SPL suspend winter break

The Scottish Premier League have confirmed there will be no winter break next season – although it may be back the following year.

The SPL made the announcement at the same time as revealing the 2009-10 Clydesdale Bank Premier League campaign will kick off on August 8 and conclude on the weekend on May 8.

The make-up of next season was cemented at an SPL board meeting earlier today, where it was decided the early finish dictated by the start of 2010 World Cup finals meant a winter break would not be possible.

The SPL said in a statement: “Other details of fixture dates will be announced in due course. But season 2009-10 will not include a winter break, given the constraints presented by the early finish to the season required by FIFA ahead of the World Cup Finals in South Africa.

“The possibility of re-introducing the winter break for Season 2010-11 is being examined.”

A three-week rest period in January was a feature of the SPL from 1998 to 2003 but was abandoned due to complaints from clubs about a lack of revenue.

The postponement due to frozen pitches of recent league and cup matches - including SPL matches at Motherwell and Kilmarnock – has sparked a debate over whether the Scottish game should shut down for the winter.

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee has called for a thorough audit into whether summer football would be workable, something the Scottish Football Association are interested in investigating.

Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo also said he would have no objections to a winter break being reintroduced, as did Inverness boss Craig Brewster – although he questioned whether it could be worked into the schedule.