote on our position on rail seating. Today we wanted to provide an update and a timeline for the coming weeks ahead of that vote and decision.
