BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) – British sports across the entire island, which include the Premier League, EFL, Premiership Rugby, F1 and British Horseracing, have all adjusted their timing schedules “as a mark of respect” to avoid clashing with the Saturday funeral of Prince Philip, husband of the Queen.
The funeral of the late Duke of Edinburgh, who passed at the ripe age of 99 on Friday, will be held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at 15:00 British Summer Time (BST) on Saturday, April 17.
As there will be a national minute’s silence at 15:00, the Football Association recommended that no games be played between 14:45 and 16:15.
There will also be a minute’s silence observed before all games and all those taking part are to don black armbands. In addition, flags at Wembley Stadium and St George’s Park will fly at half-mast on the day.
A statement from the Football Association read in part: “The FA’s thoughts continue to be with Her Majesty the Queen, our president, HRH the Duke of Cambridge, and the wider royal family during this difficult time.”
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, the following alterations have been made to the scheduling of games in the weekend’s sporting activities. In the Premier League, for instance, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ home game against Sheffield United, which had been scheduled to kick off at 15:00, will be moved to 20:15.
Of the 32 fixtures set for 15:00 in the Championship, League One and League Two will take place at either 12:30 or 17:30. It has been left open with the Clubs able to determine which time suits them, with Sunday also a possible option.
The National League has confirmed its 15:00 kick-offs are moving to 12:30.
However, the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley will remain at 17:30. But, the Women’s FA Cup fourth-round fixture between Manchester City Women and Aston Villa Women will be brought forward to 12:00.
All four Irish Premiership fixtures have been switched.
In racing, Formula 1 has changed the schedule of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to ensure cars are not on track at the same time as the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
Saturday’s on-track sessions have been moved forward an hour, with qualifying now starting at 14:00 local time (13:00 BST) and final practice at 10:00 BST.
All practice on Friday has also been moved as a result, to comply with regulations demanding specific gaps between sessions. The first hour-long session will be at 10:00 BST and the second at 13:30.
The Scottish Grand National at Ayr has been switched from 17 to 18 April.
Also moved by the British Horseracing Authority are the Spring Trials at Newbury to the Sunday and they announced that there will be no racing between 14:45 and 16:15 on Saturday.
Premiership Rugby has changed the kick-off times of all four of its matches on Saturday.
Sale’s match against Gloucester and Exeter’s home game against Wasps will both start at 12:30 while Newcastle v Bristol will kick off at 17:00, along with Harlequins v Worcester.
Ireland are scheduled to face France in the Women’s Six Nations at 14:15, although the match is in doubt because of Covid restrictions.
In cricket, the nine County Championship matches scheduled on Saturday will be paused between 14:50 and 16:10.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has also asked all recreational cricket clubs to do the same.
In Scotland, six Scottish Cup fourth-round matches scheduled around the time of the funeral have been moved, including Rangers against Celtic at 16:00, which has now been rescheduled to 15:00 on Sunday.
St Mirren versus Inverness Caledonian will kick-off at 18:00 on Friday night with Motherwell against Greenock Morton taking place an hour later.
Kilmarnock versus Montrose will now kick-off at 11:45 on Saturday while Stranraer versus Hibernian has been switched from 12:15 on Saturday to 12:15 on Sunday. Aberdeen v Livingston has been brought forward to Saturday at 17:30.
According to UK government guidance: “The decision as to whether sporting fixtures continue to go ahead is at the discretion of organisers. Organisers may wish to consider using black armbands and observing a silence before matches are played.”
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