Brentford’s last away game of the season, away to Hartlepool on Sat 20th April, is now live on Sky – KO 5.20pm. Good news for the clubs who will share the TV money. Bad news for the loyal fans who forked out in advance for train tickets to ensure they supported the team – many of whom now find themselves booked on a train back to London (or wherever .. rumour has it a load are coming down crom Scotland again for this game) which leaves before half time. Being the last away game of the season, many folk booked the Friday off for a pre-match night in the North East. Looks like they will be heading back home after spending hundreds of pounds without even watching a ball kicked.
It’s not the first time this season satellite TV has spoiled the party. A club like ours can’t scoff at the extra cash but the Chelsea double early kick offs due to TV were particularly annoying for fans who had to get up extra-early and be creative in finding meeting places to drum up a decent pre-match atmosphere. Coupled with the fact that fans bought tickets to Crewe, which had to be binned due to the Chelsea replay, and also are waiting with baited breath to see if their Coventry tickets are valid while it is decided whether Coventry will still be playing at The Ricoh arena next week.
Lovely… we’re going to be on TV, but this will only deter more Bees from travelling if this is a crucial game (as they can now see it on the TV) and also leaves a few hundred fans out of pocket.
In response to being asked if both clubs were in conversation about the potential match switch, Hartlepool replied on twitter “@Official_HUFC: @Beesotted Yes, it was discussed and agreed by both clubs. We understand the issues though but KO time was non-negotiable.” – In other words “we knew folk would be upset but we took the money”. Why Brentford would agree to having a match switched with minimal TV income at the expense of upsetting fans who had booked up for this game months in advance is beyond me.
The club have no obligation to compensate fans who may suffer from this time change. However one would hope, with the prospect of over ÂŁ10k I would suspect in additional un-budgeted cash coming in, they might consider throwing a few hundred pounds towards the fans who booked early to assist them in changing their trains for a later one.
Cheers sky!!!!
Pps. After writing this, I discovered the first train back after kick off leaves at 8.15pm and gets in at 10am the next morning with two changes and costs ÂŁ120 one way
BillytheBee
@billythebee99