Does the Season Start Too Early?

On the 11th July, Spain were crowned World Champions after 120 minutes of football in the final. After a brief discussion about Howard Webb’s performance and the Dutch ‘tackling’, wives and girlfriends could finally breathe a sigh of relief as the football season had finally finished, and were looking forward for a nice long break from sport. Yet 18 days later a weakened Liverpool team got their season underway in a Europa League qualifier in Skopje, Macedonia. Liverpool’s England players had not even returned from holiday in time for this tie. So does the season start too early?

Luckily for Liverpool fans, a mix of youth and experience was enough to overcome the relatively unknown Rabotnicki, but some favourites struggled as late July was too early a start for many World Cup players. For teams in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round, the season started earlier. The likes of Ajax, Celtic and Fenerbahce all struggled in ties they were tipped to win.

While this is great for the fans (how many of you would be disappointed if football was on 365 days a year?), its probably safe to say the players aren’t too keen on playing a competitive match in Macedonia when they could be on holiday. Maybe the modern footballers are just soft in needing a holiday but it wasn’t so long ago that the season ended in May and that was it until August. While there were pre-season friendlies, the fact that they are now televised makes the summer seem a lot shorter. However some teams don’t even have time for pre-season friendlies before their first game.

For those of you who don’t follow football in Montenegro, the 2009/10 champions were FK Rudar Pljevlja (or Rudar for those who can’t pronounce Pljevlja). Their first league title led to their first ever qualification for the Champions League. Surely a summer of celebration would follow? Unfortunately for them, there was barely time to open the champagne. Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration, but within a month of receiving the league trophy they were in San Marino for a Champions League Qualifier. That match was on 30th June, about halfway through the World Cup. Had Montenegro qualified (unlikely I know) FK Rudar would have been left with just 2 available players.

There are many more arguments against the season starting shortly after the previous one finishing, but what about the arguments for it? Waiting until August for the champions of Malta, Andorra, Montenegro and San Marino to play their Champions League qualifiers will lead to a crowded schedule for the likes of Barcelona when the serious business starts, an unwanted situation for the big teams.

Obviously no set season start date would be perfect, no matter what date you choose one team will say ‘we need more rest’ or ‘there isn’t enough rest during the season’. As the calls for a winter break in the Premier League grow louder has anyone thought of having a proper summer break instead?

Europa League, Europe, FK Rudar Pljevlja, Montenegro