As the Met Office speaks of a ‘sudden stratospheric warming’, so the UK has yet again become a meteorological battleground between the North Atlantic Drift and the harsh easterly winds blowing off the Urals. The Siberian gusts have prevailed in the atmosphere, with the sporting schedule suffering the consequences on the ground; a handful of the weekend’s fixtures falling foul of the inclement conditions across a variety of sports throughout the country. Inevitably, the growing list of postponements has stirred up a timeworn dispute among the higher echelons of the UK’s footballing society, with West Ham United’s manager Sam Allardyce the latest to express the collaborative desire to have an extended rest over the winter months.

The point is mooted nearly every year, and seldom without reason. An established structural feature of most European football leagues, ‘the winter break’ affords players the opportunity to recuperate from the gruelling mental and physical demands of professional sport, all the while enjoying quality time with their families and friends over Christmas and New Year. The clubs, as businesses, are guarded against the potential that severe weather possesses to strip them of ticket and bar sales through cancellation. The purist fanatics are spared the aesthetic deterioration of the game that the punishing schedule engenders, and musicians across the country are protected, at least temporarily, from the gratuitous modulation at the end of the Match of the Day theme tune.

With all of these benefits to consider – three of them seriously – why is it that the powers that be haven’t joined hands with mainland Europe and embraced the winter break? Though the reasons are multi-faceted and complex, the message from football’s administrative bodies is clear - It isn’t commercially viable. 

A curiously mercenary stance, but there seems to be little pragmatic alternative. A framework similar to the Russian Premier League, which this season is operating on the traditional autumn/spring calendar and negotiating the unforgiving winter conditions with a break from 13thDecember - 10thMarch, would never be an option in the UK. As football’s commercial appeal is diluted during the summer months by increasing Ashes hype and the rise of Murray-mania, coverage of the game would be limited, with the resulting loss in TV revenue potentially critical, particularly for lower league clubs.

A shorter break, as is the case in Western Europe, seems no more likely. With the capriciousness of the British weather as it is, it would seem imprudent to schedule a break months in advance, as the potential for fixtures outside of the designated time period to be called off is too high. This season, for example, lower league matches were being called off as early as December 4th, and if the Scottish leagues are taken into account, the scores of postponements last weekend have pushed the list of casualties to over 100 in the last six weeks. As a result, the clubs affected will find their fixture lists cluttered with re-scheduled matches, bringing into the equation the worrying issue of player burnout towards the business end of the season. It is here where the European leagues that are also susceptible to extreme weather can be more accommodating; crucially, the German Bundesliga has two fewer teams than the Premier league (and therefore four fewer rounds of matches), and the Italian clubs only participate in one major cup competition outside of the league, freeing up a time window which in England is occupied by the constantly rebranded League Cup.

If a winter break were to be introduced, it would be the FA Cup which would most likely to undergo a revamp with replays being scrapped entirely, as recently indicated by Richard Scudamore, the Chairman of the Premier League in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph. If the Football Association were able to see past the commercial compromise they would have to undertake in doing this, they would not only be able to satisfy the weary grumbles of players and management staff alike; they would be taking advantage of a wonderful opportunity to inject a new vitality into the FA Cup. In his ground-breaking book Luck: What it means and why it matters, Ed Smith (Peterhouse 1995-1998) eloquently explains the appeal of football in terms of its ‘structural capacity to produce upsets, surprises and underdog victories’, in essence highlighting the strength of the game’s currency unit – the goal – when compared with other sports. By Smith’s line of argument, if FA Cup replays are removed, the chances of a surprise result increase, with the lottery of a penalty shoot out coming into play at an earlier stage in the contest. The potential for more fabled giant killings could be realised, and the waning interest in the competition rejuvenated.

A romanticist ideology, perhaps? It certainly wouldn’t sit with any Herefordian who was at Edgar Street that famous February afternoon in 1972 when Ronnie Radford let fly. But it shouldn’t go unconsidered by the FA, especially given the increased interest generated in the Capital One Cup as a result of Bradford City’s recent successes. However the introduction of a winter break into the English game would, I fear, not be a popular move with the masses. In an age where the dense footballing schedule is as much a part of the yuletide televisual fabric as The Queen's Speech, the idea for football fans that their Boxing Day turkey sandwiches would be consumed in front of anything other than the dulcet tones of Messrs’ Lineker, Hansen and Lawrenson is unthinkable. But they needn’t worry - with the seemingly unmoving stance of the games administrative powers on the matter, it appears our television screens will be spared the besieging repeats of the traditionally miserable offering from Albert Square for the foreseeable future, as the winter break will remain a talking point for years to come.