February 24, 2009

Everton-Stoke match switched back to original date after BNP scraps rally

• Premier League fixture reverts to 14 March
• Saturday timing 'appropriate' say club

Everton have confirmed their Premier League match against Stoke City has move back to its original date of 14 March after the British National Party scrapped a rally it was planning to hold in Liverpool on the same day.

The Saturday 3pm kick-off had originally been put back 24 hours after club officials were told by Merseyside police to move it because of the BNP demonstration scheduled to take place in the city centre. The police had claimed "operational reasons" meant the two events could not take place at the same time and Everton made efforts to move the game with Stoke.

However, the BNP have decided not to stage the demonstration, leaving the way clear for Everton to play Stoke on the original date of the fixture. Merseyside police have now granted permission for the Everton to host the game on the Saturday.

Everton manager David Moyes has also stated his preference to play the game on the original date because of an FA Cup quarter-final and a visit to Portsmouth being due either side of the Stoke match.

Everton's head of public relations, Ian Ross, said: "Since the game was moved from Saturday to Sunday we have received numerous calls and emails from our supporters disappointed with the decision. We do understand their frustrations and when the police indicated they would permit the game to be played on the Saturday, we felt it was wholly appropriate to return the fixture to its original date.

"This is, of course, not without its problems and there will be some supporters who will be inconvenienced by the changes. We will work with those fans to find suitable solutions and this will include potential reimbursement for travel and accommodation."

Guardian

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well that was a completely unnecesary bit of fucking about, thank you bloody BNP!!!

Anonymous said...

"We will work with those fans to find suitable solutions and this will include potential reimbursement for travel and accommodation."

The bill to go to the BNP who refused to change the date of its poxy demo thus putting the police in the position of changing the match date.

Anonymous said...

It's worth reminding people that the BNP just a few years ago, supported Denmark against England, because all of the Denmark team were white, compared with England's colour-blind sporting mix.

So much for the BNP's sham patriotism or "pratriotism" as I call it to distinguish a bunch of one-eyed racist louts from real nationalists.

Anonymous said...

BNP is a white only party

there are no BNP members with colored skin

this says a lot about the party

this is 2009 not 1809

why do people vote for these people ?

people who vote for the BNP wants to make Britain a backwards country

the world will laugh at us