Match of the Day’s running order is doing a major disservice to Irish football fans

Stoke City should hold a special place in the heart of most Irish fans.

Considering that five Republic of Ireland men feature for the Potters, normally Saturday night on the BBC is a chance to catch a glimpse of how Glenn Whelan, Jon Walters, Marc Wilson, Shay Given or even Stephen Ireland might have performed that afternoon. However, it seems that in order to witness anything of Mark Hughes' side, you have to endure some utter dross from the likes of Chelsea, West Brom, and Sunderland week after week. A survey from AP, based on every single episode of Match of the Day this season, has revealed that Stoke was the last team featured on the show more often than any other this season. Nine times the Potters finished bottom of the show's running order, with Everton and Bournemouth just behind. That means the chances of seeing Seamus Coleman, Darren Gibson, or James McCarthy are also severely impacted. Irish football fans are missing out, and it's all Gary Lineker's fault, sort of. The revelation is hardly a fair reflection on Stoke's progress under Hughes, as they comfortably finished inside the top half in the league again this season. No shock at who the most featured team of the season was of course, with Leicester topping the bill more than any other Premier League rival. Their games featured first on eight occasions over the course of the season. Relegated teams do tend to feature more often, so perhaps it is a good thing for Stoke and Everton to be so rarely seen before 11pm on a  Saturday night.