Leeds United and Portsmouth supporters have criticised the decision to move the Championship fixture between the two clubs next month.

The Fratton Park clash has been moved back 21 hours and will now kick off at midday on Sunday, March 9, after it was selected for live TV broadcast on Sky Sports and ITV. The knock-on effect of the move is Pompey's home tussle with Plymouth Argyle has also been pushed back by 24 hours to Wednesday, March 12, giving them one less day to prepare for their away trip to Preston North End the following Saturday.

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) highlighted "one broadcast slot has created problems for three sets of fans across two games", with Whites boss Daniel Farke having also expressed his unhappiness over the schedule earlier this week. Farke said moving matches purely for TV purposes risked alienating fans who actually attend games.

READ MORE: Leeds United close in on history as Championship points record explained

READ MORE: Leeds United pre-season plan outlined as Angus Kinnear addresses Manor Solomon chant

Chair of Pompey Supporters Trust Donal Vass said: “Portsmouth and Leeds are backed by two of the best fanbases in the country and will undoubtedly create a superb atmosphere for this game. But although Sky Sports and ITV are keen to broadcast this to their TV audiences, they’ve made it harder for those matchgoing fans to attend.

“The new TV deal has given fans slightly more notice of changes, but it’s still clear that little-to-no consideration is given to the impact of rearrangements on travelling fans.

“A recent Sky Sports and Sky Zero campaign encouraged supporters to ‘protect the sports they love from climate change by reducing their carbon footprint when travelling to venues’. But because of this change, away fans can no longer get from Leeds to Portsmouth by train before kick-off, forcing fans off of public transport and into cars.

“We back the FSA’s call for matchgoing fans to be treated with more respect – they are the lifeblood of our game, and should never be taken for granted.”

The Leeds United Supporters Trust have also delivered their verdict on the fixture change, saying: “We are disappointed by the decision to move our game at Portsmouth, yet another example in a long line demonstrating the lack of consideration for match-going fans by the broadcasters.

“The new kick-off time means there are limited transportation options to get to the game, with no trains leaving Leeds in time to make the start of the match.

“The increased notice period of fixture changes imposed by the Football League and Sky is a welcome one, but this is drastically undermined by implementing kick-off times that are inconvenient at best, or even impossible to attend for some supporters.

“Fans are consistently being failed by these fixture changes and we need to see more action being taken by the authorities to implement a basic level of consideration for logistics and impact on fan attendance.

“While broadcasters are allowed to call the shots, however, we will continue to see the exploitation of match-going fan loyalty. Leeds supporters will sell out our allocation, Sky will get their atmosphere, and nothing will change.

“We might also point out the hypocrisy of promoting green and sustainable initiatives while also removing more sustainable transport options as a result of fixture changes. Transport is by far the largest carbon contributor that occurs as a by-product of staging football matches.

“You do wonder how serious Sky actually are about addressing their impact on the environment.”