Should English football have a winter break?
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David Dein yesterday outlined the first steps towards a winter break in the Premiership season.
Dein, vice-chairman of the Football Association and champions Arsenal, is a strong advocate of the proposal, as is England coach Sven Goran Eriksson. Others backing the change, which could come into force as early as the 2003-04 season, are Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier.
Managers will have the opportunity to press for a three-week shutdown when they gather at a Premier League technical meeting later this summer.
Dein, who suggests the break could start immediately after the New Year's Day fixtures, said: 'We have to consider how to get the best out of the product. This will maximise it as we try to make sure the players are as fit as possible during the course of the season.'
The timing of the break, however, unlike the current ones in Spain and Italy, would not impinge on the Christmas period, traditionally so popular in England.
Dein said: 'A three-week break would give the players an opportunity to go off somewhere on holiday for a couple of weeks.
'It will be good for everyone, whether they be managers or players and in a way it would be good for the fans to have a break as it is so intense with up to three games a week.'
That intensity can take its toll and Eriksson was concerned at the relentless schedule his England players faced before they headed to Korea and Japan for the World Cup Finals.
Dein added: 'Sven thought that at the World Cup some of the players were not physically at the their peak. That was shown in the later stages.'
To ensure clubs did not take advantage of the season lull and arrange lucrative tours to places like the Far East, the FA would not sanction matches.
If the scheme goes ahead, the season would probably start a week earlier and end a week later, while there would also be the problem of rescheduling the FA Cup, the third and fourth rounds of which are normally held in January.
However, one snag would be that, in World Cup or European Championship summers, the Premiership season would eat even more into preparation time.
David Gold, chairman of newly-promoted Birmingham City, is not convinced about the proposals.
He said: 'I can't see it going through. Winter breaks don't always coincide with bad weather anyway. The current system works and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' -
winter break for English soccer..
sven fought rightly for them -
Yo, it's a great idea! EPL is a long season...not forgetting some European games and local cups competitions will definitely wear the players out. A short break over the winter will definitely be a boost for the players...least for some they can recuperate during the break....
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Good leh ppl, great minds think alike...
