FAB up in arms over Monday switch for Man City game | OneFootball

Everton's upcoming clash with Manchester City is the latest game to be moved into the Monday Night Football slot on Sky Sports. This is the seventh time Everton will have played on a Monday night, much to the annoyance of Everton fans, as voiced by the Fan Advisory Board.

The upcoming clash against Manchester City has been moved from Saturday 2 May to Monday 4 May, kick-off at 8 pm BST.

The decision sees Everton equal an unwanted Premier \Leaguue record: No side has ever played more than seven games on a Monday in a single season, with West Ham United the last team to do so in the 1995-96 campaign.

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Reader Comments (23)

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Paul Hewitt 1 Posted 30/03/2026 at 13:40:19

Until fans stop attending these Monday night games nothing will change.

In Germany, fans got together and got Monday games stopped. Won't happen over here.

Matt Traynor 3 Posted 30/03/2026 at 14:24:48

The current Sky TV deal has a guideline that no club should face more than 5 Monday or Friday night kick-offs in a single season. Of course, it's an informal limit which can be breached due to "scheduling conflicts". So is, in fact, a load of bollocks.

I've seen on other forums that ST holders who live outside the city have missed so many games this season, often unable to transfer or put the ticket on the resale site due to the controls the club has put on this through the "all digital" approach. Some are suggesting they won't renew but pick and choose games in the future.

Not that the club will care -- they're fully on the "Football Tourist" train now, like the other lot, Man Utd etc.

Michael Kenrick 5 Posted 30/03/2026 at 14:52:19

I do wonder if this is a generational thing?

If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect that greater angst is coming from our older, more traditional supporters who perhaps pine for the 3 pm Saturday afternoon kick-off... like what it always was.

Or is it because we rarely do very well when playing on a Monday? I can see from the record, this dates back to our first game that was not played on a Saturday: It was Monday, 2 October 1882 when we lost 8-0 at Blackburn Rovers! We improved for the next one on Monday, 5 January 1885, losing only 5-0 to Dumbarton 2nd XI! The wounds run deep!!

But all that was before the Football League had started in 1888, with all games played on Saturdays. But it didn't take long for the Monday games to sneak onto the fixture list, with Everton, yes, losing their first Monday evening league game at Wolves on 16 September 1889. And only ~2,000 fans turned up -- well down on the season average of around 10,000.

Dave Abrahams can probably remember a load more... Personally, I don't mind them at all, but I'm not a regular attendee. However, as a TV armchair fan, I must admit they are quite convenient.

Now, if you were to go by the sheer weight of numbers involved, I dare say there are more TV fans quite happy with Monday Night Football (apart from having to watch Jamie Carragher for anywhere up to 4 hours) than there are match-going fans who are perturbed by the inconvenience and want their weekend rituals preserved?

But I do wonder if it puts out our young fans quite so much?

Brian Harrison 7 Posted 30/03/2026 at 15:20:34

Michael,

Seeing as you say you are not a regular attendee, then of course you don't mind Monday games. When fans, and especially our younger school-age fans, buy their season tickets, they don't expect to miss a lot of games because 8:00 o'clock kick-offs often prevent them going to the game.

I dare say TFG are happy with the extra revenues and, like you, they don't attend games either, so they like you don't have to keep altering plans like matchgoing fans have to.

There seems an awful lot of posters who don't attend games, so maybe for this debate leave it to those that do attend, because they are affected.

I would rather Sunday games than Monday night, seems quite odd that the top clubs don't have as many games as we do on a Monday, mind this season, no other club has had more Monday night games than us.

I see TFG are suggesting they have a plan to get round the rule of 2 clubs they own playing in the same European competition, so if Roma and us qualify for the same European competition both will be allowed to enter. Well, I am all for hearing how TFG get round that rule.

Mike Powell 8 Posted 30/03/2026 at 15:22:13

I've been told the police have said they don't like us kicking off at 3 pm on Saturdays, because there are just too many people in the city centre.

It was different at Goodison: everyone just made their way to County Road, whereas now, most congregate in town before the game. How true it is, I don't know...

Mike Gaynes 9 Posted 30/03/2026 at 16:01:30

Brian #7,

TFG haven't said a word about it. It's been reported by Martyn Ziegler of The Times, and several other journos as well, but no details of the alleged workaround have come out.

Neil Lawson 10 Posted 30/03/2026 at 16:14:42

Brian 7. You can not, at a stroke, exclude those of us who are devoted but who can only attend occasionally (for whatever reason). I live 250 miles away (a Crosby boy originally) and my 2 sons also.

We targeted the Burnley game for our first visit together to the new stadium. We were very deliberate and careful in choosing that fixture as the risk of cup replays, TV and other factors interfering, were minimal. Hotel booked. Time off work for my sons also booked. Tickets secured.

Then it was moved forward to the Tuesday. We were, at a cost, able to adjust our plans but not without some difficulty. This was a one-off for us. Others are regularly being dumped upon.

The disdain that the FA and the broadcasters have for all supporters is disgraceful and the constant shifting of games as to date and time is unacceptable. Quite what the solution is, I do not know, but I have every sympathy for all supporters who are repeatedly being messed about and a solution needs to be found in time for next season.

Ian Wilkins 11 Posted 30/03/2026 at 16:46:35

Our 7th Monday night this season...

Fine for the armchair viewer but not for the 50+,000 attending.

Night matches are always a challenge for schoolkids etc but with the challenges around buses and late trains and road congestion compounded by the HD logistics, for me night games are now something of a pain sadly.

Some of my greatest memories are under the lights at Goodison. I'm sat at HD wondering if I'll make the last train home.

Different on a Saturday or Sunday when you can take your time getting to and leaving the ground.

For me, night games have sadly lost their magic and have become a chore. And 7 Monday nights this season is far too many.

12 Posted 30/03/2026 at 17:20:25

Paul

Apparently we have only had 3 Saturday games with a 3 o'clock kick off.

Is that 3 this year? Or 3 during the whole season? (Surely not correct.) Or do you mean 3 games ever? (Very silly!)

Brian,

They don't expect to miss a lot of games because 8:00 o'clock kick-offs often prevent them going to the game

I'd challenge that. Surely nobody in this day and age buys a season ticket without expecting a number of games will be kicking off at 8:00 pm or thereabouts. And the almost universal clamour for European Football carries with it a guarantee that all those extra games will be midweek night games. The point of debate must be "How many is too many?"

And do kids really not go the game on a school night? I find that hard to believe.

Perhaps Neil's concern is getting enough notice. They have given fans more than a month's notice of the change in this instance... plus it's a high-profile game, so again, anyone would realistically expect it to be moved for TV coverage, and would not make arrangements until the new fixture date and time were confirmed.

There seems an awful lot of posters who don't attend games, so maybe for this debate leave it to those that do attend, because they are affected. I suspect there are a lot more Evertonians who don't attend games than do. Simple maths. Should their views be allowed on this thread? Or must it be restricted to only those who are affected (negatively, I presume you mean)? I think I would object to that.

John Collins 13 Posted 30/03/2026 at 17:22:59

We are small fry to them Michael.

Masters is on record, in public calling us a smaller team.

They know they can get away with it

Michael Kenrick 14 Posted 30/03/2026 at 17:30:47

Actually, I've thought of something else that has not been mentioned but is certainly a significant underlying cause of the issue at hand here: the 3 pm Saturday TV blackout.

In this day and age, what is that all about? A ridiculous anachronism that is perpetuated by the clubs, the Premier League, the FA and the EFL, in the guise of protecting the traditional lower league and non-league match attendances.

But this season has seen a significant bump in the number of Premier League games being televised. Yet, because of this silly blackout, they can't be televised and kick-off at 3 pm on a Saturday, which would surely be the obvious solution to make everyone happy? Yet they literally have to be moved to comply with this rule.

Michael Kenrick 15 Posted 30/03/2026 at 17:37:41

John, I don't think it has anything to do with being a small club... in fact, isn't it the opposite?

The clubs that finish higher up the Premier League are typically the bigger clubs... and the bigger clubs get their matches picked for televisual transmission disproportionately more frequently than the smaller clubs further down the league table.

Of course, this has all been messed up a bit this season by us, plucky little Everton, daring to poke at the glass ceiling and venture into the upper echelons of the Premier League -- all thanks to Our Supreme Leader, the Moyesiah, who has transformed our game. [Give me another shot of that Kool-Ade please!]

John Collins 16 Posted 30/03/2026 at 17:41:18

Take your point, Michael.

It still amazes me how, given we are told the fixtures are drawn at random, how Man City v Man Utd, Liverpool v Arsenal etc fixtures always fell on the same day.

Super Sunday, they call it.

Even more thoughts on the teams and games that Sky can actually select from for Fridays and Mondays, this time from a detailed piece on this topic at BBC Sport:

A team playing in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League is effectively shielded. In numerous weeks of the season they cannot play a Premier League game on a Friday or Monday.

If clubs in Europe also progress in the EFL Cup, they are locked out of further midweeks.

That leaves the other clubs to fill the slots. But not all are equally attractive for TV coverage.

And with nine clubs in Europe this season, the pool of available teams is smaller than usual.

Tony Abrahams 19 Posted 30/03/2026 at 19:40:17

I think there might be a little bit of logic in what you have been told Mike P, because suddenly Everton, have never played so many Monday night games.

It might not be so bad for the City game because it’ll still be light when the game kicks off, but I’m absolutely certain that the bubble is going to burst one day soon in the not so distant future, although it might be correct what Michael is saying about it just being us moaning old bastards, who seem to be getting affected the most?

David West 21 Posted 30/03/2026 at 20:00:37

Yes agree with MK. The blackout + increased televised games mean less 3pm kick offs across the league. Ridiculous when was brought in to protect attendances & the 3pm tradition.

But it's so hard to get a ticket anyway 3pm, 5pm 7.30, sat, Mon, Fri sun it's daft and outdated needs abolishing.

Add in extra CL, Europa & now conference games, barely anyone else can play mid week.

All need to be shown now on TV, match goers won't not go the game because it's on TV.