´óÏó´«Ã½

I work as a gym instructor for the local council and we have several facilities in Dumfries that have outdoor "all-weather" facilities. You can't get access to these facilities for love nor money during the months between October and April.

They are predominantly used by football groups of all ages and also cater for tennis, hockey and more recently rugby.

Despite the pitches in this region being all-weather, the pitches in my particular facility have been closed since the week before Christmas. After waking up to more snow this morning you can bet your boots that we'll be closed for a little while longer.

The summer football/winter break argument has been rumbling on for a long, long time now.

Maybe someone will correct me but I certainly can't remember as many games, and at the top level as well, being called off in such a short period of time.

Amazingly, a lot of the pitches have actually been playable but have still been cancelled due to the worry regarding the safety of supporters travelling to and from the games.

We've had games called off at stadiums such as Anfield and The City of Manchester Stadium for this very reason.

Talking from a footballer's point of view, I would much rather a winter break than a change to summer football.

In all honesty I really don't mind playing in the conditions that we do, with the exception of wind, but I have never enjoyed playing in the heat.

Maybe it's because it always reminds me of pre-season training. I don't know but it's not for me.

Sure, it might only be for a month of the football season but can we really rely on the weather in our country and say that we would have far less games cancelled if we changed to a March-November season?

Although it's not going to happen while I'm still playing, I wouldn't be too happy giving up on my summer holidays either! It might be okay when you're earning thousands of pounds per week and can fly to the sun at anytime of the year.

It's a different story when you have to work for a living, as does your partner. We don't get too much sun down here in Dumfries and when it comes we want to enjoy it.

Now, some of that may sound a little selfish but I did say that I was talking from a footballer's point of view.

Looking at it from the other side of the coin, and I will be a football supporter once I hang up my boots, I would maybe be in favour of summer football, but most definitely of bringing back the winter break.

It's an expensive time of the year we've just passed and the extra cost for supporters to attend matches could maybe be done without. The football isn't the prettiest in Scotland at the best of times and in the winter weather it's probably even worse.

A winter break gives everyone a little breather and you hopefully come to miss it after a few weeks away. The thirst for the game returns and you're raring to go come the middle of January.

There's obviously a lot to discuss at the top level of football in our country and these are obviously just opinions on my part. Finances are always the top consideration and then you have fixture congestion as well as football supporters to consider.

When there is a World Cup or a European Championship to be played what would happen for example? There's a lot to consider where both these subjects are concerned and I'm sure it'll be on many agendas after the month we've just had.