The Swans almost certain progress through to the group stages of the Europa League has meant that a hasty reach for the diaries show some more fixture changes that will come about as a result of this progress.

And the fixture changes means that - particularly for a Jack on the road - Saturday 3pm kick offs are almost becoming a thing of the past with the Swans potentially having just FOUR of these fixtures home and away this side of the Christmas break.

Europa League progression will mean that home games against West Ham and Stoke and away games at Crystal Palace, Southampton, Man City and Norwich are almost certain to be switched to Sunday fixtures which decimates the Swans fixture list as far as the traditional 3pm Saturday kick off is concerned.

Already this season we have seen Man Utd and Arsenal moved to 5.30pm Saturday kick offs whilst Liverpool is a Monday night and Tottenham and West Brom have been moved to Sunday kick offs at 4pm and 1.30pm respectively. Add to that the local derby against Cardiff which takes a 4pm Sunday kick off and of course Newcastle away is a Tuesday night and you can see that very few games will take place at a time that for many years was almost the only time we watched football.

A scan down the fixture list between now and Christmas shows Sunderland at the Liberty on 19 October as our first Saturday 3pm kick off and this will be added to by a trip to Fulham on 23 November and further home games against Hull on 7th December and Everton on 21st December. And that is of course assuming that none of those get switched for live TV coverage.

As someone who travels a reasonable amount away from home it is frustrating that we only have one Saturday trip between now and Christmas (at any kick off time) as Sundays are always more difficult to make the trip through a host of reasons. I know this is the price of success but I cannot help but feel frustrated at the lack of Saturday action for us to experience on the road.

A look at the fixture list this weekend shows just five games again with a Saturday 3m kick off as there was on the opening weekend and Sky are constantly telling us that they have 116 live Premier League games this season which is almost one third of the season live on Sky. Again I appreciate that they pump the money into the game in their billions but I cannot help but feel a little sad that at the very top level the tradition of football has been ripped out and that is despite how much I am enjoying the ride we are currently experiencing.

I guess it is something that we will have to get used to the longer we stay in this division and it is fantastic being in Europe - the memories from the Malmo trip will live long into the future - but it's frustrating that it all comes at the expense of the kick off time I grew up with.

Mind you, the lack of kick off times means I had time to write this anyway...!!

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borinifanclub added 20:54 - Aug 24 I put a thread on here last night listing the matches that will be changed but it was pulled by an administrator!
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