Four Bristol City February fixtures moved for TV coverage as Sky Sports stick to EFL fan pledge

Bristol City’s home match with Swansea City in February will be broadcast live on Sky Sports as the broadcaster continues its pledge to give EFL fans more notice of fixture changes.

The Ashton Gate was initially scheduled for Saturday, February 8 but will now be played on Sunday, February 9 with a 12pm kick-off time. It will also be broadcast on ‘Sky Sports Football’ rather than ‘Sky Sports Plus’.

Four of the Robins games in February have also been moved as part of the latest set of fixture changes, with showdowns with Cardiff City, Stoke City and Oxford United all altered.

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Former U's head coach Liam Manning’s return to the Kassam Stadium, which was originally scheduled to kick-off on Saturday, February 1 at 3pm will now begin at the earlier time of 12:30pm.

As a result of the change to the clash with Swansea, Stoke City’s trip to the South West has been pushed back a day to Wednesday, 12 February at 7:45, having originally been scheduled for Tuesday 11.

Finally, the second Severnside Derby of the season has been moved from a 3pm kick-off on Saturday 15 February and will now start at the earlier time of 12:30pm and will therefore be broadcast on Sky Sports+.

This season has seen the start of a major new broadcast deal between Sky and the EFL which will end in over 1,000 matches being broadcast across the Championship, League One and League Two as well as the Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

In regards to City, every Championship side will be shown on television at least 24 times over the course of the campaign whereas previously there was no obligation or set amount of games that had to be shown.

Already, the Robins have had nine matches broadcast by Sky Sports this season with the meeting with Scott Parker’s Burnley kicking off at 12:30pm on Saturday, November 23 after the international break.

Additionally, every midweek Championship fixture has been broadcast as part of the deal with the opening day draw with Hull City, the Carabao Cup clash with Coventry City while meetings with Leeds United and the Sky Blues were moved to 12:30pm kick-offs for television purposes.

Swansea City currently sit 11th in the Championship table after a mixed start under Luke Williams this term. The Swans have proven hard to score against in the opening weeks of the campaign, only conceding 10 goals in their opening 15 matches.

Manning’s Reds managed to find a way past their frugal backline when the two sides met in South Wales in September, with Jason Knight’s second-half header earning the Robins a 1-1 draw.

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