Even the best of initiatives can be ruined when put in the hands of the SPFL.
Tonight, for the benefit of television cameras paying a pittance into the game, Hamilton Accies face Aberdeen in an exciting looking fixture- unless you happen to live in Aberdeen.
Does anyone in Neil Doncaster’s bunker know what time you have to leave Aberdeen at to reach Hamilton for a 7.45 kick off? To get through the rush hour traffic around Dundee or Perth, navigate through Cumbernauld and reach New Douglas Park?
The arrival of Friday night football has created a level of interest and excitement- if it’s properly scheduled. Kilmarnock v Celtic or Partick Thistle v St Mirren has extra local appeal on the Friday night slot.
For reasons best known to themselves, Doncaster and his team, who have been unable to get a sniff of a sponsor in 18 months presiding over a unified league, have put together a Friday night schedule of Kilmarnock v Dundee United, Hamilton v Aberdeen and Aberdeen v Motherwell.
The cynical might look upon that scheduling as an attempt to bring forward predictions of Armageddon.
Speaking up for his clubs’ supporters Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes said: “Friday night football has been good but it’s hard for the supporters. The league should maybe be looking to have teams closer to each other playing in these fixtures.
“They are exciting games and it has brought a freshness to the game, but the geography should be looked at more.
“We have a strong support in the central belt so we’ll have plenty of fans there but it will be hard for people in the north-east to get there on a Friday night.
“We won’t play a league match on a Saturday until 6 December now, so there’s a lot of disruption. The players adjust to it, but there’s no doubt it can be a bit problematic for supporters.”
Rather than complain about the fixtures clubs would be better off holding Doncaster to account, what a novel thought.
