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Dodds upset over cup final kick-off time

By CALUM CROWE

INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle boss Billy Dodds has reaffirmed his belief that the SFA were wrong to move the kick-off time for Saturday’s Scottish Cup final. The issue reared its head again earlier this week after Caley Thistle were forced to hand back around 2,500 tickets for the Hampden showpiece against Celtic. The club were struggling to sell their allocation due to the travel implications for supporters around the 5.30pm kick-off. Dodds insists the SFA have made the wrong call — and believes Inverness, who will be backed by around 5,000 supporters, would

have sold their full allocation had it been a traditional 3pm kick-off. ‘I don’t think we’d have been handing as many tickets back with a 3pm kick-off,’ he said. ‘We’d probably have sold another couple of thousand tickets. ‘Whether it was the kick-off time, whether it was the travel or whether it was ticket prices, it has certainly affected our fans. ‘I’m not saying we’d have sold 20,000, but we’d have definitely sold our allocation. The kick-off time is disappointing. I’m not going to hide from it. ‘As a player, with what this competition means, I’ve always been brought up that the Scottish Cup is your showpiece — as a young boy and then playing or coaching.’ Under pressure from broadcasters BBC Scotland and Viaplay, the SFA opted to move the kick-off time to avoid a clash with the FA Cup final in England. With Manchester City and Manchester United set to clash at Wembley at 3pm, they feared that would be a hammer blow to viewing

figures for the Celtic-Inverness game. Both Celtic and Inverness were critical of the move, with Hampden chiefs insisting the decision was made to try and maximise viewing figures and reach ‘as wide an audience as possible’. But, somewhat embarrassingly, the game won’t be broadcast to a UK-wide audience, with the national BBC One channel instead choosing to show an episode of Garden Rescue at 5.35pm. Dodds believes the SFA were wrong to bow to the pressure of broadcasters and should have stuck to their guns. ‘I’ve been involved with Dundee United and Queen of the South in a Scottish Cup final while coaching and I’ve won the cup with Rangers,’ he said. ‘I’d have been disappointed on any of those dates — as player, coach or manager — if it wasn’t three o’clock. ‘It is our country’s showpiece. Should we just hide behind the fact English football has a bigger profile? Just accept that? ‘Not for me. Get it out there. There is one half of the Old Firm and ourselves. People want to watch the game. It is our showpiece so to move it? Pretty poor, I’d say.’ Dodds has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with his players fully rested given the fact they haven’t played a competitive fixture for over three weeks. Since losing to Ayr United in the final game of the Championship campaign, Caley Thistle have kept themselves ticking over with a couple of bounce games behind closed doors. Dodds admits the preparation hasn’t been ideal, but nor will he use it as any sort of excuse heading into the final. He added: ‘It has not been ideal. It has been a challenge, but it has not been terrible. ‘I would have loved to have been in the play-offs, with real top-notch games going into the final, but it’s not to be. ‘The bonus about it is we got a wee rest. We got them back for three weeks and conditioned them, not that they needed much because they look after themselves. ‘We got a couple of games and a practice game on Saturday, so we are ready to go. It has not been ideal, but it has not been terrible either.’

Scottish Cup Final Countdown

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2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

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