No: Switch would only punish the players

With the mercury only just recovering from the Beast from the East, the favourite suggestion to rescue Scottish football has emerged again – summer football.

As games were called off across the country’s leagues, it’s hard to argue that a move to summer fixtures wouldn’t help improve every game’s chances of going ahead. So why hasn’t this masterplan been implemented yet? Here’s why.

There’s no guarantee the weather’s actually going to be any better. Heavy rainfall is common in summer months and rain is often behind postponements that blight the lower leagues.

That is generally due to poor drainage and a lack of staff to maintain pitches. That won’t change by moving to the summer months.

One of the main issues for lower league Scottish teams, from League One down to the Junior level, is that players already have the difficult task of having to balance a normal working life with football.

In the summer, players are more likely to be away on holiday, as they can’t change school holidays which for those with young families would be a serious issue. As such, at key moments of the season, with cups and promotion or relegation on the line, teams could be robbed of their best players.

Another argument is that supporters have other priorities during the summer months which could see attendances actually suffer.

Is there a demand for football all year round? The summer break gives fans a chance to catch breath, leaving the lighter evenings free for other sporting pursuits.

The summer break also gives fans a chance to recoup money and save up for the next campaign, with ticket prices and travel costs still a big expense for the average fan.

At the higher end of the spectrum, how would team’s cope with losing their international players during major tournaments? And would fans really be enticed to go and watch local matches with Argentina and Brazil playing at the World Cup?

With more teams investing in synthetic and hybrid pitches, the winter weather is also less of an issue for the bigger clubs with far less postponements in the Premiership.

All these problems are avoided by leaving the fixture list as it is.

Players should not be punished when they already struggle to combine their love of football with a normal life.

The tradition of wrapping up and going to the football often keeps us going in the winter. It keeps the office talk buzzing and keeps fans entertained. Extreme winter episodes are thankfully far and few between. Let’s not tear up tradition for the sake of a few week’s bad weather.

The tradition of wrapping up and going to the football keeps us going in winter