London (AFP) – Wolves’ Premier League match against Sheffield United has been moved “as a mark of respect” to avoid a clash with the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday.
Prince Philip’s funeral is due to begin at 1400GMT, and a national minute’s silence will be held at that time.
Wolves’ meeting with bottom-of-the-table United had been due to kick off at Molineux at 1400 GMT, but will instead start at 1915 GMT.
“As a mark of respect for His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Premier League has rescheduled the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United due to be played on Saturday 17 April at 15:00 BST,” a Premier League statement said on Monday.
“The fixture will now kick off later in the day at 20:15 BST to avoid a clash with the Ceremonial Royal Funeral.”
Saturday’s other Premier League game, between Newcastle and West Ham, will kick off at 1130 GMT as planned.
It is understood the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley will stay at its original 1630 GMT kick-off time.
A number of Football League clubs announced their matches on Saturday had been moved to 1130 GMT kick-offs from their original 1400 GMT slot, though some may opt to kick off at or after 1600 GMT if a lunchtime kick-off does not work for travel reasons.
The English Football League said it “will now work with its clubs to determine at what time the matches will be played”.
In Scotland, there are six Scottish Cup fourth-round matches scheduled around the time of the funeral, including the high-octane clash between Rangers and holders Celtic at 1500GMT.
The Scottish Football Association says it is has “entered dialogue with the relevant stakeholders” regarding those fixtures.
All four Premiership Rugby matches being played on Saturday have been moved, with two kicking off at 1130 GMT and two at 1600 GMT.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has said all nine County Championship matches will pause for an hour and 20 minutes.
The Scottish Grand National at Ayr and the Spring Trials meeting at Newbury will now be held on Sunday instead of Saturday.
“As a mark of respect for the funeral ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, it has been agreed that no racing will take place in Great Britain between 2:45pm and 4:15pm on Saturday 17 April,” said the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in a statement.
“As a result, the Scottish Grand National fixture at Ayr and the Spring Trials fixture at Newbury will now be moved from Saturday 17 to the afternoon of Sunday 18 April.”
