Seven Monday night matches – Everton supporters angry and frustrated after being ‘disregarded’

Many Blues believe the needs of match-going supporters are being sacrificed to help the Premier League meet TV commitments

Large numbers of Everton supporters feel angry and frustrated at the number of games being moved to accommodate rival clubs and broadcasters.

The Blues’ upcoming game with Manchester City was moved to a Monday last week, making it the seventh Monday night match of the season for the club.

It is a pattern that has prompted outrage among fan organisations that believe match-going supporters are being treated with “disregard” as their needs are compromised, largely at the expense of commercial ties.

Everton’s Fan Advisory Board (FAB), in a letter written to the Premier League, said the club’s fixture schedule this season was “placing unacceptable strain on supporters”, adding the Monday fixtures in particular were “forcing fans to absorb additional travel costs, rearrange work and family commitments, and navigate significant logistical challenges at short notice”.

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Other supporter organisations have expressed similar frustration. The Everton Disabled Supporters’ Association (EDSA) told the ECHO that attending Monday night matches was more challenging for many of its members, while the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) backed the FAB’s position, writing: “Both the broadcasters and Premier League have questions to answer on this and we’ll be raising these TV/fixture issues at our upcoming supporter engagement meetings.”

Everton’s game with Man City will take the club to seven Monday night fixtures for the season to date. The Blues are not the only team to be hit by challenging scheduling though.

Manchester United have been committed to a similar number, the Red Devils having been rescheduled to fill Monday night slots on six occasions. Both games between Everton and Man Utd this season took place on a Monday. Man Utd have, in total, been required to play eight games in an anti-social slot when Friday night fixtures are added in. On that basis, West Ham United have had seven matches across either a Monday or Friday and Leeds United six.

While Everton are not the only club in this predicament, the disappointment felt by many is compounded by guidance, referred to by the FSA in the wake of the latest set of fixture changes, that implied no club would face more than five Friday/Monday games during this campaign. Everton have also had two matches with Arsenal moved at short notice in order to help the Gunners deal with their own scheduling pile-ups.

The Blues have, to an extent, been left vulnerable to Monday night matches by virtue of a perfect storm of issues largely outside their control. The Premier League declined to comment when approached by the ECHO but pointed to its own warnings ahead of the campaign that there would be more anti-social match timings and late changes to games.

This, it said, was due to the expanded European competitions impinging on its own calendar and that nine English clubs had qualified for them. The pool of teams available to fill the antisocial slots was therefore significantly reduced this season. Of them, Everton are one of the biggest and – now pushing for Europe themselves – have also been one of the more entertaining.

That should not mean the needs of Blues are sacrificed to meet extended broadcaster offerings though, argue several prominent voices. The FAB acknowledged Everton’s games were likely to be the subject of significant movement this season but has argued the demands placed on the club’s supporters has still been excessive.

The group’s letter continued: “We fully understand the commercial realities and importance of broadcasting revenues. However, the cumulative effect of these decisions is now materially damaging supporter accessibility, matchday experience, and long-term engagement.

“This is happening at a time when fans are already under financial pressure due to the wider cost of living and the club’s transition to a new stadium.”

The heightened accessibility difficulties of Monday night matches in comparison to weekend fixtures was also a key driver of the frustration at EDSA. The group’s chair, Mark Dyer, said it forced many of its members who require companions to attend games into having to find alternative support, which was not always possible.

He added: “We are very disappointed with another game being rescheduled for a Monday night. It makes it very difficult for our members to decide whether or not they can attend games. The volume of matches rescheduled since Christmas has been unbelievable. It is the fixture changes alongside matchday transportation and parking that is worrying our members the most. Disabled people are disproportionately affected by this.”

Both the FAB and EDSA have raised concerns with the club, though Everton’s ability to request changes to the schedule is understood to be limited, essentially reduced to pleas based on safety concerns or police advice.

The issues go beyond the experience of match-going supporters and extend to what happens on the pitch. Everton’s home form dipped over winter and while that coincided with a selection crisis, it was notable that across nine home league games from the start of November to the end of February, Everton won just two. They were the only two games in that run that started at 3pm on a Saturday.

Issues with the matchday experience came to the fore last weekend after Everton’s emphatic win over Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium. While that was a 5.30pm kick-off, its placement on a Saturday and with the build-up taking place in daylight helped to provide for a stunning atmosphere that proved crucial in a win that took Everton closer to qualifying for Europe. Given the success of English teams in the European tournaments, booking a place in those competitions may be Everton’s most effective route to avoiding Monday night games next season.

Blues boss David Moyes has previously told the ECHO that Monday night games do not have a significant impact on his matchday plans but he has long-stressed the importance of the supporters in driving his players and was exuberant in his praise of the fans against Chelsea, a rare opportunity to back his players at home and at a more favourable time on a Saturday.

More thought should be given to the people who make the Premier League such a desirable product to broadcast, believes former Everton defender Michael Ball. He told the ECHO: “We saw against Chelsea – before, during and after – what a lot of fans had been wanting for months and what it can mean for the matchday experience.

“Everton have only had three Saturday 3pm games this season and that is really disappointing. We know we are at the mercy of the TV companies but it really doesn’t sit right with me that we have had so many. There are positives – the games do generate more money for the club – but the Monday games make it tougher for families to go. As for the Man City game, it may be a bank holiday but it isn’t a bank holiday on the Tuesday morning when parents then have to get their children to school.”