Weather is no excuse for laziness

First of all, a bonny welcome to 2016 to all, second I have no excuse for my terrible posting laziness. It seems that half marathon and Christmas gave me the perfect unacceptable reason to neglect the posting. Also it has been weeks since I last watched Raith Rovers play, weeks! I suppose you could say I am fair weather blogger. As a Scot can you really be called a weather wimp growing up in Scotland's interesting and variable climes.  

I started to write a post about the usual weather stricken fixture list. All seemed too familiar I remember a post from back in 2013. Mother Nature was again reeking  havoc with the weekend's games and supporters were u-turning on their way to games left right and center. 

A few years on and for as long as I have been a supporter of the Scottish game winter has been the main player during the months of November to March, that is a substantial chunk of the season. Wind, rain, snow and frost regular visitors to the pitches and grounds around the country. Sometimes spending a little longer than we would like and teams can go for weeks without playing a game, clubs going without gate money and the problem of rearranging fixtures to keep everyone happy. Not long after the grumbles about the Scottish winter climate comes the cries for summer football! But like your about to read, maybe a different concept would work. 

Like I said this post comes from a few years back but I think the idea is still piping hot and this serving paella and bovril is just a wee side dish of an idea. Let me know what you think.

Paella and Bovril 

The weather here in Barcelona over the past few days has been a little bit Scottish in its style. The locals are not used to the diagonal rain that accompanies the blustery winds. They try in vain to use the brolly that continues to flip inside out; they tiptoe round the ever increasing puddles and their faces are just miserable.  I try to explain to them that a few days with colourless skies is nothing; Scotland can suffer months of this weather!  

The weather has been playing havoc again with the football season, wind, rain, snow and fog have all attacked our pitches and taken our fixtures, but what to do?  Scotland can have 4 seasons in one morning and without warning.  It is not often you leave the house without having to think, “what will the weather do later”.  It seems that every year we hear the phrases  “winter shutdown” or “summer football.” But when is winter and does Scotland have a summer? 

This past season kicked off with the Ramsden cup on the 28^th July with the first division following two weeks later. Pretty sure July and August are “summer” months and that those who cry out for summer football, in reality have what they want.  Those who want the winter break can’t seem to decide when winter is, November to March seem to be pretty harsh months for football fixtures, but we can’t shut down for 5 months..  Maybe our league should become more adaptable to the conditions. 

The 281 days between first and final whistle of the season might to some seem like a marathon rather than sprint, but what if it as a few days longer?  The cancelled games usually end up being played on a drab Tuesday night with a vastly reduced audience to see the game. But what if we had a few extra Saturdays up our sleeve to use when we needed them, a flexi-league. 

It is a simple idea that I am sure has its flaws and will not please all but hear me out.  Scotland’s worst weather can usually, I say usually, is over by March.  My proposal is that in March, April and may we have Division “rest” days.  Each division takes a different Saturday off in these three months, probably about 4 max for each division.  To make this possible it would mean extending the season to the end of May. These extra Saturdays would do a few things.  As only 1 of the 4 divisions would be “dark” at a time, these fans would be free to go and up the numbers in the other leagues. Most football fans need a weekly fix of the white ball so if they could not get it at their own club they might go and check out another division’s game.  It would allow managers and couching staff go and see how others are doing things and maybe let them enjoy a game on Saturday without the stress of being in the dug out.  But I think the best one would be that cancelled Saturday games would no longer have to be moved to a mid-week night kick-off.  Tuedays and Wednesdays nights are now filled with champions league matches and  Classicos so it is hard for “Dumbarton versus Inverness Caley  Thistle” to compete for bums on seats.  Fans have work to wrestle with work and family life mid-week and what was an acceptable 4 hour drive in a Saturday to see the game is now not even an option. 

With these flexi-Satudays fans, clubs and local areas would benefit. More fans would be coming to your town, eat in your cafes and shop in your centres before they head off to see the game. Clubs would have the time to prepare for games instead of cramming fixture on top of fixture. Maybe this simple idea would make a fans life a nicer experience.