THERE are fears of a repeat of the disorder witnessed at last week’s Albion versus Palace clash after the clubs’ upcoming FA Cup tie was scheduled as an evening kick off.

The match, on Monday January 8, will kick off at 7.45pm and will be broadcast live on BT Sport.

Last Tuesday’s Premier League match, which saw fighting, arrests and injuries, also kicked off at 7.45pm but was not televised.

Derby matches are not usually scheduled to be held in the evenings as late fixtures give fans the opportunity to drink for long periods prior to kick off.

Instead, they are often held as early in the day as possible, often midday.

Fans reacted with a mixture of bemusement and concern at the news.

Supporter Paul Samrah said he was astounded by the decision.

He said: “Well they must have given a reason but I’m really surprised by that. I’m absolutely astounded. It gives people more time to go to the pubs and drink. There is every reason for it not to be an evening game. I was expecting Sunday midday to be honest. This decision really is extraordinary. I think it is going to put off a lot of supporters who fear there will be trouble.”

Albion fan Brétt Mendöza said: “Palace on a Monday night, live on BT. Not sure the police will be happy with that.”  The Monday night kick off also spells trouble for commuters. Last week thousands were disrupted as police struggled to keep fans apart at Brighton Station.

At the Premier League game Palace fans were allocated just 2,000 seats as opposed to the normal 3,000. The same arrangement is in place for the return fixture at Selhurst Park later in the season.

In the FA Cup away teams are normally entitled to 15 per cent. This would mean more than 4,500 tickets could be allocated for Palace fans when the clubs meet next month.  But the figure can be changed by agreement between the clubs and the authorities and the number of tickets could therefore change.  In recent days Albion bosses and the police have met to discuss how they can prevent a repeat of the disorder.

Club bosses have said they have CCTV images of troublemakers and are working to track them down. Criminal charges and banning orders are expected to follow.

As a Premier League club Albion must be able to schedule any game at any time and to be able to manage the game safely and professionally; regardless of the opposition and it is understood the timing has not been dictated by TV scheduling.

It is worth £144k to the club to be on TV.  There are significant engineering works on the weekend of January 6 and 7 so the club could not schedule a special train post-match for away fans like it can on the Monday.  It is thought that scheduling a match like this on a weekday will minimise drinking as opposed to increasing it with the television cameras giving some fans more of a reason to not attend the match.