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I am not too keen on a summer league schedule. If you look at the example of the US, they are having many problems with their summer schedule, especially from the player point of view. With all of the FIFA summer event schedules like the World Cup, Euros, etc, then the players who are called up to the national teams (regular team and youth teams) do not get a true break between international events, regular league, and qualifiers taking place all year long. So if a player is playing in a summer league, which is when a lot of players get their only true "breaks," then in reality they get no time off to recuperate. That then leads to a lower quality of play which means unhappy fans and sponsors. If the manager does rest them for a month or so, then fans are unhappy that their "star" players are not playing and complain about wasted tickets. Between those issues and a few more (such as pressure from FIFA), this is why the US leagues (MLS and USL) are looking at switching to a "normal" league schedule like the rest of the modern footballing/soccer world.

I believe a winter break is the best way to go. Yes I know clubs are worried about finances, especially those who count on extra ticket sales from families during the school holidays, but the cost of operating during inclement weather (such as Alloa's game, as you mentioned Chris) cancels out a lot of that extra revenue, if not all of it. I think following the Bundesliga model, or making it a bit longer, is the way to go. Granted there are population factors and economic factors, but the Bundesliga is considered by some to be the most successful league when you look at attendance and financial viability, so benchmarking yourself against one of the top leagues in the world can never be a bad exercise!

But then again I am not a player anymore, so my view may be too focused. I remember playing in cold weather during my college days in the US (in Oregon) and how horrible a toll that took on my body. Four leg surgeries later and no more playing soccer might make my view a bit biased against cold weather games on artificial turf! :-) But after my playing days were over I became an Operations Director and then a Director of Finance for lower-level ice hockey teams in the US, so I know exactly the struggles faced by lower-level teams such as Annan Athletic and the "do we or don't we" struggles. Now that I teach Sport Management at the university level I can relax, sit back and offer suggestions and criticisms without having to do the actual hard work (which is absolutely lovely by the way!), so this is another reason why I think a winter break with an earlier start is the best compromise. Just my personal opinion though obviously...

CW

We have to accept the fact that recent years show that our unpredictable winter weather will be getting progressively worse due to climate change. A winter break is a no go. When do you have the break, who expected this in November. If you need to have a break from Nov till at least the end of Feb, then in effect you are left with summer football.

Can't really see any problems with summer football..?

40 years ago, one of the last things I did before I left Scotland to find work in England..., was as a student I watched my team , Stranraer, playing away to Stirling Albion.

Partway through the second half, score 0-0, teeth chattering on the grey February afternoon, players kicking lumps out of each other on the rock hard pitch..... "Ggod.., I'm fffff----ing freezing... there's got to be something better than this... ".

And as the grease-laden half-time pie hit my bowels..., "Oh.. no.., now I'm going to s**t myself... ".

Yes, I reckon summer football is an excellent idea. I mean, there aren't too many 30 degree, 98% humidity days in Annan summers , are there, so heatstroke and dehydration would hardly be problems..?

As we cannot predict the weather so cannot have a set break. How if we set a temperature say below minus 2 for example on the day prior to the matches, and if anywhere is below that then all matches are automaticaly cancelled.

We need summer football. Its time we realised we can no longer continue to play during the winter months.

With more football on TV, Games called off due to a patch of ice on the pitch, roads grinding to a halt due to a lack of grit, and the ever dwindling support for lower league teams.

Im an Arbroath fan Chris, and i have been watching them for over 15 years now. I am slowly watching my club die. The fans are no longer willing to go to see them during these cold winter days, at least not with the same excitement, they just watch the football in a warm pub or at home in comfort instead.

And my team is one of the more finacially stable in the league. But even now we are finding it difficult because if our next home game is called off, we will be without a home game for 2 months. If we are struggling, how are other teams going to cope.

Its best we move to summer football (Febuary to November), Expand the SPL to 16 teams, have a 10 team 1st divsion, and have 2 Regional divisions of 10 teams each.

That way we get games played, More fans to games, More tv money as we wont be competing with other top leagues, better quality football on better quality pitches with players able to pass the ball without the ball getting stuck in a foot of mud.

Tradition is Dead, Survival is Everything.

I totally agree with "Come on Lichties"
If I have a choice in freezing weather of braving the elements for alive game or watching the tele
Barclays Premier League
Spanish La Liga
Serie A
witha couple of mates and some beers. It is no contest. If we have summer football then we avoid competition from these much superior leagues.

OK; for 90 minutes you may be frozen to your seat, with the wind biting your face and chilling your bones. Your feet seem to have lost all feeling in them and you're desperately rubbing your hands together to generate some, small warmth. You wonder why on earth you spend £18 to come along and freeze your walnuts off on this grey, miserable afternoon. And of course, it's 0-0.

But then your star man pops up with that last-minute winner over your closest rivals and somehow the weather seems to compound the feeling of ecstasy that you always get from that last-gasp winner.

Totally worth it, in my opinion. An experience that will be lost if we go to summer football.

Mr-Cammy. AS i said before. Tradition is dead. Time we grew up and moved into Summer football.

You may be willing to sit or stand in the freezing cold. But many more are not.

By playing in the summer when the weather is much warmer and brighter, people wont be able to complain about the cold. With no footie on the tv, fans can go to the shops in the morning, head to the game at 3pm to watch their star man play on a good pitch. And still get home to enjoy their tea at 5pm with a glass of wine and enjoy the rest of there day.

More fans at games means more money for clubs. Best way to keep a club going.

6. At 10:22am on 13 Dec 2010, ComeonLichties wrote:

Tradition is Dead, Survival is Everything.

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Make this guy head of the SFA!!

Most sense I've heard in a blog comment for ages, superb!! Couldn't agree more, big guy!!

On Sunday night I'll be at the Bernabeu to watch Real Madrid (my local team for the last 15 years) play Sevilla (bear with me, there is a relevance to Scottish football).

Getting to and from the game will probably be a very cold walk (minus 5 last night in Madrid). Once I'm inside the stadium, however, it will be relatively warm, because Real Madrid have a "central heating" system (in crude terms, they microwave you) which means fans will be up to 12 degrees centigrade warmer inside the stadium than they would be outside.

I don't know the running costs, but I do know that it "only" cost Real Madrid one million euros to install a system that heats a 80,000 capacity stadium, so roughly 10 pounds a head.

I realise that for teams like Annan it's not realistic, but seriously, if the SPL can insist on undersoil heating, why not also insist on heating for the fans?

On the subject of a winter break, I'd say 6th Jan - 6th Feb. Traditionally that's when the weather is worst, and when attendances are lowest (everyone short of money post Christmas). (If we have bad weather earlier, you could play postponed fixtures then.)

I really can't see Scottish (or English) football giving up the two fixtures (Boxing Day and Ne'erday, even if they are a day or two late) which are normally the highest attendances of the year.