SPL 'winter breaks not always possible'

The Scottish Premier League insist it would be impossible to have a winter break every season because of fixture congestion created by World Cups and the European Championships.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith wants a two-month shutdown in January and February to prevent a raft of postponements over frozen pitches and to give players a mid-term rest.

All 12 Clydesdale Bank Premier League managers met at Hampden a fortnight ago and there was widespread support for the introduction of a three-week break.

But that will not happen until 2011 at the earliest.

SPL secretary Iain Blair said in the Daily Mail: “We are restricted by major tournaments like the World Cup and the European Championships which dictate that the season finishes earlier than we would like.

“That cuts the number of available dates and makes it impossible to have a winter break in the years in which there are finals of those tournaments scheduled.

“We spoke with the managers at Hampden the other week and the whole issue was raised along with the scheduling of fixtures.

“Jimmy Calderwood of Aberdeen actually came out of the meeting and admitted he had not realised before how difficult it can be.

“Really, the best hope of a reintroduction of a winter break would be in the seasons when there is no World Cup or Euro finals.

“So that’s season 2010-11, season 2012-13 and so on. Even then it would only be a short break. All these issues are being discussed and we do propose to meet again with all 12 managers.

“We will also take their views back to the club chairmen and chief executives when we meet them again.”