In the past the question, 'what time is the kick off?' was never uttered. There was a time when 3pm on a Saturday saw the simultaneous blowing of referees' whistles across the country. No longer.
Motherwell are displaced from the conventional Saturday afternoon slot less often than some others yet a third of our 34 competitive games have been moved. There have been 10 different kick off times for followers of the claret and amber thus far (11 if we include the aborted Friday night experiment!).
Times have included 12.45pm and 1pm on a Saturday; noon, 2.15pm, 3pm and 3.45pm on a Sunday; and 7.45pm starts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. There is no truth in any wild story that a plan is being hatched for Thursday - at least until we resume Europa League games!
The willingness of our football club treasurers to bow under the weight of the TV dollar is understandable but the inconvenience and disruption to fans is severe - last week Celtic fans had to be in Aberdeen for a noon kick off and at the end of this month E$PN has opted to move Motherwell's last game ahead of the split to noon when Rangers visit.
When the ten SPL teams get together for their meeting without the presence of both Old Firm teams they might do well to add a discussion about kick off times to their agenda. If nothing else they should consider a reduced gate price when fans have their weekend turned upside down at the whim of a broadcaster.