Celtic are back in action this weekend and we are involved in a pretty tasty clash.
On Sunday, Brendan Rodgers‘ side will try to continue their terrific start to the Premiership season when we take on Hearts.
The Tynecastle clash is the latest really testing away trip we’ve had at the start of the season. After wins at Pittodrie, Ibrox, the Tony Macaroni Arena and Fir Park, Tynecastle and Easter Road could complete the set.
You may, or may not, have noticed that Sunday’s match is a 2:15pm kick-off. Those starts are unusual for Scottish football matches. Normally, if we were playing on a Sunday, we’d be looking at a 12pm kick-off.
The reason for this was explained in a recent article from Goal, and it essentially involved Hearts and Celtic stepping in to sort out a complex Sky Sports scheduling issue.
The broadcasters, who show the Scottish Premiership and the English Premier League, usually have two back-to-back games from the latter on a Sunday.
This week, however, they have had to move one of those — Sheffield United vs Manchester United — to Saturday night instead. This is because the Old Trafford side are due to play in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, and therefore can’t play their prior game on a Sunday as there’s not enough of a turnaround.
As a result, Sky only have one Premier League game on that day and a hole in their usual mid-afternoon slot. Enter Hearts vs Celtic and a later start for the 12 or so Hoops supporters actually with tickets for the match. (Our allocation is actually 576)
You may be wondering what Sky are now doing about the traditional Premiership 12pm slot. Well, Celtic are actually stepping in there too.
Celtic FC Women face Rangers in the SWPL on Sunday, and that match from the Excelsior Stadium will be shown on Sky. Kick-off is at noon.STo that’s around four hours worth of Celtic on Sunday, and you won’t even need to lift your remote to change the channel.