SPFL confirm League Cup final kickoff and venue

The SPFL have issued the following press release this afternoon:

"The SPFL is disappointed to confirm that Inverness Caledonian Thistle will play in the League Cup final against Aberdeen, after the Highlanders won their semi-final away to Hearts on penalty kicks.

The league is delighted by the success of its choice of semi-final venues.  The decision to play the Inverness-Hearts match in Edinburgh was clearly vindicated by the fact that there were only 8,000 empty seats at Easter Road, despite the fact that the majority of Hearts fans had to travel all the way from the other side of Edinburgh during a cold Sunday morning in February.

We would also like to apologize to the BBC for failing to make sure that Sunday's match was concluded in 90 minutes, as their coverage of the rugby was heavily disrupted.  The referee has been heavily censured for not taking further steps to ensure that the match was completed by the previously agreed time.

As regards the kickoff time and venue of the final, the SPFL would like to emphasize that the needs and wishes of the supporters of Inverness and Aberdeen were heavily prioritized.  Thus we are proud to announce that the 2013-14 League Cup final will kick off at 0400 on Thursday 20 March.  This will ensure that there is no risk of any other BBC programmes being affected.  Of course, BBC One will be showing 24 hour news at this point, so the final will be broadcast on BBC Alba, who have kindly moved a double bill of Donnie Murdo to another point in the schedule.

In addition, the SPFL board have struck the perfect balance between supporter convenience, matchday atmosphere and ensuring enough tickets are available to meet demand by hiring out the Camp Nou in Barcelona for the final.  We fully expect Inverness and Aberdeen supporters will fill this stadium for the big occasion.

In further news, we can also confirm that, from next season, the format of the League Cup will be drastically altered.  The number of clubs entering the competition will be reduced to two, allowing us to guarantee a Rangers v Celtic final and so ensure that a sponsor can once more be found for the tournament."

Neil Doncaster*

(As told to Narey's Toepoker)