That was a necessity though due to the amount of fixtures in the season, not because of the whim of some TV company.

The BBC Floodlight Trophy.





I rest my case.

The Barrow v Fev game could be called the "nonfloodlight trophy" Speaking with others who went up to see our win earlier in the season, they said the flood lights up there are appaling.

Widnes have been on Sky 4 times this season, with trips to Cumbria and Yorkshire. Despite what people think, Widnes are not full pro and most players have jobs, and so do our fans. The same can be said for Halifax.

Why do you think Thursday evening games only affect Fev?

They were in the same position as every other club in this competition. They knew the semi-final would be covered by Sky on Thursday so it's just tough luck.

Barrow have had no coverage so far, so it's only fair that they get it now. It's the luck of the draw.

The only alternative would be to scrap TV coverage of all lower league games.

Bit tenuous, people in widnes having jobs...........

The rounds of that were several weeks apart - the BBC sometimes showed multiple games from each round at the rate of one a week and it extended for many months. No-one had to do a midweek trip to Cumbria at short notice.

It's still a poor excuse, though. The clubs all knew that one of the two semi-finals would be on Thursday and that there was going to be less than two weeks between the ties and maybe players would need days off at short notice. Can't be helped unless someone thought about the problem up front when compiling the fixtures and spread the northern rail knockout rounds out a bit more.


Long way wide of the mark. I was doing some investment research last month and had to look at average incomes in individual towns & cities in the north of England. Warrington's population has the highest average income of all the "tradtional" M62 corridor RL towns, Halton (Widnes/Runcorn) is 2nd. Away from the M62, York & Copeland (Whitehaven) are the places up north which come closest to matching London incomes.

That's not what I've said at all.

How much time notice did clubs get before the Thursday night fixtures throughout the season were announced?

Either way - whether it's happened for the first time this time or it's been happening all season, the fact of the matter is that it isn't really fair on [ianyone[/i it affects, not just this fixture. That's the point I'm trying to make - which seems to be conviniently ignored.

I think I dealt with this in the part of my post you omitted.

What is it you actually want to see happen exactly?

Not really, no.



I'd like to see a bit more thought and consideration put into the arrangement of fixtures such as this one. Just as I always have done with Sky's constant messing with the football fixtures. Don't arrange midweek fixtures at such short notice and don't change fixtures for television in a manner that will inconvenience clubs. It's not such a radical, outrageous idea, is it?

But, because of the money available, I guess people are just willing to accept it blindly and not see any problems, so it's likely nothing will ever get done.

TBF thats not down to sky. The TV game was chosen within 24hrs of the draw being made. Don't know the reasons for the scheduling of the rounds but perhaps it could be looked at for next season, 3 months between the end of the group phase and last 8 but only 2 weeks between last 8 and semis probably isn't the ideal way to go.

How can the RFL/Sky possibly know who will be in the last 4 of a knockout cup competition as well as knowing which teams will play who in those semis?

As Wembley '83 has said, perhaps the schedule could be changed, but it wouldn't change the fact that Fev will be playing on a Thursday night in Barrow. They've still got two weeks to make arrangements, and they all knew this may have been a possibility. It's not like we're even likely to be talking about hundreds of fans here.

The Sky TV deal was always going to be a double edged sword for the Championship and midweek games were always going to cause problems for clubs and fans, who get very little in return for featuring in these games.

All clubs knew the situation before the season started and none complained about the possibility of having to travel to Cumbria on a Thursday night in the NRC semi.

Arrange both fixtures so that they will be played over the weekend. It's simple, when you think about it.

And at least for the Championship games the fixtures are announced with enough time to spare to make proper arrangements.

But I think we're just going around in circles, now.

It's not that simple though is it?

Sky and the RFL have an agreement to show one of the NRC semi-finals on a Thursday night, when it is deemed championship/NRC games would get maximum exposure.

Move both games to Sunday then it will break the agreed contract. Either that or the Championship/NRC should not be shown on TV until the final of both.

So no, it's far from simple.

Thats more the point here

That may be a good idea, but it isn't actually the point here.

But yes it is

We asked for a TV deal , we were given one , it is for thursday nights

We either stick with it or we decide we dont want it

But moaning about it being on a thursday night when that is the ' Deal ' is pointless

I wish Leigh were in the NRC semi final on thursday night TV

Ah right, I see what you meant now.

Yes, that's the point I've been trying to get across.

It is simple, but the RFL and Sky don't give a shiny sh*te about anything aside from their contracts, hence the problem.

You're not really taking on board the point I'm making, are you?

Never mind, carry on, it's all good for the game, yadda, yadda...

You have no point. You've just been digging yourself deeper and deeper onto a hole.

Yes we are , you are saying that not enough notice is given of these matches , but this match was announced at the start of the 2008 season

Is that enough notice ?

We have a TV deal , it is for thursday nights only , we either want it or we dont

personally after 3 years I dont think it is of any benifit to us , and I would drop it as soon as we can

As an alternative I would be asking for a Monday night ' Highlights ' programme featuring a game from both divisions of the championship instead

It is though, on a Saturday or Sunday we would have taken a good 3 - 400 for the importance of the game and now we will probably scrape together getting 50.

I agree with Rover 83, the scheduling could be improved, but not much more. Its great that we are on tv every now and again, gives the club to get extra sponsorship on board.

Does it ?

It should do as more people will see the sponsors (hoardings/shirts).

Or doesn't it?