Friday night fever?

Last week we got the chance to experience Friday night football back at Prenton Park. For many supporters this was always a Tranmere tradition, and whilst it was great to be under the lights, and to win, the Friday night experience doesn't seem that great compared to Saturday afternoons.

Rovers first started playing on a Friday night in the late 60s. At the time the plan was to avoid clashing with Liverpool and Everton matches and draw in more neutral fans. Our games became immortalised with Saints and Greavsie regularly featuring highlights from the games on their show in the 80s and 90s. There was also Wirral's greatest band, Half Man Half Biscuit, turning down the chance to appear on The Tube, a channel 4 Friday evening music show, because their appearance clashed with a home game. Upon such decisions legends are made. Friday night under the lights was a thing, and as supporters you were left with the weekend free to do whatever you fancied. There was also the slight advantage we had in getting points on the board ahead of our rivals, leaving them playing catch up the following day. Friday night was a Tranmere thing, and whilst gates never rocketed there was always something special about those fixtures. It gave us a unique identity in football.

From the late 90s though, Friday night games became less common. Fewer clubs would agree to the inconvenience of travelling to us and preferred Saturday fixtures. Nowadays Saturday is the usual day for a weekend game, with midweek home games on a Tuesday night. The argument that you will attract neutral fans seems to have been lost now that people can get their footie fix on Sky/BT Sport/Amazon. If you just want to watch football you can stay at home with a cup of tea and shout at the telly. Our Saturday gates have also held up. We now seem to be averaging about 6,000 per game. It's rare that Liverpool or Everton kick off when we do, with matches starting on Saturday lunch time, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. The commercial advantage seems to be tempered by  the availability of alternatives. 

For me Friday night under the lights will always be special, but I much prefer games on a Saturday. I love winter games where the match starts in daylight and then the night comes on. Then there are games in the Autumn and Spring where it's still light when the match starts and you feel the passing of the seasons more. Whilst there will always be a place for Friday night games, Saturday is my preference. Whilst Sartre wrote '3'Oclock is too late for anything', he was clearly not a footie fan. Kicking off at 3, on a Saturday afternoon, feels like the right thing to do. Friday night games on the other hand are like watching old episode of Dad's Army, nice enough but not where things are now.

Of course, in the not too distant past, it felt like we would never have a club to support. The fact we are playing, regardless of when and at what time we kick off, is something to celebrate. I suspect most Rovers supporters would turn up at midnight if we were playing. Kick off is something you turn up for, regardless.