Spirit of Shankly welcome today’s announcement that no football matches will take place on Christmas Eve. We would like to thank Sky, the Premier League, Liverpool FC and other clubs for listening to supporter concerns about scheduling fixtures on this day.

The dialogue we have had with LFC on this matter has been extensive. Both the manager and club, rightly, voiced their opposition to such a fixture on behalf of supporters and staff, and we would like to thank all the staff who have engaged with us.

There will, however, be problems for fans of both Liverpool and Arsenal with our game now scheduled to take place on the evening of Friday 22 December. We will seek further exchanges with the club about how they might best assist supporters, and will, of course, listen to our members and supporters on this issue.

This is a situation that could easily have been avoided. Including supporters in advance of any conversations or decisions on such fixture changes would have been advantageous. SOS wholly advocate supporter representation, and will continue to push for such in any future discussions.