Just because the Leeds United supporters have got used to it at this point, doesn’t make the announcement made via the club’s official social media channels this week any less frustrating.
A game that was supposed to kick off on Saturday will instead take place on Sunday. If that wasn’t annoying enough, the referee’s whistle will sound at 12pm too.
Which would be manageable, really, if Leeds United were travelling down the road to Sheffield. Or perhaps up north to Middlesbrough. Instead, that lunchtime kick-off on March 9th will take place some 250-plus miles to the south in Portsmouth.
“Leeds United can confirm we have received the live broadcast selections, up until 12th March 2025,” reads a statement provided on the club’s website, days after Daniel Farke’s team beat Coventry City 2-0 to move five points clear at the top.
“Daniel Farke’s side have had one match changed; The Sky Bet Championship away clash against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
“The Whites will now travel to the South Coast on Sunday 9th March. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00.”
‘Sky TV,’ the Leeds fans bellow in unison… well, you all know how the rest of that particular chant goes.
Leeds United fans fume as Portsmouth kick-off time changed
Of course, this is the downside to being a club with title ambitions heading towards the business end of the season.
During the Marcelo Bielsa days in particular, it felt like barely a week went by without Leeds dominating the Sky Sports schedule. And who could forget when madcap former owner Massimo Cellino attempted to block Sky from covering Leeds’ clash with Derby County back in 2015, fearing that an ever-changing, TV-dominated schedule was making life unnecessarily difficult for the Elland Road matchgoers?
Now, the San Fransisco 49s are highly unlikely to take a leaf out of Cellino’s book, and probably for good reason.
Yet, the fact that one of the most passionate, loyal fanbases in the whole of the EFL are having to contend with the same uncertainty a decade later really does cast doubt on the well-meaning but rather hard-to-believe claim that football is, as they say, ‘for the fans’
“Seen they’ve taken supporters welfare into consideration again,” one irate fan writes in response to Leeds’ X post announcing a 12pm kick-off at Fratton Park. “Silly o’clock setting off.
“And they’ll have the cheek to ask to stop the Sky TV chants again,” agrees another.
Leeds face five hour trip to Fratton Park in early-March
The near-five hour trip from West Yorkshire to the South Coast, coupled with the earliest possible kick-off time, means the travelling Leeds support realistically have one of two choices. Set their alarms for about 4am, or fork out for a hotel and devote an entire to one early-spring time clash against a Championship relegation battler.
“The notice period is really poor when we get to this stage of the season because they want to show teams going for promotion and relegation,” one supporter points out, Leeds familiar with the whims of their broadcasting overloads after so many seasons fighting for the Championship title in recent years.
“Why can’t the club lodge a complaint?,” another asks. “This is poor all round but not unexpected.
“Football is for the…. broadcasters, advertisers, stakeholders etc,” a fan scoffs, not without justification.
“Cellino was right when he kicked Sky out of Elland Road.”
Leeds are due to face off against Sheffield United, Sunderland and West Brom in their three league matches prior to that Fratton Park trip.
Win all of those, against three teams also battling for promotion, and Daniel Farke’s team should have an automatic promotion spot within their grasp by the time they do battle with John Moutinho’s struggling outfit.
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