IS it time for a winter break in English football?

If not in the top flight and Football League, whose clubs can generally cope with the wet weather conditions, then perhaps for the grassroots game?

We see it throughout Europe, leagues taking a few weeks off over Christmas to miss the worst of the poor weather, and in fact only five countries on this continent continue to play through it.

Israel, understandably, are joined by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

I don’t believe the packed festive period should be changed.

Boxing Day clashes and New Year’s Day trips to the other end of the country may be an inconvenience for players and coaching staff, but the fans love it.

The spectacle of festive football can often change the fate of a club’s season; a good run and you’re in the mix for Europe, while a bad spell and a few injuries means you could all of a sudden be staring at a relegation battle in the new year.

These variables help maintain the notion that, in this country at least, the Premier League is ‘the best in the world’ and the Championship the most competitive.

But it is at the lower reaches of our game where clubs suffer; endless runs of matches called off due to waterlogged or frozen pitches and once they thaw out, that award-winning surface the groundsman spent hours pruning in pre-season is turned to glorious mud.

Let’s face it, coaches at amateur clubs are left cursing their squads during the Christmas period anyway as they overindulge before an important promotion clash or take a week’s holiday with the missus.

A few tactical bookings here and there and those fair weather stars have an 'unfortunate' suspension durnig the festivities.

Would players, coaches, ground staff and the handful of fans that attend these games not feel more comfortable if it was slightly warmer? Say an afternoon in June?

An earlier start and later finish to the season may mean a calendar clash for some cricketers, but one campaign is barely finished before most teams start pre-season ahead of the next one anyway.

The same could be said for non-league, semi-professional clubs. I know some managers thrive on the thought of playing ball over Christmas, but with countless cancellations at this time every year it begs the question to be asked.

How would you schedule the calendar to align for those sides getting promoted, relegated or battling in the play-offs between the various league structures? Well, I’ll let the fixture bods work that out.