Summer Football

[LinwoodTON]

An increasing number of European Leagues switching to summer football, is it time we followed suit? According to a BBC survey, 27 of our 42 senior clubs in favour of exploring the possibility.

 

Personally, I would be all for it. Yes fans will most probably miss some games due to holidays but overall I reckon crowds would increase. 

 

Thoughts?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33028189?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[TONofmemories]

It's a no brainer - get it done. 

 

I'd much rather play football in slightly warmer temps, than freezing my nuts off at Peterhead on a Jan afternoon. 

[Davie McArthur]

No, no and thrice no. Winter is for football, summer is for civilised sports like cricket and tennis.

[SpoonTon]

No, no and thrice no. Winter is for football, summer is for civilised sports like cricket and tennis.

 

At least you're beginning to branch out a bit now.

[LinwoodTON]

No, no and thrice no. Winter is for football, summer is for civilised sports like cricket and tennis.

 

Maybe in your country....

[Toby]

I agree with Davie (if you ignore his obvious trolling).

 

Winter's shite. At least in the summer there are other distractions and the weather's decent from time to time. The thought of ten weeks or so in winter without having any football to go to is horrendous. Get this ridiculous idea canned.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

I agree with Davie (if you ignore his obvious trolling).

 

Winter's shite. At least in the summer there are other distractions and the weather's decent from time to time. The thought of ten weeks or so in winter without having any football to go to is horrendous. Get this ridiculous idea canned.

Totally agree, a whole long, dark winter with no football to look forward to would be utterly unbearable. 

 

I also think attendances in the summer would be much lower, simply because when the weather better there's a whole lot more to do. And of course that's when most folk take their holidays as well.

 

So, for all these reasons, it's a no from me.

[ayrstorm]

I've been to two summer football league games - both were a great experience, walking to ground in short sleeves (not a heavy winter coat). Sitting in seat in warm sunshine (not a chill wind). Ok so we all know our 'summer' football could not ensure sunshine or warmth - but the one thing Sweden and USA both offer is civilisation. Beer in plastic tumblers at your seat. If you want to give us summer football - then give us the whole package and let football teams provide a bar service to those who wish that.

[TRVMP]

It's simply not true that an increasing number of European leagues are moving to a summer format. In fact the exact opposite is the case. Russia was the last European league to switch times and it moved to winter (with a long break in the middle.)

 

Scotland has great attendances around the rhythm of its league, which has for over a century included winter. There is no evidence whatsoever that this would change in summer. It would also knock our club teams out of sync with European competition (exactly the reason Russia switched.)

 

While crowds may be hit slightly there's a decent case to be made for a pause over Christmas and the New Year due to the amount of lower league postponements but there is no case for summer football beyond "just because." As it stands only backwater leagues play a summer format.

[HeidTheBaw]

Great attendances?

[LinwoodTON]

Great attendances?

 

One of the highest in Europe, 2nd I think, per capita.

[TRVMP]

Great attendances?

 

Yep.

 

A lot of Scottish football fans, pundits, journalists etc. are emotionally and/or financially invested in the idea that Scottish football is hopeless, dead in the water, and nobody cares about it. A quick look at our attendance figures dispels that myth nicely, as does looking at TV viewing figures, media coverage of football etc. Scotland absolutely towers above almost every other European country by any meaningful metric of football interest, from stadium to internet and all points in between. It's an inconvenient truth for those who'd have you believe the game's on it last legs, but the great thing about facts is that they're still true whether or not you believe in them.

[TRVMP]

I've been to two summer football league games - both were a great experience, walking to ground in short sleeves (not a heavy winter coat). Sitting in seat in warm sunshine (not a chill wind). Ok so we all know our 'summer' football could not ensure sunshine or warmth - but the one thing Sweden and USA both offer is civilisation. Beer in plastic tumblers at your seat. If you want to give us summer football - then give us the whole package and let football teams provide a bar service to those who wish that.

Completely unfair to brand Scotland uncivilized by comparison to Sweden. You'll see infinitely more fan trouble over the course of a Swedish top flight season than you will a Scottish one, by a factor of at least five.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

Yep.

 

A lot of Scottish football fans, pundits, journalists etc. are emotionally and/or financially invested in the idea that Scottish football is hopeless, dead in the water, and nobody cares about it. A quick look at our attendance figures dispels that myth nicely, as does looking at TV viewing figures, media coverage of football etc. Scotland absolutely towers above almost every other European country by any meaningful metric of football interest, from stadium to internet and all points in between. It's an inconvenient truth for those who'd have you believe the game's on it last legs, but the great thing about facts is that they're still true whether or not you believe in them.

Correct. Scottish football has been dying for as long as I can remember, and I'm no spring chicken, ha!

[HeidTheBaw]

 

It's simply not true that an increasing number of European leagues are moving to a summer format. In fact the exact opposite is the case. Russia was the last European league to switch times and it moved to winter (with a long break in the middle.)

 

Scotland has great attendances around the rhythm of its league, which has for over a century included winter. There is no evidence whatsoever that this would change in summer. It would also knock our club teams out of sync with European competition (exactly the reason Russia switched.)

 

While crowds may be hit slightly there's a decent case to be made for a pause over Christmas and the New Year due to the amount of lower league postponements but there is no case for summer football beyond "just because." As it stands only backwater leagues play a summer format.

It must have escaped your attention, because we are one of those backwater leagues.

Scottish football has been in decline for decades and it is only by change that decline will be reversed.

Kids are going to continue to find other things to do with their time rather than be dragged to the football on a nostalgic obsession of their parents, to watch shite footballers kicking fuck out of each other in the pishing rain.

Scotland is football daft as a nation, with a decent history. Unfortunately that history stopped getting made in the 80s when we stopped being relevant. The country will continue to lose relevance if it remains stood still hoping for the best because everyone is too feart to try something different.

 

There may be no evidence that attendances would increase, however a simple survey of fans of all clubs would soon answer that question. I know I'd far rather stand in the sun watching the game that get soaked while watching players resort to long ball tactics due to the conditions.

 

This is not to mention the fact that football fans are bored out their tits in summer with no football on the telly. If Scottish football was played during the summer TV audiences will tune in in lieu of other options. That means a unique product, which leads to more TV money, which can be reinvested in better players and the more presence we have on Sky the more people become aware of the game up here and the growth continues with the money being filtered down to clubs like Morton.

 

The product on the park in Winter becomes harder and harder to sell because the pitches get churned up and clubs can't afford to give the parks the best treatment - it's not conducive to attractive football.

 

The is just one of the many things that the people running the game in Scotland are failing to look at while the other footballing nations in the world continue to leave us behind.

 

Its amazing what being able to go to the football on a summers day and have a couple of pints would do for a club like Morton.

[HeidTheBaw]

Double post

[TRVMP]

It must have escaped your attention, because we are one of those backwater leagues.

Scottish football has been in decline for decades and it is only by change that decline will be reversed.

Kids are going to continue to find other things to do with their time rather than be dragged to the football on a nostalgic obsession of their parents, to watch s***e footballers kicking **** out of each other in the pishing rain.

Scotland is football daft as a nation, with a decent history. Unfortunately that history stopped getting made in the 80s when we stopped being relevant. The country will continue to lose relevance if it remains stood still hoping for the best because everyone is too feart to try something different.

 

There may be no evidence that attendances would increase, however a simple survey of fans of all clubs would soon answer that question. I know I'd far rather stand in the sun watching the game that get soaked while watching players resort to long ball tactics due to the conditions.

 

This is not to mention the fact that football fans are bored out their tits in summer with no football on the telly. If Scottish football was played during the summer TV audiences will tune in in lieu of other options. That means a unique product, which leads to more TV money, which can be reinvested in better players and the more presence we have on Sky the more people become aware of the game up here and the growth continues with the money being filtered down to clubs like Morton.

 

The product on the park in Winter becomes harder and harder to sell because the pitches get churned up and clubs can't afford to give the parks the best treatment - it's not conducive to attractive football.

 

The is just one of the many things that the people running the game in Scotland are failing to look at while the other footballing nations in the world continue to leave us behind.

 

Its amazing what being able to go to the football on a summers day and have a couple of pints would do for a club like Morton.

 

"There's no real evidence for it - but it is scientific fact."

 

Loved the part in bold in particular. 'Unique offering', oh except for the numerous summer leagues that already exist, not to mention little events like the Euros and the World Cup

 

It's funny, you're convinced you're this forward-looking visionary but every single one of these dinosaur arguments has been done to death a million times. Ask the Irish how they're getting on with their 'innovative' Friday night summer football.

 

Either bring something new to the table or stop pretending you're a prophet in your own land, because this is all rubbish.

[HeidTheBaw]

Yep.

 

A lot of Scottish football fans, pundits, journalists etc. are emotionally and/or financially invested in the idea that Scottish football is hopeless, dead in the water, and nobody cares about it. A quick look at our attendance figures dispels that myth nicely, as does looking at TV viewing figures, media coverage of football etc. Scotland absolutely towers above almost every other European country by any meaningful metric of football interest, from stadium to internet and all points in between. It's an inconvenient truth for those who'd have you believe the game's on it last legs, but the great thing about facts is that they're still true whether or not you believe in them.

And a quick look at our attendance figures over the last few decades will show that there's been a steady decrease to the point where clubs can barely afford to stay afloat.

 

Scottish football is always going to buck trends per head because the country is football daft, you cannot compare us to Scandinavian countries or other countries our size - who are still knocking teams like Celtic and Rangers out of euro cup competitions and would pish all over the majority of teams in our top league.

 

Scottish football teams are a complete footballing irrelevance outside the borders of this country, apart from the odd wee patronising pat on the back when Celtic pull off a miracle every so often and beat someone like Barcelona.

[TRVMP]

I wonder if one poster on here can name, without Googling, the existing Scottish football league that runs in summer. I'm going to guess they can't.

 

Anyway, more hilarity:

 

And a quick look at our attendance figures over the last few decades will show that there's been a steady decrease to the point where clubs can barely afford to stay afloat.

Scottish football is always going to buck trends per head because the country is football daft, you cannot compare us to Scandinavian countries or other countries our size - who are still knocking teams like Celtic and Rangers out of euro cup competitions and would pish all over the majority of teams in our top league.

Scottish football teams are a complete footballing irrelevance outside the borders of this country, apart from the odd wee patronising pat on the back when Celtic pull off a miracle every so often and beat someone like Barcelona.

 

The only clubs that can't stay afloat are ones like Morton that are run by idiots. Other clubs have adapted just fine. We're not going back to the days of 20,000 guys in flat caps at Bayview, just like Dinamo Tbilisi aren't going to get 50,000 anymore, just like AEK will do well to break 18,000. That's all true. But that's an absolute mile away from saying clubs can't afford to stay afloat. There's a director at Cappielow who genuinely thinks there's only room for around five full-time teams in Scotland. Anyone who knows the economy of the Scottish game will laugh at that, and with good reason - clubs are allowed revenue streams beyond the aforementioned flat-cap brigade (and even if they weren't, that still undercounts our FT potential by around 100%.)

 

"You can't compare us to Scandinavia," you wail, shortly before you start comparing us to Scandinavia. It's you who called us a footballing backwater, it's you who wants us lining up on the same weekends as HJK and GAIS.  It's you who wants to compare our top flight to theirs. What happened the last time Celtic played someone from Scandinavia? OK, how about Aberdeen? How about (original) Rangers? Go ahead and Google it, I'll wait.

 

Are you back? Good. You've convinced yourself so much that Scottish football's s***e that you've actually started imaginging results in your head. Celtic beat Elfsborg, Aberdeen absolutely humped super-mega-10,000-attendance giants OB, and Rangers beat MFF. (And as I typed this I remembered that St. Johnstone beat Rosenborg, although we can safely call that a bit of a cup shock.) Self-loathing Scots sit around and beat themselves up about Scandinavian football but the converse is absolutely not the case: we're actually still fairly well-respected among knowledgable fans in Norway and Denmark. They wouldn't exactly quake in fear from us, but then again neither would anyone after the early 80s, and that's not really what we should be aiming for anyway.

 

I haven't mentioned the global market for Scottish football at all but by all means, let's start that discussion. Can you name the countries where Scottish football is broadcast live on TV? Can you stack that next to other countries of our size (2.5-7.5m) in Europe? I have all this data in front of me - do you?

[HeidTheBaw]

"There's no real evidence for it - but it is scientific fact."

 

Loved the part in bold in particular. 'Unique offering', oh except for the numerous summer leagues that already exist, not to mention little events like the Euros and the World Cup

 

It's funny, you're convinced you're this forward-looking visionary but every single one of these dinosaur arguments has been done to death a million times. Ask the Irish how they're getting on with their 'innovative' Friday night summer football.

 

Either bring something new to the table or stop pretending you're a prophet in your own land, because this is all rubbish.

You don't need to be a total dick about it mate, it's meant to be a conversation.

 

These arguments may have been done to death, but none of it has actually been tried yet, so for you to dismiss it as rubbish because you happen to disagree its bollocks.

 

You have no evidence to suggest any of this wouldn't work either and you've conveniently ignored anything I've said in order to turn this into yet another points scoring Internet battle - which seems to be a pattern on here with you, rather than a conversation.

 

I've convinced myself I am a forward thinking visionary? Where do you get that from? I'm posting an opinion on what I thought what was meant to be a discussion forum.