SFA chief keen on season change

By Alasdair Lamont

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Women's game set for summer kick-off

Gordon Smith, the Scottish FA chief executive, hopes the moving of the women's football season can pave the way for the men's game to do the same.

Scottish women's leagues will now be played from March to November, with a mid-season break in July, a move welcomed by the country's top players.

Smith says an extended winter break would be ideal across the board.

"I would like to see us move towards the better months throughout our football," he told BBC Scotland.

Smith emphasised that he has no power to force such a move through as that lies with the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League.

He hopes the change in the women's game can be the beginning of a shift in mindset among football traditionalists.

"The main aspect of it is to try to get football played in better conditions, especially for the development of players," said Smith.

SFA chief executive Smith is an advocate of summer football

"I think if we have better conditions under-foot, players will try to play the game in the right manner and concentrate on aspects like technique, which has been lost a bit to the Scottish game.

"We're trying to do the same thing with the youth game - boys and girls - although there's a bit of resistance there."

And Smith believes that the move by the women's game could see the men's game follow suit.

He said: "We'll need to see how people view it. A lot of the problem in this country is traditionalism - people don't see it changing because it's always been this way.

"Maybe eventually the men's amateur game could change - it'll be a bit more difficult for the senior game because of schedules. But my suggestion's always been shutting down January and February in Scotland and play through to June.

"Two things might help with that. People would see it as a way of getting more fans into the game to maybe see more technical football getting played.

"And because of our coefficient in Europe now being affected and Scottish teams having to come into European competition a bit earlier than in previous years, we maybe should be playing a bit more through the summer, rather than having teams coming back from holiday playing against teams from other leagues who are playing through the summer.

Maybe eventually the men's amateur game could change - it'll be a bit more difficult for the senior game because of schedules Gordon Smith

"We're disadvantaged because of that."

The reaction from the country's top female players to the move has been a positive one.

"We're all quite pleased with the change," said Laura Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Women's Premier League champions Glasgow City.

"It'll benefit us in the Champions League in particular because in the last couple of years we've had to go with very little preparation."

And for similar reasons, the national team are also behind the switch.

"Our season will be running at the same time as other European teams, so we'll tend to go into our international games on a level playing field fitness-wise," said Montgomery's team-mate and Scotland player Leanne Ross.

"Sometimes we've gone into our games and other teams have been in the middle of their season and we've just come in off a pre-season and obviously we've not been up to match fitness, so it'll be good for us in terms of that."

But it's lower down the leagues and at grassroots level where concerns have been raised about the move's viability.

Glasgow City are the current Scottish champions

Opponents of the switch were not keen to speak on the record for fear their clubs would subsequently suffer, but the principal objections are logistical and financial ones.

Many women's teams - and youth teams - play on council-owned parks, where the goalposts are lifted for the duration of the summer, a scenario the critics say is unlikely to change.

The manager of one Second Division team also said: "We'll have to continue to pay for the let on our parks between the end of November and March, even though we won't have any games. Either that, or give up the let and risk not getting it back."

There are also fears there will be an obligation to play more midweek games in the first half of the season, making it difficult for some clubs to put out full teams, particularly if the midweek matches involve long journeys.

"This move has been pushed through for the benefit of the national team and the top end of the Premier League, without a thought for the game at grassroots level," said the concerned manager.

Gordon Smith acknowledges these concerns must be addressed: "We're going to have to have a real plan on this to make sure it works. We'll have to work in partnership with the local authorities to make sure the goals don't come down."

There are certainly obstacles to overcome, but could this be the first step on the road to a change across the board?