EFL Gillingham match (and all other EFL games 17/4 at 3pm) to be moved

Gillingham game not going to be 3pm on 17/4
Here's what I posted on the Prince Phillip has died thread.

Not happy with this. At all.

I don't want to watch the funeral, and am fairly ambivalent about the Royal Family, but this is tantamount to bloody serfdom. They must have had advice on this, and been told 3pm on a Saturday is football. Why do they have to hold it at that precise time and day? They could have held it at any time and any day, but no, they've decided to hold it at a time that will inconvenience the maximum number of people possible. And to cap it all the football authorities bow down and tug their collective forelocks and agree to postpone all games.

This virus has deprived many of us of the ability to lead our normal lives for over a year, and many friends and relatives have lost their lives, with football being one of the few landmark events glueing the weeks, and some sections of society, together. As I said, I was fairly ambivalent about him dying, but chose to avoid all of the blanket coverage on TV and in the media as best as I could, and would not dream of trying to force my opinions on other people, but find this to be a move too far and it seems like a big two fingers up to those of us who will now have the only highlight of our weekend affected. I really don't think the "authorities" give a toss about football or football fans.
 
Here's what I posted on the Prince Phillip has died thread.

Not happy with this. At all.

I don't want to watch the funeral, and am fairly ambivalent about the Royal Family, but this is tantamount to bloody serfdom. They must have had advice on this, and been told 3pm on a Saturday is football. Why do they have to hold it at that precise time and day? They could have held it at any time and any day, but no, they've decided to hold it at a time that will inconvenience the maximum number of people possible. And to cap it all the football authorities bow down and tug their collective forelocks and agree to postpone all games.

This virus has deprived many of us of the ability to lead our normal lives for over a year, and many friends and relatives have lost their lives, with football being one of the few landmark events glueing the weeks, and some sections of society, together. As I said, I was fairly ambivalent about him dying, but chose to avoid all of the blanket coverage on TV and in the media as best as I could, and would not dream of trying to force my opinions on other people, but find this to be a move too far and it seems like a big two fingers up to those of us who will now have the only highlight of our weekend affected. I really don't think the "authorities" give a toss about football or football fans.
I have no interest in watching the funeral and am also a republican at heart. However, while there is a bit of mild meh at the moving of the football forwards or backwards by a couple of hours next Saturday for the funeral, is it really that big of a deal to get angry about?
 
So if they’d held it on a weekday wouldn’t the precedent be a day off work ? Which is presumably even more people inconvenienced ?
 
I'd imagine that they'll all become 1pm kick-offs, which will be annoying but not the end of the world.

I hope not, my boys football doesn't kick off till 11.30 on Saturday morning so won't be finished till around half 1. 🙄
 
I hope not, my boys football doesn't kick off till 11.30 on Saturday morning so won't be finished till around half 1. 🙄

Games scheduled for the Tuesday after so can't see them pushing them back to the Sunday, and teams generally prefer to play earlier rather than later so they have longer to recover. I'd maybe get your boys starting earlier to be safe!
 
Games scheduled for the Tuesday after so can't see them pushing them back to the Sunday, and teams generally prefer to play earlier rather than later so they have longer to recover. I'd maybe get your boys starting earlier to be safe!

Yeh I bet you are right, not up to us this time, Summertown have control on the kick off time, only hope is a waterlogged pitch, someone go water the five mile drive rec 😉
 
I still don't understand why all of the games have to be called off? What's wrong with keeping them at 3pm and giving people the freedom of choice to decide what they want to do? I very much dislike being told what I should be doing at 3pm next Saturday, which is what is implied by the cancelling of the EFL matches.

Hopefully we won't have a full shutdown of shops etc on Saturday afternoon, as I now know when I'll do my weekly food shop.
 
As we can’t go to games and have to instead watch them on Ifollow, an earlier kickoff would suit me more than 3pm to be honest so I’m not bothered at all
 
I still don't understand why all of the games have to be called off? What's wrong with keeping them at 3pm and giving people the freedom of choice to decide what they want to do? I very much dislike being told what I should be doing at 3pm next Saturday, which is what is implied by the cancelling of the EFL matches.

Hopefully we won't have a full shutdown of shops etc on Saturday afternoon, as I now know when I'll do my weekly food shop.

Everyone these days feels their life is more important than anyone else’s. That’s what gets me angry
 
Everyone these days feels their life is more important than anyone else’s. That’s what gets me angry
You've quoted my post, so I'm assuming that your comment is aimed at me? Apologies if I've got that wrong.

But if it is aimed at me, where have I said my life is more important than anyone else? In fact I'm saying the opposite, I'm saying that all our lives are important, and we shouldn't be forced to change them for one man's funeral, whoever he is. I would like the choice of whether I watch this funeral or not (I won't, as you'd have guessed), and have no problem if millions of people did choose to watch it (choose being the operative word), but I suspect there will be some sort of national shut down of everything next Saturday afternoon "out of respect" thereby virtually imposing it on us via the lack of alternative things to do and the blanket media coverage that will inevitably happen. I hope it's a sunny afternoon and I can sit in the garden with a book, although I'd rather be watching football.

And one last thing. The football fixtures at 3pm next Saturday have been in place for months. They could, and should in my opinion, have chosen a different date and/or time for the funeral, rather than expect everyone else to change their already planned events. Or are the royal lives more important than anyone else?
 
You've quoted my post, so I'm assuming that your comment is aimed at me? Apologies if I've got that wrong.

But if it is aimed at me, where have I said my life is more important than anyone else? In fact I'm saying the opposite, I'm saying that all our lives are important, and we shouldn't be forced to change them for one man's funeral, whoever he is. I would like the choice of whether I watch this funeral or not (I won't, as you'd have guessed), and have no problem if millions of people did choose to watch it (choose being the operative word), but I suspect there will be some sort of national shut down of everything next Saturday afternoon "out of respect" thereby virtually imposing it on us via the lack of alternative things to do and the blanket media coverage that will inevitably happen. I hope it's a sunny afternoon and I can sit in the garden with a book, although I'd rather be watching football.

And one last thing. The football fixtures at 3pm next Saturday have been in place for months. They could, and should in my opinion, have chosen a different date and/or time for the funeral, rather than expect everyone else to change their already planned events. Or are the royal lives more important than anyone else?
You write about Saturday 3pm kickoffs as though they’ve been protected until now. I wish they had been, but apart from TV’s butchery of that tradition, the likes of Gillingham have been moving from it to save on floodlighting costs, let alone a nationally significant event.

I’d have slightly more empathy if fans were attending and had booked travel etc., but that’s not the case.

It’s a mark of respect and while the individual life of any royal is not more important than yours or mine, the institution is of great significance to the country and his funeral is too.
 
You write about Saturday 3pm kickoffs as though they’ve been protected until now. I wish they had been, but apart from TV’s butchery of that tradition, the likes of Gillingham have been moving from it to save on floodlighting costs, let alone a nationally significant event.

I’d have slightly more empathy if fans were attending and had booked travel etc., but that’s not the case.

It’s a mark of respect and while the individual life of any royal is not more important than yours or mine, the institution is of great significance to the country and his funeral is too.

But should it be forced upon us in this way? You talk of respect, well I might have more respect if I was allowed to make my own mind up, rather than be force fed what I'm supposed to do and think by the way that the media/authorities are handling this. The irony is that we're supposed to live in a democracy but this doesn't seem very democratic to me.
 
But should it be forced upon us in this way? You talk of respect, well I might have more respect if I was allowed to make my own mind up, rather than be force fed what I'm supposed to do and think by the way that the media/authorities are handling this. The irony is that we're supposed to live in a democracy but this doesn't seem very democratic to me.

Do you complain to the media/authorities when our games get selected for TV and moved at relatively short notice? Thought not.

It`s not forced upon "us" it is a mark of respect for the man & the institution that the overwhelming majority understand and support.

Go shopping, cut the grass or do something else if you don`t want to watch the funeral.

The game will still be played, you can still watch it.
 
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