8:55pm Wednesday 17th June 2009
By Nigel McFarlane
MANCHESTER Phoenix will kick off their English Premier League campaign on the weekend of September 19.
The 54-game season will culminate in the playoff finals extravaganza in Coventry in April and the club expects cup rounds to double up with regular league fixtures.
General Manager Andy Costigan told fans that whilst most games will take place on a Sunday, there will be a maximum of six on a Saturday evening.
“The EPL does not force any league games to be staged on a midweek night and therefore the only occasion that could see league games taking place during the midweek is totally dependant upon two clubs fully agreeing to do so,” he said. “In a slight change, on those Saturdays when we do play at home, face-off time has been moved back from 6.30pm to 7.00pm and this could well present the chance for the Phoenix Under-10s to play some of their games ahead of the senior EPL team taking to the ice. Sundays' will remain at the usual 5.30pm face-off time.”
That is good news for Phoenix' supporters who became disgruntled with a heavy midweek fixture backlog as the Club progressed in both the Knockout and Challenge Cups last season.
Phoenix have also denied they are about to sign former Manchester star Johan Molin as well as Newcastle hardman Andre Payette.
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