Football is the best thing about Christmas.
Spending time with the family is great, the food comas are so damn satisfying and the gifts are, well they’re gifts – they’re bloody brilliant.
But let’s face it. Football is the best thing about the festive period. While the rest of the European leagues settle into a mid-season yuletide slumber, the Premier League really kicks into gear in a two-week football bonanza.
We had it this season, and it served up some Christmas crackers, like Arsenal and Liverpool’s thrilling 3-3 draw at the Emirates.
However, we may not be able to look forward to a holiday season packed with football for much longer, as The Times are reporting that the Premier League is moving closer towards introducing a winter break.
According to journalist Matt Hughes, a potential winter break was referenced in “the tender documents that were sent out to potential broadcast partners for the upcoming sale of domestic TV rights for 2019 to 2022.”
TIMES SPORT: Winter break moves closer for top flight #tomorrowspaperstoday
⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/kXUQi3oiQP— Helen Miller (@MsHelicat) February 5, 2018
The idea of a winter break has been touted for several years now. The intensive nature of the Premier League’s Christmas programme is widely attributed to England’s poor tournament showings in recent years. If Gareth Southgate’s men crash out of this summer’s World Cup in the group stage, you can expect another clamour for a winter break.
Worryingly, the Premier League reiterated its support for the implementation of a winter break to The Times, confirming that it has been in discussions with the FA and EFL over coming up with a long-term solution for fixture congestion, which has been a bone of contention with several top-flight managers this season including Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
For purely selfish reasons, we wouldn’t want to be deprived of football at Christmas time, even though this proposal does make a lot of sense.
