Summer Football (again sorry)

[Humo]

I don't know about you but I am seriously missing football and would love for our football calender to move to summer. For all those nay sayers I ask why not?

Here are all the reasons I think we should have summer football (all the below is IMO)

Save money on undersoil heating
Less games are on in the summer and so there is the potential for a better TV deal
Help us for the european ties
Hibs always play worse when its cold
Will make for a more enjoyable day out (couple of pints in a beer garden before the match)
It will make taking kids easier and they will have a better time thus increasing the amount of future fans we will have
Pitches would be better quality
Kids play in the summer and its a drastic switch to the first team especially when they have to play in a very different temperature with a sh*ter pitch

What's the worst that could happen? We could try it for 1 or 2 seasons and if we like it stick to it.

There needs to be change in Scottish football and league reconstruction wont save the game alone

[Stevie Reid]

I'm for it.

[Pretty Boy]

I'm all for it.

[Golden Bear]

Poll not working on the mobile version of Net, but it's a big NO from me in any case.

[Teapot]

I'm not that bothered about it changing for senior football but i think we need the youths to be playing summer football.

Far too many youths grow up playing on freezing cold weekends on mud baths. Playing in these conditions does nothing to improve their technical ability and a lot of them lose interest by the time they reach 18. Granted our summer weather isn't great but typically its warmer and drier.

[YehButNoBut]

I'm for it as well.

Pretty sure we would get a better Sky deal from it as well, how many people cancel their Sky Sports during the summer as there is very little footie on, summer football would put a stop to that.

It works in Scandinavia, so would also work here.

[Humo]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Poll not working on the mobile version of Net, but it's a big NO from me in any case.

Fair enough, but why?

[Phil D. Rolls]

Been in favour for years. It's the only chance we have of doing well in Europe again.

[calumhibee1]

No thanks. I'd miss about 3 of every seasons home games from being on holidays. It would then work out cheaper to not buy a ST. I'm sure plenty other people would be in the same boat.

[Phil D. Rolls]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

No thanks. I'd miss about 3 of every seasons home games from being on holidays. It would then work out cheaper to not buy a ST. I'm sure plenty other people would be in the same boat.

If you can afford that many holidays, you can surely take the hit on missed games.

Look at the positives - you'll get a much better deal in the winter. And you won't have to talk to English people about how much your holiday cost. Not to mention having the stress if kidding on we're really pals.

[marinello59]

A big yes to summer football from me. This should have been on the table when league reconstruction was being discussed.

[blackpoolhibs]

Yes from me, although i have seen it rain pretty hard once in May.

[leithsansiro]

Yes, this would probably be one of the best (and most significant) moves that the new SPFL could do to have a lasting improvement on our game.

• Players will play better on better pitches
• youngsters will develop TECHNICAL skills better rather than being PHYSICAL based
• Fans will be more receptive to watching football with the sun on their backs rather than rain in their face

[PeeJay]

A resounding no from me - a Scottish summer won't save the game - not convinced there is such a thing anyway - Scottish players will not suddenly play better and be more technical just because the sun is shining - FWIW, we don't have "summer football" in Germany and the winter's are worse here than in the UK, yet German football is actually doing just fine at the moment: so I suggest the problem lies elsewhere ...

[Billy Whizz]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

A resounding no from me - a Scottish summer won't save the game - not convinced there is such a thing anyway - Scottish players will not suddenly play better and be more technical just because the sun is shining - FWIW, we don't have "summer football" in Germany and the winter's are worse here than in the UK, yet German football is actually doing just fine at the moment: so I suggest the problem lies elsewhere ...

But Germany does have a decent sized winter break. Maybe we should do likewise

[Humo]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

A resounding no from me - a Scottish summer won't save the game - not convinced there is such a thing anyway - Scottish players will not suddenly play better and be more technical just because the sun is shining - FWIW, we don't have "summer football" in Germany and the winter's are worse here than in the UK, yet German football is actually doing just fine at the moment: so I suggest the problem lies elsewhere ...

Just because the main issue lies elsewhere doesn't mean that improving other aspects won't improve our game.

Attendances will, most likely, be higher in the summer due to the ease of being able to take children and also with nicer weather it would be a nice day out.
Money saved from under soil heating and electricity (flood lights etc) and money gained from potential increase in attendances and better European performances (it will help European games as hibs are going to have to play malma or the Irish side with no competitive games behind them where as they are in the middle of their seasons) can be invested into the first team or to develop our youths as I feel that the future to successful Scottish football is in our youths.

[Haymaker]

No, no and no again.

[Humo]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

No, no and no again.

Why not?

[jonny]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/scotland/22337539

The article on the above link written by Tom Reynolds (BBC) is a very good one. Amongst other things it highlights the positive effects changing over to summer football has had on Scandanavian countries.
I'd certainly be for a shift in the tide and for the SPFL to move to summer football.

[PeeJay]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

But Germany does have a decent sized winter break. Maybe we should do likewise

True, but that is because the winter is generally really winter here, not like in Scotland, where "generally" the rain is just colder than in summer ... maybe a wee winter break would work though, it's maybe worth considering.

[YehButNoBut]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

True, but that is because the winter is generally really winter here, not like in Scotland, where "generally" the rain is just colder than in summer ... maybe a wee winter break would work though, it's maybe worth considering.

Winter break doesn't really work here, we tried a 3 week break in January before and the weather was ok.

As soon as we were due to start playing again the weather was crap.

[lord bunberry]

I think we should play in the summer, our game is massively overshadowed by the epl so summer football would give us a chance to showcase the spfl when there's no other games on tv. The rugby league season was moved to the summer and I'm sure they get more money from sky but get lower viewing figures than we do, presumably because there is less competition from football.

[RyeSloan]

What is summer football?

Replacing dec and jan with June and July? Hardly going to change too much is it?

[Dunderhall]

Yes from me, it would be nice for the slump to start in a different month.
Probably issues with restoring the pitch maybe, though it may not be in as bad a state.

[James70]

I would imagine that people who would be opposed to summer football would include serious golfers, bowlers and generally outdoor types who already have regular summer routines.

However if standard kick off times such as 3.00pm on a Saturday for example could be brought back instead of the nonsense we have just now with matches on most days of the week then folks would be better placed to plan around the football fixtures.

I am tired of seeing our teams being regularly knocked out in preliminary rounds in Europe by clubs who are in the middle of their own seasons and it is high time we did something about it. Ok, fans going on family summer holidays may miss one or two home games but I am sure that situation exists even in the current format.

There would be less of a clash with English football and we could get better tv deals and while there may still be the odd postponement due to weather conditions surely that would be less of a problem than with winter football.

I certainly think that it is worth trying as an experiment as Scottish football is currently dying on it's feet.

[blackpoolhibs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I would imagine that people who would be opposed to summer football would include serious golfers, bowlers and generally outdoor types who already have regular summer routines.

However if standard kick off times such as 3.00pm on a Saturday for example could be brought back instead of the nonsense we have just now with matches on most days of the week then folks would be better placed to plan around the football fixtures.

I am tired of seeing our teams being regularly knocked out in preliminary rounds in Europe by clubs who are in the middle of their own seasons and it is high time we did something about it. Ok, fans going on family summer holidays may miss one or two home games but I am sure that situation exists even in the current format.

There would be less of a clash with English football and we could get better tv deals and while there may still be the odd postponement due to weather conditions surely that would be less of a problem than with winter football.

I certainly think that it is worth trying as an experiment as Scottish football is currently dying on it's feet.

Yip nothing to lose, and lots to gain in my opinion. And as you say an experiment for 2 maybe 3 seasons would give us a good look at both arguments.

[HibsMax]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

No thanks. I'd miss about 3 of every seasons home games from being on holidays. It would then work out cheaper to not buy a ST. I'm sure plenty other people would be in the same boat.

Do you take 5-6 weeks off in the summer?

[HibsMax]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

A resounding no from me - a Scottish summer won't save the game - not convinced there is such a thing anyway - Scottish players will not suddenly play better and be more technical just because the sun is shining - FWIW, we don't have "summer football" in Germany and the winter's are worse here than in the UK, yet German football is actually doing just fine at the moment: so I suggest the problem lies elsewhere ...

I agree that playing in the summer is not a guarantee of better quality but it has to be better sitting out in the sunshine than in freezing rain?

This is obviously a very personal matter but it's always been a big yes for me.

[Jack Hackett]

I want to watch football in the summer. I have no wish to travel up to Edinburgh in the middle of winter and freeze my knackers off....and this is how it is now. I'm too old to be putting up with that kind of discomfort.

Winter football? Down with that sort of thing!

Plus Sky would jump on a deal. All they have to fill the summer void is LoI ... A couple of Old Firm and Edinburgh derbies in the middle of summer would have them salivati....oh! Wait a minute

[LeithBoozy]

A definite yes from me, I find myself more and more staying away in the winter, even though I'm a ST holder. Head-up to Easter Road dressed in my Hibs tee shirt, or dressed like an artic explorer, not a hard choice.