SFL to consider Friday night football

Aug 15 2011 By Colin Paterson

Jim Ballantyne

AIRDRIE chairman Jim Ballantyne says next month's Monklands derby will not be moved to a Friday night slot.

The Diamonds supremo revealed that "some clubs" have expressed an interest in bringing matches forward.

But he says he could "categorically confirm" that the derby on Saturday, September 10 would remain in its current scheduled position.

An SFL board meeting is being held at Hampden on Thursday with clubs asked for their thoughts on moving games from their traditional weekend kick-off times.

Officials aren't opposed to clubs switching fixtures and Advertiser Sport understands a number of games have been identified as potentially suitable for being played on Fridays.

The stumbling block to Friday night football in the past has always been the stance of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) who have been cool on the idea.

But a more relaxed stance to the issue was in evidence towards the end of last season and it looks as if the SFL are ready to now take things a step further.

New Broomfield chief Ballantyne said: "The impression is that the police are softening their attitude so there will be some discussions.

"Some clubs have expressed an interest and there may be a few trial games. There is something interesting in giving it a go."

Counterpart Frank Meade, chairman of Albion Rovers, welcomed talks on the topic of Friday night games but warned that there was still some way to go before final decisions are taken.

He said: "We have an open mind regarding this issue but people shouldn't automatically assume that this will happen.

"I think it is good that we are going to have a discussion about playing games on a Friday night but there are a lot of practicalities to consider."