See there has been a survey conducted to see whether clubs would consider Summer Football. 27 would, 9 wouldn't and 6 didn't reply. See Here

Does anyone know if/how we responded?

IMHO this is a no-brainer, and could improve our standing in Europe - clubs would no longer be playing early rounds before the season started and so would be better prepared.

Meanwhile, Neil 'I only do what the clubs want' Doncaster thinks it is a bad idea. Make up your mind Neil - you either do what your told, or you actually earn your salary. Don't pick and choose depending on what the media think.

So, what do we think? A good or bad idea?

Having watched summer football in MLS for the last 9 years I would say its definitely a good thing. There are drawbacks but the benefits to the customer far outweigh those. 

 

Neil Doncaster warned that "there are all sorts of complexities that need to be taken into account" before a summer switch could be implemented. "There are two key constraints," he told BBC Scotland.

Things are only as complex as you want to make them but OK Neil, lets have them !

 

"One of is the international calendar given to us by Uefa and Fifa, which means there is a whole range of dates that are simply not available. "Typically, those midweek dates are ones we would quite like, when the weather is better.

Mmmmm .... UEFA and FIFA operate year round and there are plenty of dates in August-May that are also not available. If we are not currently playing in summer then we can work with whatever dates we can and just as we do now we can make sure nothing is scheduled for mandated UEFA or FIFA dates. How are we going to handle the 2022 world cup if it stays in Qatar? its basically the same thing with the FIFA competition moving instead of the league.  

"The other constraint is the number of games we ask our teams to play." With top-flight teams playing 38 league games a season, taking part in two domestic cups and some with European commitments, Doncaster said major restructuring would be needed before a summer switch could be considered.

Sorry,  I dont see how one follows the other. 38 games in a summer season is surely the same as 38 games in a winter season except that we are likely to have less postponements due to bad weather?  What is wrong with working backwards (something he should be good at) and because you know when you want to finish you can easily figure out when you have to start.  

He also posed the question: "Do we want to be playing games at a time when a World Cup or European Championship is going on?

It has been a good number of years since Scotland qualified for one of those, and we have less foreign players in our league now than in the past, so the point may be irrelevant ... However, having witnessed MLS in 2014 when 16 of the 20 teams had some players away on world cup duty it was not an issue. MLS shut down for two weeks during the first stage of the World Cup and then started up again during the knockout stages. Games were scheduled not to conflict with the major matches like the QF/SF and finals.

Looking at the list of compensation payments from FIFA (they paid £1770 per day to clubs who had players at the World Cup) only 4 Scottish teams were affected. Celtic (Samaras, Forster, Izaguirre, Ambrose) as well as Hibs, Kilmarnock and Hearts who all seem to have had payments but no players listed in any squads. 

 

Would that be the same Neil Doncaster that warned of "Armageddon" if Rangers went down to the Third Division?

I smell television money,  watch out for even more Friday night, Saturday 12 o'clock  & Sunday anytime games. Its a winter for me 

As it is the season ends in May and starts in July so we already have summer football.  In any case, don't the guys who do the business on the park deserve a summer holiday too?