Winter break on Scottish agenda

The Scottish Football League are set to discuss the possibility of a winter break for lower division sides on January 18.

The freezing conditions over the weekend saw all First Division games postponed while only three Scottish Cup ties went ahead as scheduled.

And all three games scheduled for tonight were cancelled due to frozen pitches.

The idea of a break was floated originally when the Premier League introduced its first three-week shutdown in the 1997-1998 season.

But SFL secretary Peter Donald does not envisage any change to the current format for the lower divisions.

Donald said: “We haven’t discussed this matter since the SPL introduced their break but, at the time, our clubs did not think it was something they wanted to do.

“However, we do have a meeting of all our clubs on January 18 and I’m sure the matter will be discussed and we will look at it more closely then.

“But the majority of league clubs have part-time players where the SPL players have a holiday before returning to play a friendly.

“Our players have their own jobs to keep going and the clubs have always preferred Saturday games where the income is obviously better for them.

“It is something we will discuss but it is not something we will do immediately.

“My feeling is the current season structure will continue.”