Friday nights under lights?

Would like both players and supporters views on Hellenic League and Combined Counties League proposals for Clubs to play on Friday nights instead of Saturday afternoons?
For what it is worth I'll kick things off.
Certainly costs for Premier League Clubs will be higher to pay for floodlight electricity.
Would crowds be higher on a Friday night at Scours Lane.
Do players like to play under floodlights all the time?
What benefits do people think may accrue from the move?

I would disagree with the idea as it would be harder for the away teams, fans and officials to make it on time for kick off as Friday is the busiest day of the week so a lot of traffic on the roads. Secondly It's always good to have a mix of afternoon and evening matches otherwise it get's a bit boring. Lastly people may stay for longer after games on Saturday afternoon to have a drink and something to eat compared to a Friday evening where they might go home straight after the match and not go into the clubhouse for a drink.

A few clubs higher up have done this before haven't they? Southend used to play on Friday's if they were home the same weekend as West Ham as a number of people from Southend go to West Ham so them playing at the same time would reduce the crowd. I think they do it to an extent in Ireland as well, a number of games are on Friday nights, possibly because some people prefer to watch the Premiership on tele to going to Cork City or Waterford United.

But I can't see it would make attendances any higher, in our case Town are usually at home when Reading are away and away when Reading are at home. So a couple of thousand (ok, few hundred usually) Reading fans who travel away and so wouldn't be able to go to non-League usually but would if this happened and I doubt many would. So would suddenly go, "Oh, Reading Town are playing on a Friday instead of Saturday, I'll have to go then."? People who are pre-occupied by going to garden centres on Saturday afternoon perhaps.

And what about in the winter when the mercury drops? Sure, it'll still be cold on a Saturday afternoon a lot of the time, but it'll be colder on a Friday and if the temperature's below zero we could just see a number of games postponed or abandoned due to frost (similar sort of scenarios to what happened against Headington).

As for the players, I'd guess they'd rather play on a Saturday than a Friday (as well as a Tuesday/Wednesday a lot of weeks). They're not professionals and most of them I presume have jobs and I know I'd rather just go home on a Friday after work and relax and then play on a Saturday afternoon than have to go almost straight to a game after work.

As for benefits, it'd mean I get to bomb along the Thames back home on my bike in the dark after games more often, that's always fun.

I can't really see much of a reason why a Friday would be beneficial over a Saturday, particularly in the winter when the nights are long and cold.

The Non League Paper today reports as follows:-
Hellenic general manager Brian King said the amount of football on TV is behind his league's thinking.
"We are now getting matches at any time from midday on a Saturday right through to Sunday tea-time" he said "It's taking people away from proper football".
"We've already had positive feedback from clubs."

He has a fair point, but aren't there often matches on Friday evenings as well?

BenOBagels wrote:He has a fair point, but aren't there often matches on Friday evenings as well?

I think they could always trial it out for a month or so and see what clubs think of the idea. If it dosen't improve the attendences, then I don't think it's worth carrying on with it as there is no real benefit.

Half the teams in the Premier League, showing you how many clubs have Friday night games this season

1Arsenal=0
2Aston Villa=0
3Birmingham=0
4Blackburn=0
5Bolton=0
6Burnley=0
7Chelsea=0
8Everton=0
9Fulham=0
10Hull=0

TV fixtures for November-ish onwards aren't decided for a while.

I could've just been mistaken of course, but I thought there were sometimes Football League games on Fridays.