Should English football have a Winter Break?

As Autumn turns to winter, no doubt the debate on a winter break in english football will be debated by clubs and supporters up and down the country. On one hand, people will say football matches at Christmas what makes English Football unique to other European leagues. In contrast you will get many who argue that a winter break is long overdue in English football.

Supporting Plymouth in League 2, I believe it is long overdue that English football introduce a winter break. Squeezing games on new years day and boxing day to me seems ridiculous, whatever your thoughts and belief on religion are. Furthermore a winter break could be introduced for 2 weeks, which would enable clubs and supporters to enjoy a break and allow for planning and rest ahead of the second half of the football season.

In comparison I know many supporters disagree with this. They believe that many crowds can be gained during the Christmas period, as many fans have more time off work in order to attend matches. I understand this argument, but surely a couple hundreds fans should not mean that players play 3 matches within a 7 day period?

It is not surprising that some top level premier league teams are against a winter break in England. As teams such as Manchester United have a lot of strength in depth to deal with any injuries which take place over the season. However smaller sides in league one and two often struggle to keep a full strength squad fit over the season and have to introduce loan signings and emergency loans to fill the gaps that are left in their squads.

Furthermore it is only a break! Many fans have misconception that a winter break in England will be similar to East European leagues. As Eastern European countries such as Russia, have harsh winter and the need for longer breaks are necessary. However in England it is only being suggested to introduce a winter break for 2-3 weeks at the most.

A winter break could allow England to be more competitive in years when European Championships and World Cup take place. As without winter breaks many players who play in Euros and World cups could face possibility of playing for a whole season of domestic football. Then in the summer being in a international squad for a Euro or World Cup competition.

I fully accept that a winter break in England, will not mean that England will win a major tournament soon. But surely any idea that can benefit English Football is a good thing?

End of Season

Hi everyone

The end of the season in my opinion is the best part of the footballing calender with the mistakes made over the season costing teams promotion or seeing them relegated. For the first time in many years my team Plymouth Argyle are finally looking  at securing a play off place rather than avoiding the league two relegation zone.  Unlike most divisions in England being relegated from league two can mean financial meltdown for many clubs, e.g Hereford are currently in deep financial trouble after being relegated in 2009. Furthermore many teams which have fallen into conference end up staying in the conference for many years which is why many football fans call the conference the “football league graveyard” .

 

In comparison, promotion at the end of the season can be one of the best feelings that a football fan can experience as I did over 10 years ago when argyle was promoted from League two to the Championship over four years.  However as I’m sure many fans reading this blog will know success in the higher division is hard to sustain as teams like Yeovil who are currently fighting for survival in the Championship.

Is your team fighting relegation or aiming for promotion? Do you agree/disagree with my comments?  If you would like to comment please use the link above this blog.

Thanks for reading and I’ll blog again soon!