http://www.theguardian.com/football/...P=share_btn_tw

The Europa League last-16, second leg tie between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on 17 March has been moved back to 8.05pm.

The match was originally scheduled to start at 6pm but Trafford council asked Uefa to delay kick-off by just over two hours on safety grounds. The fixture falls on St Patrick’s Day and the local authority’s safety advisory group were concerned that the required number of security, stewarding and medical staff could be on hand at the earlier time.

United also backed the later start time and Uefa has now agreed to the change.

The first leg at Anfield on 10 March will also start at 8.05pm in what is the first European meeting between England’s two most successful clubs.

So has an 8.05pm game been moved to 6pm to maintain the balance?

Common sense prevails. BT wont be happy though.

No.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague...=10/index.html

There, despite the hysteria in this thread at the suggestion the game should be moved, moving it actually wasn't too difficult after all.


Of course they will, much better for them for the two biggest clubs in England to be played in peak time.

Well yes in that regard. It does mean a much smaller audience for the Spurs match now though.

There's a plus and a minus.

Obviously a big plus for Man U/Liv to be at 8.05pm.

But the big minus is that it now clashes with Spurs v Dortmund.

I think it's quite likely that the total combined rating (ie the sum of the two programme averages) will be lower this way.

We'll be able to do a comparison with the 1st legs. It may well be the case that the sum of the programme averages for the 1st legs (no clash) will exceed the sum of the programme averages for the 2nd legs (where there is a clash).

However it could be argued that even if the above is the case there is still an advantage for BT in terms of the "big impact" effect.

Ultimately movements in programme averages here and there don't really matter very much - BT Sport is about making an impact so that people think they want to get it (or to continue getting it).

And the next two Thursdays are going to be very "high impact" for BT.

We're Man United, we do what we want

Hmmm...

GMP didn't object.

Trafford Council did.

You still said the later KO wasn't going to happen. Hmmm...

I said it wasn't going to happen on the basis of an objection by GMP.

Nobody knew what Trafford Council's opinion was.

Jesuitical casuistry in play here.

What's the actual difference though?

If GMP's view didn't matter because the game could be played "behind closed doors", surely any Trafford Council concerns could be answered with the exact same response - the game being staged "behind closed doors".

You're not going to need an army of first aiders or stewards when you've just got the two teams and their staff, Uefa officials and a smattering of media and journalists... though perhaps you might need some police outside for public order should supporters try to gain entry anyway.

Let's not go through all this again, it all got very silly last week. The comments are still there to see how it escalated.
The game has been moved. End of story.

All of the Quarter Finals are being played at 2005
Home and away

They will just have to have 2 English clubs at same time if Spurs qualify

Delighted to see that common sense has prevailed!

Common sense has prevailed, like all sensible people knew it would, only 1 person on this thread thought otherwise, and he has rightly been ridiculed for his somewhat strange views.

You mean just for the sake of it??

Common Sense, but surely ooh it's St Patrick's Day, is a lame excuse, It's not like it is in Ireland.

And Surely people are likely to be celebrating once they get home had a shower and going for a meal.

And not 6pm.

At no point did I say UEFA would not move the game on the advice of Trafford Council. The discussion centred around Greater Manchester Police.

Some people are just going back and reading what they want to read.

It should be noted that even behind closed doors, a game requires sufficient first-aiders for the assembled media.

Mark when you are in a hole stop digging.

You were WRONG stop denying it and be a man and admit you were wrong.

I know for sure i am going to take any future posts from you with a pinch of salt and the contempt they deserve.

I wasn't "WRONG". There was no objection from Greater Manchester Police.


I'm utterly devastated.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz :yawn:

It's not just that it's Patrick's Day (which is actually celebrated over two weeks in Manchester emphasizing how important it is to the locals).

It's everything combined - much of which was listed in my previous post.

6pm is a ridiculous time for any high profile midweek game played anywhere in Britain, let alone a guaranteed sell-out at the nation's biggest ground; a match that also carries a high-risk of violence in and around the stadium at a time when a great number of the city's working population are making their way home from work.

It's a shame other clubs hadn't shown the same "arrogance" in the past and challenged UEFA on it.