Home   Sport   Article

Will Clark - Scottish football never benefitted from winter break and there should be no plans to bring it back





WINTER has come and hopefully we have seen the worst of it now pass us by in 2025.

All matches in the Highland League were called off for the second week in-a-row
All matches in the Highland League were called off for the second week in-a-row

For the second week in a row, both the Highland League and North Caledonian League suffered a complete wipeout of fixtures with no matches taking place in those competitions so far this year.

League One was also impacted last weekend with Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s trip to Annan Athletic called off 26 hours before kick-off on Friday. It was one of three games in League One which were postponed. Matches in other divisions were also postponed.

But it was a full card in the Premiership last weekend with all six matches taking place. They included Ross County’s 4-1 defeat to Celtic at the Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall. It was believed that the temperature was around -6 when the match took place.

With Premiership grounds having undersoil heating, they are more prepared to combat sub zero temperatures. But the lower down you go in the division, the less resources they have to combat such scenarios.

This season, the winter break was scrapped as the Scottish Premiership looked to accommodate the expansion of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference.

Group stages in these competitions now run through the autumn until the end of January. With the increase in matches in European competition, new dates needed to be found. And the easiest way was to scrap the winter break, which only applied to the Premiership.

The winter break did not exist for divisions below the Premiership as they would play straight through the season.

However, with lower league clubs not having the resources as teams in the Premiership, they are always going to be more susceptible to postponements.

There was always discussions whether it would be appropriate to have a winter break through the entirety of the league system. However, there is always the issue of predicting when freezing conditions will take place.

Since the Highland League entered the Scottish pyramid system, there is always pressure on finishing the regular season by mid-April so it coincides with the League Two play-offs.

It does place extra demands on the Highland League, with some clubs being forced into a congested period of fixtures towards the end of the campaign.

Highland League clubs are also not keen on playing fixtures during mid-week, saying it increases pressure on team selection as well can have a negative of crowd and result in more energy costs.

There is one solution which I would be in favour of and have long argued for. Moving the entire Scottish season to a calendar year and playing through the summer.

I am well aware that I am in the small minority of people who would be in favour of a summer season. And while it is done in most Scandinavian country and some Eastern European countries, the practicalities of balancing it with clubs playing in European competition means it will always be a non-starter.

For a summer season to work, it would have to be implemented from the Premiership down to tier six level, which in the north is North Caledonian League.

That is not going to happen, and the practicalities of implementing a winter break will have too much of an impact on an already congested fixture schedule.

Unfortunately, unless there is a massive shift in the tectonic plates anytime soon, Scotland is going to be stuck with the climate.

And having to balance when football matches are played with good weather is something we will need to grin and bear with.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More