The Scottish Cup Final is, traditionally Scottish football’s end-of-season showpiece occasion. Celtic and Inverness Caley Thistle will look to battle it out to win the last piece of silverware that is up for grabs.
History has seen that the final typically takes place at Hampden with the standard 3pm kick-off. But this season, we have seen a break from the norm. Now moved to 5:30pm, the decision was met with a furious response from Celtic.
Now with the final less than two weeks away, the SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell, has come out to defend the unorthodox kick-off time.
Maxwell said [STV], “The Scottish FA’s preference was absolutely for a 3pm kick-off time.
“We then had a decision to make about other sporting events at the time and we had conversations with broadcaster partners that we have.
“It was highlighted that to give them the spectacle that we wanted it to be and to get as much viewership as we can, it made sense to move the kick-off time to later on in the day.
“We are delighted that Inverness have worked as closely as they have with Scotrail and that means supporters can get down to the match and get home on the same day. Inverness were happier with a later kick-off time than an earlier one.
“It’s not ideal but I’m sure it will be a great spectacle.
“It was disappointing and it was one of those decisions that we had to make as a governing body.
“Kick-off times change and football is no longer played at just 3pm on a Saturday. There’s a variety of different kick-off times on a variety of different days of the week.
“We took the decision that the best thing was to delay the kick-off time to 5.30pm to give it the best opportunity to be seen across the UK.
“Our preference was for a 3pm kick-off time and it will always be for a 3pm kick-off time. For a Scottish Cup final there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account.”
Maxwell is correct, of course. Kick-off times do vary across the course of the season. But this is the Scottish Cup Final. Our showpiece event. The one day of the year fans of all clubs can look forward to a game being played at the normal 3pm time.
But I do understand why it was done. The SFA knew that our game was going to be in direct competition with the English FA Cup on the same day. Manchester United will face their city rivals and there is no doubt that the TV audience for that fixture will be the biggest draw.
However, moving the fixture was deemed unnecessary by Celtic and I’m afraid I would tend to agree with the club.
We see far too many of our fixtures being moved to accommodate the broadcaster’s timetable. Surely, for once, it would have been better to give our showpiece season finale the 3pm kick-off it deserves. But then, I suppose, the new re-scheduled kick-off time is better than the dreaded lunchtime slot.
In other news, Why 22-year-old January signing must start Celtic’s final two league games of the season
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