ROY: LET US PLAY IN JUNE

ROY HODGSON is delighted English football will finally welcome in a midwinter break from next season.

But the Crystal Palace boss reckons the authorities haven’t yet gone far enough in tweaking the calendar – and that they are missing a trick by not extending league matches into June.

Of course, there would be the obstacle of major tournaments to contend with every couple of years.

However, the former England boss, who has coached in eight different countries, sees no reason why football on these shores can’t now be enjoyed beyond late spring and into early summer.

He said: “Since I went to Blackburn in 1997, I’ve been one who has said I’m disappointed England is one of the few

European countries not to have a winter break.

“I don’t know if I was the first to say it, but certainly Arsene Wenger (below) and I were two voices who were sometimes at odds with some of the other voices in the league.

“Now, I don’t know you’d get many, if any, voices from people in the Premier League who don’t like the idea of a winter break.

“The need to stay mentally strong and mentally focused – that’s what the winter break is for.

“The players don’t lose fitness, but they come back as refreshed individuals who aren’t just thinking, ‘Oh, training again’.

“They come back quite often with a little renewed enthusiasm and it gives you a reminder that, as important as football is to you — and it is to those who earn a living from it — there is a world out there as well.

“The other thing people forget is that May and June are good times to play football.

“February and March are not always the best times, but once you get into May and June it’s fantastic.

“A lot of teams finish on May 1 and you’ve got all that football weather, it’s great for the fans, and we don’t play. So why not take a little break in the middle and use a bit of May and June?

“In the old days, it was, ‘Well, you can’t because that’s the cricket season, that’s their time’.

“But, let’s be fair, that’s not the case any more.”