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Travelling Boro fans have been well and truly shafted by Sky Sports schedulers with the short-notice switch of the Charlton game.

Loyal supporters have been given just 17 days' notice of an outrageous fixture change that will explode months of carefully laid plans.

The switch - from Saturday 12 March to 3.30pm on the Sunday - shows utter contempt for the fans who are a vital part of their broadcast package.

Fans generate the atmosphere, the passion, the noise and the colour that makes football a magnetic attraction to their armchair audience.

They are a vital part of the magical matchday mix and they should be treated with respect and consideration.

In an age where customer service is king, football runs a medieval operation with fans treated as serfs, second class citizens to be ordered around at the drop of a hat and with no legal recourse.

And the change shows arrogant disdain for the clubs too.

They must now must pacify their most dedicated customers, especially the away fans, while Charlton will possibly face a financial loss on the day as well.

(Image: Getty Images)

Read more Boro offer fans up to £50 to help with the cost of changing travel arrangements

And that is before you consider the management of two teams with plenty at stake will have to change their own first team preparations.

And it is especially galling that the fixture has been picked as a second hand stop gap.

Sky’s schedule has been ripped up by the FA Cup. The sixth round has forced the postponement of Friday night’s Brighton v Reading Championship clash and left them with NO Premier League games on Sunday.

They have Wolves against Birmingham in an early slot on Sunday but that will not excite the advertisers.

For Sky the 24 hour delay may seem trivial and most convenient.

But it rolls a hand-grenade into careful prepared plans for thousands.

Work rotas have been switched. Hotels have been booked. Train tickets have been snapped up months in advance eto get the cheapest possible price. Coaches and minibuses have been arranged.

That can’t all be unravelled at two weeks notice. At least not without financial penalty.

Boro have made a fantastic gesture in offering a financial package to help rebook train tickets.

But they can’t help with the other interweaved domestic and employment issues, with hotels and other delicately balanced logistics that go with following a team away from home.

It is not their fault. At least not directly. But the clubs have dealt with the devil in selling the game to TV and they have a duty to try to mitigate the worse excess of the greedy small screen machine.

Most of the fans protests that have hit the headline have been about pricing but at least then fans have the choice to stump up or not.

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Fixture changes are far more pernicious because they leave supporters who have chosen to go hostage to fortune and powerless.

That needs addressing urgently. By government intervention if necessary. No other product or service is delivered in such an arbitrary fashion and with no redress. It is a scandal.

Most fans accept the Faustian Pact that comes with the TV cheque. They have learned to second guess their way through the fixture list and given plenty of notice have adapted to the demands.

But 17 days? That is brass-necked beyond belief.

Who pays the piper may pick the tune but this is a bum note.