Why is there no Premier League football early on Saturday? King coronation impact on EPL match schedule

2023-05-06
3 min read

The Premier League schedule has been altered on matchday 35 due to the coronation of King Charles III.

With the ceremony for the King and Queen Consort taking place on Saturday May 6, fixtures have been moved around to avoid complications.

The fixture between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium was already moved back three days due to policing issues caused by preparation for the coronation.

Why is there no early kick-off on Saturday?

The King's coronation is set to begin at 11am on Saturday at Westminster Abbey in London before a weekend of events in different areas of the country.

This means there will not be the usual 12:30pm kick-off in the Premier League as the coronation will be taking place at this time.

To accommodate for the coronation, fixtures have either been moved later in the day or to a different day completely.

When are the Premier League games taking place this weekend?

Other than the early kick-off, the Premier League schedule on Saturday is the same with four 3pm BST fixtures and one at 5:30pm BST. 

West Ham and Manchester United face each other at 7pm BST on Sunday, Manchester City vs Leeds United was set to take place on this day but was moved due to their Champions League fixture against Real Madrid.

There is a very different schedule on Monday, which features a 3pm and 5:30pm BST fixture along with the usual 8pm BST kick-off.

Fixture Date and Time (BST)
Bournemouth vs Chelsea Saturday, May 6, 15:00
Man City vs Leeds Saturday, May 6, 15:00
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace Saturday, May 6, 15:00
Wolves vs Aston Villa Saturday, May 6, 15:00
Liverpool vs Brentford Saturday, May 6, 17:30
Newcastle vs Arsenal Sunday, May 7, 16:30
West Ham vs Man United Sunday, May 7, 19:00
Fulham vs Leicester Monday, May 8, 15:00
Brighton vs Everton Monday, May 8, 17:30
Nottingham Forest vs Southampton Monday, May 8, 20:00