According to Phil Hay, Sky Sports asked a Leeds United staff member how to make peace with supporters.
Leeds fans expressed their displeasure from the stands before, during, and after Saturday’s (17 February) 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle.
The Whites are having an increasing number of games rescheduled for television coverage, some in inconvenient time windows.
Hay wrote in The Athletic [18 February]: “Not long ago, an employee of Sky Sports asked a member of staff at Leeds United how the broadcaster could go about making peace with the club’s supporters.
“Like clockwork, every broadcast game involving Leeds elicited cries about Sky, which no television network would choose to air before the watershed.
“The only answer Leeds could offer was this: perhaps stop sending them to Plymouth Argyle at lunchtime on a Saturday, which is precisely where Leeds were yesterday, completing their very concentrated trawl around Great Britain’s south west.”
Leeds fans slam Sky Sports over fixture alterations
Given Leeds’ status as second-tier giants, it’s logical that Sky would want to show as many games as possible.
Even more so when you consider how tense the battle for automatic promotion is becoming as we near the business end of the proceedings.
The main issue, however, is that Leeds fans are not being considered in many of these fixture swaps, with the trip to Home Park being a classic example.
Making the five-hour trek to the South Coast in time for the 12:30GMT kick-off is not anyone’s idea of fun.
Leeds United fans continue to follow their team in large numbers, despite recurrent fixture alterations to accommodate Sky Sports coverage.
This is only the most recent incident, not to mention the sometimes-late announcement of fixture modifications.
The basic truth is that supporters will keep chanting about Sky Sports until something is done about it.
If they honestly intended to make peace with their fans, they should start by showing that they care even a little bit.
