Smith calls for winter break

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith wants to see the introduction of a winter break.

After pictures of Motherwell’s threadbare pitch were beamed around the world when they played Celtic at the weekend, he believes Scottish football needs to be reshaped.

Smith would like to see a two-month shutdown in January and February, with the season beginning in August and ending in June.

And emergency loans could even be handed out to clubs who are concerned about two months without gate receipts.

Smith said: “The cashflow problem from a winter break would only be an initial one as you would still end up with the same number of games over the course of a year.

“But we might need to look at loans. If there was an agreement, we could see if there was some way of taking care of that financial aspect.

“We are in discussions about whether we can make changes and looking at things we all agree can be improved.”