HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 28, 2023--

The Premier League announced its 2023/24 fixture list today and the schedule left many fans feel particularly disparaged by the arrangement. Supporters of six clubs in particular - Aston Villa, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, West Ham, and Wolverhampton Wanderers - are feeling hard done-by after their teams were scheduled to play away from home on each of the opening weekend, Boxing Day and the final day of the season. Fans of these six clubs are disappointed enough to start the season away from home, with that frustration only rising that they will miss out on home days for any of the season’s three most iconic matchweeks. While anger is flowing all through fans of these six clubs, on the other end of the spectrum, six lucky clubs will feature at home during all three of these rounds. Arsenal, Brentford, Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea, and Sheffield United will all have the opportunity to play on home soil, hoping to reward their fans with outstanding performances at each end of the campaign. Aston Villa fans rushed to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction with the Premier League’s scheduling, with Villa Park set to miss out on the three big match days ahead of their first year in Europe since 2010 - with the fans left travelling for each of those occasions. Forest fans didn’t seem to hold back either, as this marked the second consecutive year that the Reds have been forced to play away on the three big match days. After a successful season which saw Fulham finish tenth in the Premier League, ahead of their close neighbours Chelsea, Craven Cottage will also miss out on any home days on gameweek 1, post-Christmas or the final round of fixtures. Fans of Wolves didn’t seem to hold their displeasure back from social media either as many fans showed their disappointment over the Premier League’s fixture list on Twitter. While fans are rarely pleased with scheduling decisions year after year, these six clubs can perhaps feel particularly justified in their displeasure with the latest schedule release.

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A new deal will bring the “biggest shake-up in the UK mobile market for over a decade” – and could have significant consequences for anyone who uses a phone in the country. Vodafone and Three will merge as part of a deal that will see the two companies merge to make one of Europe’s biggest mobile operators. That will leave customers of those companies – and other operators in the UK – with a network operator significantly different from the one before the merger happened. But will it benefit those customers, or harm them? Here’s everything you need to know about how the possible deal might shakeup the mobile market. What is happening? Vodafone and Three – both relatively small phone networks in the UK – will merge together, with Vodafone owning 51 per cent of the combined business. It’s not clear yet what the new company will be called. It’s also not actually clear whether the deal will actually go through. Regulators still have to approve it, which is not guaranteed. It will affect the companies themselves, which will be re-organised around the new merger, as well as employees who may now fear job cuts. But it will also affect customers and the rest of the country. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of 2024, the companies said. “This long-awaited mega merger represents the biggest shake-up in the UK mobile market for over a decade,” said Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight. What does it mean for customers? The companies are looking to position the deal as great for its customers. It says that it will immediately lead to a “better network experience with greater coverage and reliability at no extra cost, including through certain flexible, contract-free offers with no annual price increases, and social tariffs”. Over the long term, it is not clear how the company intends to bring those customers together. When EE and T-Mobile merged into EE, for instance, the two customer groups initially stayed separate and then gradually became integrated. What does it mean for people who aren’t Three or Vodafone customers? Those behind the merger argue that it will help everyone else, too. Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s chief executive, said that it was “great for customers, great for the country and great for competition”. The “country” part of the statement is intended to point to the £11 billion investment that the newly merged company has promised for the UK, which it says will help “create one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks”. That new network will help provide billions in economic benefit, it argues. And the “competition” part comes from the argument that the mobile market will become more competitive, with another large operator in it. In theory, that could lead to better prices and deals for everyone – though there is of course no guarantee of that. Will prices go up for existing or new customers? It’s difficult to know this far out. Bigger companies have more power, which they can use to try and drive prices higher – but they also have more scale, which they can potentially use to be more efficient and reduce prices. Both companies have recently increased their prices significantly, even above inflation, which might be a clue to how they intend to behave in the future. But they may argue that the deal would allow them to avoid similar rises in the future. This will be the question that regulators grapple with as they probe whether the deal should go ahead. If they cannot be convinced that the merger will lead to better conditions for customers, then they will look to stop it. Will the deal go ahead? There is still a good chance that regulators will stop the deal from going ahead. They did the same when Three attempted to take over O2 in 2016, citing the risk that the deal would lead to higher prices. “This will be a hard sale given that both companies have been outperforming the market for the last year or so,” said Paolo Pescatore, from PP Foresight. “Let’s see if the authorities have a change of heart. Both parties need to demonstrate that this is genuinely in the interest of UK plc, the economy, and consumers for it to have a chance of getting over the line.” Read More Battery breakthrough ‘offers 1,500 kilometre range from just 10 minutes of charging’ EU makes major statement on the future of Google Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Battery breakthrough ‘offers 1,500 kilometre range from just 10 minutes of charging’ EU makes major statement on the future of Google Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely

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Formula One’s governing body has launched an investigation following another near-miss in the pit-lane at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. A week after Esteban Ocon almost collided with a cluster of individuals in Azerbaijan, footage has emerged of an official – understood to be a volunteer marshal – walking in front of Lando Norris as the British driver entered the pits in his McLaren. The incident on lap five of the 57-lap race was uploaded to the Sky Sports’ F1 website, but has since been removed. An FIA spokesperson told the PA news agency: “We are aware of the incident and looking into it with local organisers.” The alarming flashpoint followed an FIA review into pit-lane safety after Ocon said the sport narrowly avoided a “disaster” when he stopped for tyres on the final lap at the previous round in Baku. An on-board camera from the French driver’s car showed dozens of people – who had gathered at the entrance to the pit-lane with the race still ongoing – scrambling to get out of his way. Ahead of last weekend’s race in the United States, the FIA updated its rulebook to prevent “mechanics from moving from their garages to the parc ferme”, and “other personnel or VIPs from entering the pit lane, until the last car has taken the chequered flag”. The FIA warned that “any infringement will result in the removal of passes from the team(s) in question from subsequent events, and potential reporting of the infringing team(s) to the stewards”. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live