One of the most sought after tickets every year is for when our noisy neighbours Chelsea come to the Emirates, and the game in two week’s time was set to be at a comfortable 5.30pm on a Saturday evening before a bank holiday.
That was a reasonable time for travelling fans to get to the match and return home without any problems, but for some reason the police and the Safety Advisory board have decided at this late hour that the match will now be played at 8pm on the following Tuesday (2nd May).
There is one benefit to the Gunners in that they will have an extra couple of days to recover from the crucial game at the Etihad which is being played on the previous Wednesday night, but obviously any fans that have been planning to be at the game for some time are now having to change all their plans.
Here is the full Premier League statement which was published on Arsenal.com:
The Premier League fixture between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC at Emirates Stadium, scheduled to take place on Saturday 29 April at 5.30pm, will now take place on Tuesday 2 May at 8.00pm.
The initial scheduling of this match was approved at a Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting in February. However, the Metropolitan Police has now revised its position regarding the kick-off time and requested a further SAG meeting which determined the match had to be re-scheduled.
We regret the need to move this fixture at late notice and the impact this will have on supporters. The game will remain live on Sky Sports.
The question is; Why was it previously cleared for the original KO time and suddenly changed just two weeks before the matcch?
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Disgusting. People have already booked flights, train tickets and hotels. Who is going to refund those that now cannot make the new date for this game ? Yet again the fans are treated shabbily.