Premier League festive fixtures to cause travel ‘chaos’ for football fans

Man City fans get into the Christmas spirit at the Etihad Stadium

(Image credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

published 25 October 2022

The dates, kick-off times and TV coverage for football’s festive season have been confirmed by the Premier League. England’s top-flight resumes on 26 December – just eight days after the Fifa World Cup final – following the unique mid-season winter break to allow for the tournament in Qatar.

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Football fans “reacted with fury” to yesterday’s “festive fixture farce” announcement, which came “13 days after they were due”, said Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail. Late kick-offs mean fans are set to face “long journeys at absurd times”. Arsenal and West Ham pulled the “Boxing Day short straw” after the clash was moved from 3pm to 8pm. It is “likely to be impacted” by public transport issues given it is a Bank Holiday.

The Football Supporters’ Association “raised the hoary old issue” of TV scheduling and the Premier League’s “almost total disregard for matchgoing fans”, said Barry Glendenning in The Guardian. Travelling supporters will make it “because they always do”, though some “might not make it back given the last trains home will have long gone”. It is no doubt on this “blind loyalty” that the Premier League and various TV networks count as they “dither over which matches to show and when”.

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Mike Starling is the former digital features editor at The Week. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.