More Reason For Summer Footy?

[GMD]

With the recent bad weather postponing so many games due to rain, snow & ice, should we really take a step back, realise what country we're in and the weather it brings and move our season of football to a time when the weather is still bad but less likely to postpone games.

I know if i had the choice to sit watching ICT vs St Mirren i'd rather do it on a sunny day in the summer than -3 in December. is there any reason why we can't say to fifa or uefa this is what we're gonna do:

• Move Our Season To Start In June
• Winter Break From Nov To Jan (Split Games To Be Played After Break)
• Play More Midweek Games To Avoid Stacking Of Games (Preferably Teams Close to each locationally other to keep away fans happy)
• Main Referee To be Available At Stadium From 9am To Avoid Late Call Off's
• Combine League & Scottish Cup To be Played Post or Pre-Season Avoiding Prolonging Regular Season, Use Bracket Style Fixtures To Create Atmosphere Around Possible Opponents.
• In Place of League Cup Offer An SPL vs SFL Charity All Star Game At Hampden Post Season.

Any Thoughts??

[Scotty]

Having experienced summer football for the past 4 seasons in Toronto, I can definitely see the benefits .... warm weather being the main one but unless FIFA as well as the regional governing bodies like UEFA or CONCACAF get on board with it then its never gonna happen on a wide scale and where it does, it will continue to generate problems.

MLS in North America plays from Mar/Apr to Oct/Nov and one of the main reasons seems to be weather and getting the crowds out .... not much chance of encouraging the sport if you have games scheduled when the temperature in the Northern and North Eastern part of the continent is guaranteed to be minus 10 or 20 for much of the winter.

Summer football however does come with pitfalls ....

Firstly, instead of the cold, you might get extreme heat affecting players and fans alike. At least twice in the last 4 seasons I have suffered from heatstroke after a game and that is not a nice experience ! Ok, I know in my case it was pretty much self-inflicted ... a few pints, searing temperatures, and the stupidity of not drinking plenty of water, but it is a factor to consider. I know its probably not as big a factor in Inverness or in Scotland in general as it might be here, where we can get weeks on end of +30 temperatures, but it is something to consider.

The other factor, and it is one which affects Toronto FC and MLS equally is the disconnect between league schedule and FIFA or regional dates. MLS has to deal with international dates set by FIFA / CONCACAF (North/Central America) / CONMEBOL (S America) / UEFA (Europe) and to a lesser extent the other confederations. Most of these are heavily loaded towards summer fixtures as the world in general - or the so-called 'important' leagues within it - by and large have a domestic timeline taking in the winter months so doing it this way reduces/eliminates fixture conflicts. How does MLS deal with it? Basically they ignore it as they cannot work around it and stick to the league schedule (apart from taking a 2 week shutdown last year for the first round of the WC). On many occasions over the last 4 years I have gone to games where players are out on international duty and the games go ahead regardless. One memorable game for me was where TFC had 9 players on duty in World Cup Qualifiers all over the globe and yet the game went ahead. TFC had to draft in youngsters from the Academy as well as sign the equivalent of 2 or 3 "trialists" for this game. It diluted the product and was disrespectful to fans who had paid to see their club put out the best team possible. If Scotland unilaterally moved to a summer schedule, would you be prepared for the same with all our U19, U21 or (potentially) full international players being unavailable and no room in the schedule to postpone a game?

Personally, I think Terry got it about right when talking about league reconstruction .... He basically questioned what is wrong with the current setup of 12 ? I disagree with him about 12 but I think he was saying basically that 12 is better than 10 (i think 14 or 16 would be better but thats another debate). He also mentioned about not changing everything radically and I have a similar view about summer football. Although the last couple of years have seen harsh winters in Scotland, traditionally it is not as bad as that. Yes there is snow and dodgy weather, but it doesnt happen every year and when it does you have no way to tell in advance whether it is going to come in December, or more likely January, February or even March. If there is something to be done then maybe it should be done by looking at the whole year in general and tweaking things to suit rather than altering it drastically. The league runs from early August to basically the end of May (or maybe a few days into June). Do you get the whole of June and July off your work? (cue comments about the teachers on here!!). Maybe we should look at spreading out the season to cover the whole year? Have a couple of weeks in Summer as a break, have a winter break of a similar timescale and reschedule the current two cups to the start and end of season so that league call-offs can be accommodated as midweek fixtures during the normal season and not be interfered with by cups. Alternatively, reduce the summer break and keep the cups running during the season but use the schedule so that clubs play 3 out of 4 Saturdays during the winter and the 4th Saturday (as well as midweeks) can be used to get in any postponed games .........

[Alex MacLeod]

Most of the former USSR countries, East European and Nordic countries and the League of Ireland all play summer football. This is one of the reasons that always comes up for our teams doing poorly in qualifying rounds of European competition. All these countries manage to work around international competition.

[GMD]

i agree i feel there is prob a bit more money in the US game than in the scottish one!! i don't think we're flush with players at risk of international call ups.......so why not change itup if we're gonna scrap the SPL and start again going BACK to a ten ten league then why not just go for everything we all want, i doubt agin we're at risk of super high temperatures in perth or dingwall

might get more folk along tourist wise, be something different to be able to advertise withing tourist mags that they can attend a football match while people are on holiday here, sell some shirts etc.

the big question will always be, why not?

[Tug]

im still wondering how it would be that you affect the change from summer football to winter

[Scotty]

i agree i feel there is prob a bit more money in the US game than in the scottish one!! i don't think we're flush with players at risk of international call ups.......so why not change itup if we're gonna scrap the SPL and start again going BACK to a ten ten league then why not just go for everything we all want, i doubt agin we're at risk of super high temperatures in perth or dingwall

might get more folk along tourist wise, be something different to be able to advertise withing tourist mags that they can attend a football match while people are on holiday here, sell some shirts etc.

the big question will always be, why not?

There isn't really a lot of money in the US game .... certainly not compared to other sports that's for sure. With the salary cap and 'roster' restrictions, its very much a case of trying to fit everyone in under a certain wage limit and making sure you have enough youngsters (developmental) & Americans/Canadians (domestic) in your squad to meet league requirements, anyone else ("internationals" [ie. foreigners, but not necessarily those capped at international level]) tend to be "value for money" signings rather than big names. Sure you have the likes of David Beckham or Thierry Henry on huge designated player wages for LA and NY respectively, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Its very much a developing league and they are trying to avoid the mistakes made in the NASL of the 60s/70s. If I am honest, the more I write about MLS, the more I actually like it .... the quality or consistency may not be there (yet), but they are taking a developmental approach that is laying very strong foundations for the future, a future that has already seen the US climb the world rankings and as I have predicted many times in the last 4 years, will also see Canada do the same (eventually).

The match I remember where TFC had 9 away on international duty comprised of something like 3 Canadian call-ups, 2 USA call-ups, 1 for Wales, 1 for New Zealand, and a couple of African players whose countries I cant remember right now.

I am not against summer football, I think it does have benefits but I dont see the need for us to take the current system - structure as well as timing - and demolish it entirely without doing extensive risk and/or cost/benefit analysis. Personally, I would like to see a working group established that has all stakeholders represented. Non League Teams, SFL Teams, SPL Teams, Supporters (perhaps via a body like Supporters Direct), Players, Coaches, Referees, and even the TV and Radio companies as well as current and (legitimate) potential sponsors.

Get all concerned to list whats good, whats bad, what they would like, what they are against, what they see as current problems, what they see as potential solutions and thrash it out so that we can actually come up with a plan that will develop the game from the grass roots right up to the top. None of this egotistical crap that gives a former politician a figurehead role so he can later roll out a plan that benefits less than 25% of teams which has already been on the shelf for years and call it new. Use the current SPL/SFL model in much the same way as the MLS have used the NASL model and learn from our mistakes. Look at how things work in other areas - perhaps in successful countries with similar populations, or perhaps in emerging markets like the MLS .... I am sure the list of things that came out of such a discussion would probably include the timing of games (summer/winter) as well as the structure of the league, but it may also include other things we havent thought of (yet) that are good.

If we rip it up and start again without first analysing every little detail of what we currently have and what might be achievable and instead put something radical but maybe less well thought out in place we will perhaps lose the opportunity for real and positive change that could truly reform and improve the game as a whole.

[MissICT]

I'd get a game on my birthday :D

I think having a winter brake is a good idea as it would stop all the match congestion.

[IT86]

For me and a lot of fans I know of varying teams Christmas and New Year games are great. Catch up with old friends get out of house etc. usually big or at least bigger gates and a good atmosphere.Always scan the fixtures to see who we have got around Christmas. Can think of two recent pre Christmas tynecastle fixtures which were a great day out with good visiting support and atmosphere as a good example.Maybe a break in January or February.Summer football would also cut into international tournaments.