“It would help the Premier League and us at global level if we could achieve that”.
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‘There is a willingness to make it happen, ‘ Scudamore told Sky Sports.
‘We are having discussions but it’s not easy due to the calendar of different competitions. We look overseas and we see the benefit of “B” teams, it’s just for the English football structure and pyramid it doesn’t work and so this is it. We are open minded and keen if we can make it work.
Watch Sam Allardyce getting used to his new base at England’s training headquarters at St George’s Park.
A considerable contrast to the Spain and Germany who’ve already implemented a mid-season break to their domestic leagues. ‘Sam is very consistent, he has been calling for a winter break for a long time and we are not against it.
“Whereas, if you go back to England-Croatia, Steve McClaren and the umbrella, we were so angry we went and got Ged (Roddy, the Premier League’s director of football development)”.
He is also increasingly optimistic about the possibility of a winter break after the current FA Cup broadcast rights expire in 2021.
The packed calendar makes moving matches to provide a break a hard task but an appropriate schedule could come into place in 2019 if an agreement is struck.
“January and February is always the most hard time to get players through”.
Glenn insisted that though the FA favoured a mid-season break, it would not be possible until the over £5 billion worth TV rights deal, which starts this season, was in effect. Any change will have to be agreed in principle before the Premier League goes to market for its next TV contract next year, but could not be introduced until the FA’s current TV deal runs out in 2021.
“There is a consensus that it would be a good thing to do”, he said. I’ll say no more than that.
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‘We can do our bit about fixture congestion and that’s why from the quarter-finals (of the FA Cup this season) we’re not going to replays’.
