Why Hartlepool United's trip to strugglers Braintree Town is set to kick-off at unfamiliar time explained
Hartlepool United's long trip to Essex to take on National League strugglers Braintree Town is set to kick-off at the unusual time of 2pm on Sunday, December 21 - here's why.
The game is scheduled to kick-off at 2pm on Sunday as part of DAZN's '12 Games of Christmas' initiative, with all 12 National League matches due to be broadcast live over the weekend.
DAZN, which is set to showcase more than 600 National League matches live and on-demand this season, will offer all 12 games live this weekend as well as a 'MultiMatch Live' broadcast, with fans able to tune in to real-time updates, match highlights as well as in-game commentary from throughout the division.
The weekend's National League action, therefore, is set to kick-off on Friday evening at 7:45pm when a resurgent Altrincham entertain league leaders Rochdale in a tantalising clash between two Greater Manchester sides.
The action continues with two matches set to take place at 12:30pm on Saturday as Boston host Aldershot and in-form Woking welcome high-flying Scunthorpe, while Southend's trip to Tamworth as well as bottom club Truro's mammoth trek up to promotion-contenders York are due to kick-off at 5:30pm. Saturday's action concludes at 7:45pm, with Forest Green Rovers making the short trip to rivals Yeovil in a hotly-anticipated West Country derby.
On Sunday, two relegation-threatened sides go head-to-head at midday as Morecambe travel to Brackley, while Sutton's trip to Solihull Moors is also scheduled to kick-off at 12pm. Pools, looking to bounce back from successive defeats, are set to take on strugglers Braintree at 2pm, with Eastleigh's long journey to Gateshead, who are in the midst of a nightmarish run of eight defeats in a row, due to begin at the same time.
A mammoth weekend of action concludes on Sunday at 4pm, with Wealdstone making the trip to West Yorkshire to take on Halifax while Boreham Wood welcome Carlisle in a clash between two of the division's promotion contenders.
Although one of the primary aims of DAZN's so-called '12 Games of Christmas' is to showcase the National League, there are also understandable concerns about some of the distances away fans are being asked to travel so close to Christmas. Hardy Eastleigh supporters, for instance, are set to undertake the more than 550-mile round trip to the Gateshead International Stadium on a Sunday afternoon, while Truro's journey up to York, due to kick-off at the later time of 5:30pm on Saturday, encompasses a 784-mile round trip which is expected to involve more than 13 hours of driving.