Click here or read below for my article on a winter break in Scottish football. It was published on www.thefootballreporter.com.
In recent weeks Scotland has been pounded with copious amounts of snow. Postponements have been rife and so to avoid all the hassle caused by these call-offs, fans and pundits have started calling for a winter break again. But could it really work?
To be blunt, no, it could not.
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| Some of the flooding during the storm |
On 21 July 2009, Scottish First Division side Raith Rovers hosted a friendly against Hibernian. Everything was going well until the second half. The players came out and started the second period, but after just two minutes there was a power surge and the floodlights cut out. In just the next ten minutes, as the lights were turning back on, a freak storm occurred and flooded the pitch. Unfortunately, the match had to be abandoned.
If you had not already observed, this was a friendly abandoned due to weather, not in winter, but in the heart of summer. Admittedly it was a freak storm, but it underlines the point that Scottish weather is unpredictable at the best of times.
The current league campaign has seen postponements because of large amounts of snow (and referee strikes) as early as 27 November, while last season, Scottish clubs still saw matches called off as late as 2 March because of frozen pitches. So going by the events of just one year, 2010, if a winter break was to cover all possibilities of postponed fixtures, it would have to start in mid November and continue till mid March.
Of course this is far too long a period for no football to be played in the current league set up. How are Scottish teams supposed to find enough time to play their 36 or 38 league games, plus cup fixtures, between August and mid November, and mid March till May? Some clubs would have to play at least two games a week for the entire season to fulfil their fixtures. The product on display is bad enough already without having to watch the same players trying to perform whilst physically shattered.
Three or four months of fixtures cannot be wiped out because pitches 'might' freeze or flood, or snow 'might' compromise the safety of fans. Instead, the country has to continue to battle on with what the weather serves up. If Scotland is hit by adverse weather during December and January, then so be it. It can not be predicted when conditions will be unsuitable, so clubs have to stay tough and play the hand they are dealt by nature.
Some may say the solution would be to employ a winter break and extend the season by a few months. However, this would lead to league campaigns finishing in June or July. How are pitches supposed to repair themselves if football is still being played deep into the summer? How are clubs going to afford paying wages for one or two months longer when they struggle to pay wages as it is? And how are players going to have enough time to recuperate for the following season if they have just a few weeks to rest?
The 'winter break' is a pipedream and always will be.
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