City Stand Firm Over Derby Request

The Derby is less than two days away and, if Manchester United had their way, it could be three days away. Our Club’s decision not to accede to their request to delay the kick off by 24 hours should be praised.

Stuart Pearce summed the situation up nicely when saying "We've not made this decision to spite Manchester United, we made this decision because this game has been pencilled in on that date all season. It was brought forward for television, the game has sold-out and could have been sold out many times over so people have made their arrangements. The decision was made on the back of the Everton game last year, where we had letters from City and Everton fans who had already made their arrangements when the date and kick off were moved." The Everton game of course took place at the unprecedented time of 11.15 on a Sunday morning.

Pearce did allude to the fact that actually playing on the Saturday probably benefits Manchester United "Also, it might work in United's favour because it gives them a day extra to prepare for Chelsea next week."

Well done City for thinking of all those supporters who not only have to arrange travel but also those supporters that have to arrange time off from work etc.