Hibs to trial Friday night football for SPFL as October fixture is brought forward

Hibs are to take a leading role in piloting Friday night football for the SPFL as part of a wider effort to attract larger attendances at matches.

The Capital club’s Scottish Premiership fixture against St Johnstone at Easter Road, originally scheduled for Saturday October 22, will now kick off on Friday October 21 at 7.30pm.

Hibs are trialling the new initiative for the Scottish top flight after submitting a request to Scottish football’s governing bodies to move the match and after discussions with the league, police, and the Perthshire side, got the go-ahead.

Some Scottish Championship matches are already played on Friday nights, often for TV purposes.

In a bid to ensure an Easter Road sell-out, Hibs have also slashed ticket prices to £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. It follows the club’s ‘Football for a Fiver’ initiative last season, in which all non-hospitality tickets for a home league game against St Johnstone were sold for £5.

While club chiefs are keen to trial different initiatives, there is no desire to move away regularly from Saturday 3pm kick-offs, although Hibs did play a series of Friday night fixtures, mostly against Motherwell, during the latter days of the SPL.

A statement from Hibs read: “After discussions with the SPFL, Police Scotland, and St Johnstone, we requested to move the fixture to trial a new initiative for the club, and the league, by bringing back Friday night football.

“A leader and innovator in Scotland, we are trying something different and want to create a special atmosphere under the lights at Easter Road.”