SPEAKING of fine traditions and following up on my views expressed a fortnight ago on soccer's steady move away from Saturday 3pm kick offs I'd just like to say I'm glad I'm not a Preston fan.

Nowhere has soccer selling itself out to television been felt more than at Deepdale.

You expect the Man United's of this world to kick off when TV tells them to because of the massive viewing figures the big clubs can attract. But now even the smaller clubs are sadly having the tradition of 3pm Saturday kick offs taken away from them.

Amazing

The last time Preston played at home on a Saturday afternoon was September 15 and the next time will be November 3.

What is more amazing is that by Christmas they will have played on every day of the week.

Kick offs at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2.15pm and 6.15pm any day of the week is bad enough but who's to say it won't get worse?

Television audience figures dictate when football is played and if at some time in the future a satellite channel reckons it can get several million pay-per-view customers in Malaysia to fork out for a Premiership match don't be surprised if two teams are told to kick off at four o'clock in the morning.