Why Man United Fans Are Fuming at Brentford Kickoff Time

The Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford is set for this Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m., which has angered the fans of the team.

Manchester United have seen their Premier League clash with Brentford on Saturday moved to a late kick-off. The two teams will meet at the Gtech Community Stadium at 8pm local time on Easter Saturday. This is the fourth time this season that Manchester United fans have seen their team play away from home at 8pm on Saturday, more than any other team in the English top flight.

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The issue for fans who are visiting is that during the Easter weekend, there will be disruptions to the rail routes between Manchester and London. Two minutes prior to United’s 8 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, the final train departs London’s Euston and arrives in Manchester Piccadilly. There won’t be any services between the two cities on Easter Sunday due to engineering maintenance. This means that unless they want to drive 410 miles round trip to watch the game, Manchester-based fans will have to spend the weekend in London.

A spokesperson for the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust told The Telegraph: “For the fourth time this season, United are away from home at 8pm on a Saturday which just goes to show the blatant disregard the TV companies and football authorities have for match-going fans. During Covid they said that football without fans is nothing – it’s time for the football authorities to show they meant it.”

Chas Banks, secretary of the Manchester United Disabled Supporters’ Association, also hit out at the scheduling and called for change. He said: “I don’t travel to away games anymore. After years watching United home and away, it all became too much as the years passed – I’m in my 70s now and a disabled wheelchair user – and the football authorities clearly didn’t give a flying one about the problems it causes to fans when they schedule kick-offs at crazy times.

“They sit safe in the knowledge that whatever bonkers changes they made to the fixture list, the United away supporters would find a way to get there somehow. The scheduled kick-off changes seem even crazier if, like me, it takes three hours to get from your bed to actually leaving the house to begin your journey. As time has passed it really did start to feel like they were doing their absolute damnedest to stop me and other disabled United fans from watching my club playing away from home.”

The last time they played, United defeated rivals Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup quarterfinals, and their supporters will be flying high to London. After a challenging year for the Red Devils, manager Erik ten Hag expressed his belief that the win could be a “turning point” for his club in an interview that followed.