Doncaster defends his Friday night experiment

Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster has defended the decision to use a match between Aberdeen and Dunfermline as a pilot for Friday night football.

The Pars will visit Pittodrie on 30 September in an SPL clash originally scheduled for the next day, while Partick Thistle host Morton in the Irn-Bru First Division.

Dunfermline fans are unhappy at the prospect of a lengthy journey from Fife to Aberdeen for the match which kicks off at 7.45pm.

Doncaster said: “When setting the fixture for the pilot we had to get a balance between local derby fixtures, which would ordinarily be policed and therefore are more difficult on a Friday night, and games which are too far away.

“There aren’t many games that are local to Aberdeen but Dunfermline is a game where it’s not too great a distance, certainly relative to some other clubs. Again, it’s not one that would be expected to have a police presence and therefore Friday night is viable.”

On the prospect of Friday night football being rolled out to other matches, Doncaster told RedTV: “It’s a pilot and I think we have to wait and see what the reaction is. We’ve had a lot of feedback from supporters prior to doing this, that they would like to see games on Friday evenings so that’s us responding to supporters’ demands. Clearly it will suit some supporters, particularly those who work on a Saturday, and it may not suit others. But these are the sort of things that we have to be open-minded to.

“We have to try new ideas. If it works out well, then we can hopefully replicate it. I think it’s indicative of the co-operation that now exists between the government, the police, the SFA, the SFL and ourselves.”