Aberdeen fans have welcomed news the club will once again experiment with a late Saturday kick-off time when Dundee United come to town.
Last night, the Press and Journal and Evening Express exclusively revealed Aberdeen’s bid to move their Saturday, November 12 game against Dundee United from 3pm to 6.30pm.
This potential latest Pittodrie trial of a Saturday evening kick-off time follows a similar experiment last season, which saw the Dons meet Dundee away at 6pm on Saturday, October 18 – a game they lost 2-1 in front of 6,876 supporters.
Aberdeen said at the time they hoped the move would allow for international broadcast and in the hope of “attracting greater audiences and exposure” for the club.
Club figures have previously pointed to the fact some fans, like those involved in local juvenile and amateur football, are unable to attend regular Saturday 3pm matches.
Reaction to news of this fresh experiment among the Press and Journal/Evening Express audience has been generally positive.
Some supporters seemed delighted at the prospect of an extra three-and-a-half hours of pre-match socialising before kick-off, like this St Machar Bar punter…
oh baby this machar saturday is going to be hitting different https://t.co/6K6XOJApJR
— Philip (@philip_mair2) August 14, 2022
… Or this Scotia Bar punter…
Scotia for opening
— connor 🏴 (@connor_afc) August 14, 2022
But, in all seriousness, Aberdeen fans based in and around the city seem to generally be up for Saturday night kick-offs:
Love to see it https://t.co/d6Erq3roB7
— RBM (@RBM2603) August 14, 2022
Belter https://t.co/cAFV7x1Usx
— cam. 🛸 (@Camhausen) August 14, 2022
https://twitter.com/Lewi599/status/1558924625907777536
There was similar positivity on Facebook, with Paul Bowie writing: “Be good for those that work Saturdays.”
Mitch Cruickshank, drummed home the struggle faced by members of Red Army involved in other local footballing pursuits, adding: “Great idea. All up for different ideas. There will be a lot of families who play sport early Saturday and cannot normally make home games. Also good that the opposition is not too far away so they will still get home at a decent time.”
‘Folk that live outside the city can’t get home’
Some Aberdeen fans from further afield aren’t as enthused by the Dundee United game being shifted back to 6.30pm, however.
Mike Robertson, on Facebook, said: “That means I’d get home to Oban around half one in the morning! I think I’d rather just watch it on the TV if that became a regular occurrence.”
Linda Ann Black added: “Exactly it’s ridiculous on folk that live outside the city ( who bought ST ) that can’t get home.”
Aberdeen fan view: Expansive approach is causing defensive headache for Dons
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