Friday night football coming to NIFL

Following on from the findings of the UEFA led consultation that took place earlier this year, the NI Football League have made the decision to trial Friday night football for one fixture each week throughout November and December.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Oct 2014, 17:09 BST
Trial run for Friday night football.Trial run for Friday night football.
Trial run for Friday night football.

The Premiership Management Committee signed off on the initiative at a meeting last night and NIFL Marketing and Communications Manager Graeme Beggs thinks that now is the right time to trial the proposed changes.

“One of the findings that came out of our consultation with clubs, fans, media and sponsors was that playing more football away from Saturday afternoon was something that the NI Football League should seriously consider,” said Beggs.

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“Attendances have already shown an increase this season compared to the same period last season and although we are obviously delighted with this, Friday night football was always on our radar as this was very clearly shown in the fan survey in particular.

“Of the football fans who stated that they would prefer local games to be played on a Friday night, the vast majority were lapsed fans or non-attendees of local football, with the most common reason for being that those playing amateur football on a Saturday can attend.

“We want to get more football fans through our turnstiles and only by having an extended trial for Friday night games can we fully assess the success of the initiative.”

The Danske Bank Premiership fixtures that have been moved to Friday nights are: Friday, November 7 - Cliftonville v Warrenpoint Town; Friday, 21 November - Crusaders v Coleraine; Friday, 28 November - Dungannon Swifts v Glenavon; Friday, 5 December - Glenavon v Institute; Friday, 12 December - Warrenpoint Town v Portadown.

Related topics:UEFAWarrenpoint TownCliftonvilleDanske Bank