after tonights very late postponement of the SPL match between motherwell - celtic i ask you, is it time to bring back the winter break? this late cancellation follows quickly on from the gretna-morton match when that was also cancelled at short notice causing major problems for the paying public. surely now we have to consider bringing a break back in. only trouble is, with scotland, when do we introduce it? january/february are our worst months weatherwise nowadays but is it feasible to have a winter break going into the month of february? i dont think it is. we could have a 4 week closure for january but whats not to say we get a mild january and the s**t hits the fan in february. the back log of games this season from previous postponements in the year is getting beyond a joke to say the least. i think that banning ground sharing and giving pitches more of a chance to recover from a match would be a step in the right direction. the motherwell/gretna situation at fir park this season has been causing problems with the fixture schedule since december and sees no sign of abating after tonights fiasco. opinions? suggestions?
You must be channeling me today...was about to create the same thread. JVoH has also been saying this week that it should be reinstated. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. With so few teams in the Prem, I don't see why they couldn't reduce the number of fixtures by a few if need be. At the very least it might make Scotland a little more attractive to players. Weather is always going to be a problem this time of year, nothing can really be done about that, so I'm not sure I have any suggestion as to the specific weeks, but I think it's fairly clear that there needs to be one. I don't remember it being such a problem during the years where there was a break...am I forgetting something?
Nope, I dont think we should have a winter brake, I think every stadium should be fitted with under soil heating etc.. we need this sorted this does not happen in the english league.
it may not happen in the EPL but it certainly happens lower down and lets face it, the SPL isn't and never will be, the equivalent of the EPL. what will make a difference is if they bring in a rule that banishes ground sharing.
Ground sharing is a good idea! All those clubs without an undersoil heating have to play their home games against Celtic at CP!
It's not their job to 'bring something' to the SPL. They were the best football team outwith the SPL last season and so deserve their place. They are the worst football team in the SPL this season so they will deserve their place in the 1st division. I believe Raydale Park held about 2,000 with the addition of the temporary stand although they are building more stands, I think. To bring their stadium up to SPL "standard" would require a stadium which could hold far more people than the population of Gretna. I've been down to Gretna a few times and the ground is crap, mostly because the terracing was nothing more than a 'bus shelter' so you were standing at pitch level. East Fife have not had one game called off this season, luck has played it's part in that but we keep our pitch in good condition, without the need for under-soil heating.
i still believe ground sharing is the main crux of the problem here. at this time of the year pitches need a break to recuperate. fir park doesn't have a cats chance in hell. side issues are clubs not turning on their undersoil heating .... and supposedly wealthy clubs that can't afford a tarpaulin for their pitch....
Id be up for summer football in scotland, bigger crowds, nice warmish afternoons, could get more money frm TV, I think all of scottish football should vote on it, with 1 vote each, and see where it goes, there is more to scottish football than 2 or 3 teams, everyone should decide for the good of our game and not the few who are in charge and bend over backwards for the old firm......."Super CALEY"
there's no need for summer football. all that's needed is for the winter break to be re-instated. as for bending over for celtic and rangers. i'm not sure thats the case. for instance, increasing the size of the league is opposed by most teams as it could mean playing each glasgow team only twice instead of 3 or 4 times.
How big a factor do you think that really is? How many teams get such a significant attendence rise against the OF for this to crucual?
i would suggest that every team gets a significant rise from celtic and rangers, not just in attendance but also in ticket prices.
I listen to the BBC Scotland football podcast every day. Last week, I think on the thursday evening Sports Sound show, one of the topics of discussion was a re-org of the SPL. And they talked about adding more teams and mentioned the how Rangers and Celtic boost the ticket sales of most clubs. But they also talked about how you probably get a reduction in sales when your playing some of the other clubs for the 2nd or 3rd time. And both the fans and the players would enjoy playing more teams. But the real issue was if you expanded, how can you make sure that the clubs you let in have a good financial/support base. Then they harped about the Gretna situation for a while. On a side note, how many people find Chick Young to be annoying? Once in awhile he says something that I think is worthwhile, but mostly not. One of the many pluses if Scotland had qualified for the Euros is that Chick would have to ride his bike to Austria.
Granted the old firm do take a large away support to Inverness, but the extra money they generate is taken away on extra police round the town and all the way to the stadium, its mainly the bars and food outlets that get their money not too much extra goes to the club. Also This nonsence of a 6000 seater ground is dead in the water, it used to be 10 000 to get into the league, it would have been better if the rule was you could only use your seats and no terracing, it would mean that the smaller clubs could build their grounds up gradually over a few seasons and not put themselves in debt, and if they wanted more money to come in to the club then it would make them build, But not to be told to build one....as for chick Young he is a clown who thinks scottish football is all to do with Glasgow, same with jim traynor, Cant tell them anything they know it all, pity sport journalists were not like football managers, if they are crap they get the boot......"SUPER CALEY"
nice to see the undersoil heating, that all SPL clubs are required to have, is still working to it's full potential...
Why should clubs be forced to use USH and lose money in the process particularly with the lack of money in the game, the recession and notably at lower league level? USH costs clubs more each year because of our climate.