Winter Break

[benfleetbee]

If the authorities somewhere, decide that we need a winter break, when should it be and for how long.
It would have to be planned before the fixtures are published, and then what happens if we have snow/frost/waterlogged pitches outside of this period.
We could go ages without a game. But then the close season would be shorter.

Sorry if a thread on this subject has already been started

 

[Braemar's Northoltian Bees]

If the authorities somewhere, decide that we need a winter break, when should it be and for how long.
It would have to be planned before the fixtures are published, and then what happens if we have snow/frost/waterlogged pitches outside of this period.
We could go ages without a game. But then the close season would be shorter.

Sorry if a thread on this subject has already been started

personally,i dont like the idea as its been so boring this Christmas without watching any football,and if this was annual it will rid one of the things i look forward to most about the Christmas period.....my other view on the matter is,those at the top screaming out for a winter break will be the ones complaining of fixture congestion at the end of the season or not having a long enough summer break

 

[Brentford 4 Life]

What countries do have a Winter break?

 

[nocoat]

Germany and Holland for starters.

 

[Billy Hunt]

Germany and Holland for starters.

Wrong 'uns, the pair of 'em. :yuck:

Who else?

 

[nocoat]

I have gone on the BBC Website for fixtures and see the below. So unless there are Cup games that are not listed it looks like they have breaks.

Spain last played on 20th Dec and next round on Jan 2nd
Italy 19th Dec then 6th Jan
France 22nd to 15th Jan

 

[hanworthbee]

I'd happily go along with what Spain do as I like spending xmas day at home and visiting family over the next few days

 

[jlove]

The challenge with a Winter break for England is that the conditions that cause match postponements could occur any time from late November through to March but they may never happen at all for a large swathe of the country. Christmas and New Year are usually the 'big earners' for many clubs, so I really can't see them voting for it. Just imagine the froth on the Griffin Park Gripevine if there was a winter break and we had a typically mild spell!

 

[benfleetbee]

The challenge with a Winter break for England is that the conditions that cause match postponements could occur any time from late November through to March but they may never happen at all for a large swathe of the country. Christmas and New Year are usually the 'big earners' for many clubs, so I really can't see them voting for it. Just imagine the froth on the Griffin Park Gripevine if there was a winter break and we had a typically mild spell!

.....And then snow and ice the next week. Not good no football for weeks/months.

 

[Mr Tree]

it's the main flaw to a winter break in the UK i think, you just don't know when the bad weather might be.

here they know the bad weather will be November to February so they take three months off accordingly it's naff though - the league is just 16 teams and teams can be very different in the second "half" of the season compared to the first half, because all the half-decent players get sold in January.

 

[Salford Bee]

2009/2010 - The bulk of the postponements happened in January
2010/2011 - The bulk of the postponements happened in December

 

[Brain-dead Bee]

2009/2010 - The bulk of the postponements happened in January
2010/2011 - The bulk of the postponements happened in December

I hope the latter point proves to be true, but we can't rule out awful weather leading to even more postponements in Jan or Feb.

As others have said, the unpredictability of the weather is the main problem. Also, if we wanted to keep a 24 team division, taking a break of a month or so would probably mean we'd have to start the season in July or keep it going until Mid/late May

 

[Westlad]

I hope the latter point proves to be true, but we can't rule out awful weather leading to even more postponements in Jan or Feb.

As others have said, the unpredictability of the weather is the main problem. Also, if we wanted to keep a 24 team division, taking a break of a month or so would probably mean we'd have to start the season in July or keep it going until Mid/late May

Would be good to have one in the premiership (even if they have to reduce teams) but keep playing in the lower leagues as it'd boost attendances. Managers will always moan about fixture congestion and it does favour wealthier clubs with bigger squads but it's up to the manager to deal with it and make best use of the squad. Why should fans go without football in a holiday period just because the paid professionals want a rest? We generally see the same standard of football at the start of the season as, for example, when we played Birmingham after alot of fixture congestion.

 

[Markybee]

Sadly, we HAVE experienced a winter break

 

[SpiderBee]

Would be good to have one in the premiership (even if they have to reduce teams) but keep playing in the lower leagues as it'd boost attendances. Managers will always moan about fixture congestion and it does favour wealthier clubs with bigger squads but it's up to the manager to deal with it and make best use of the squad. Why should fans go without football in a holiday period just because the paid professionals want a rest? We generally see the same standard of football at the start of the season as, for example, when we played Birmingham after alot of fixture congestion.

SKY would never allow this!

 

[Salford Bee]

I hope the latter point proves to be true, but we can't rule out awful weather leading to even more postponements in Jan or Feb.

As others have said, the unpredictability of the weather is the main problem. Also, if we wanted to keep a 24 team division, taking a break of a month or so would probably mean we'd have to start the season in July or keep it going until Mid/late May

We certainly can and I do mean so far.