Celtic fans based in England won’t be able to watch the game against Motherwell tomorrow, on the Steelmen’s pay-per-view service.
Why? Because, as Motherwell chief Alan Burrows has explained, England signed up for Article 48 of the UEFA Statutes. They were the only country in Europe to do so.
What this means is there’s a block-out for individually broadcasted games between 3.45 and 6.15. Motherwell’s PPV falls under that rule, despite being a game broadcast in Scotland.
The upshot is, English Celtic fans can’t watch a game that has nothing to do with the FA, the Premier League, or the EFL.
Burrows, a popular figure around Fir Park, explained to a frustrated supporter on Twitter:
So, it’s a blow for English Celtic supporters, of which there are many. There are a litany of England-based Celtic Supporters Clubs [Celtic Badges], and a staggering amount of Hoops-friendly pubs [Celtic Bars].
Unfortunately though, those Celtic pubs will remain quiet tomorrow afternoon, because of a very strange quirk of broadcasting.
Why the English FA would block access to a Motherwell v Celtic game is anyone’s guess
The TV lock-out for 3pm games makes sense, broadly. It’s a way of encouraging people to go to matches, spend their money in stadia, and support their football club. No arguments there.
However, this is predicated on the idea that the English FA would lose out somehow by having Motherwell promote a pay-access stream for the Celtic game. It makes utterly no sense.
It would be equivalent to, random example, the SFA preventing Scottish Southampton fans from watching a Premier League game from their Caledonian home. There’s no logic to it. It’s not as if some Scottish club would miss out through that.
Strange days in broadcasting, certainly.
English readers of this site can take comfort in knowing 67 Hail Hail will have extensive match updates, including team news, what we learned and analysis from what could be a cracker in North Lanarkshire.
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