We must make the change to our football calendar

Common sense tells you a March to December season is the road Scottish football should go down.

Statistics show that 90% of postponements occur in the months of January and February. It is at this time, too, that the pitches suffer the damage which leaves them in such a state in the latter stages of the season.

Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Finland and Sweden all have breaks, and believe they have it right.

Neil Doncaster argues going head-to-head with the European Championships and the World Cup Finals wouldn’t work, particularly in the years when Scotland qualify.

Well, in that eventuality and the last time was 1998 remember I would suggest the dates be moved around to accommodate the big showpieces.

Germany take six weeks off from their club season, and it certainly didn’t prevent them winning the World Cup last year.

Pitch condition is a real issue. Back when I played, Rugby Park was renowned as being one of the finest surfaces in the country. Games would go off everywhere else, but Killie always managed to get them played.

Over the years, the pitch deteriorated severely, however, and has now been replaced by a synthetic surface. These are coming in all over the place and do provide a decent alternative.

They are, I believe, especially good for smaller community clubs, where their hardiness and ability to stage dozens of games a week help generate much-needed income.

But we should not dodge the issue does it make sense to break when the weather is at its worst?

It can be hard enough for parents to get kids along to live sport. Trying to get them enthused about the prospect of going out in a blizzard or temperatures down in the minuses is well nigh impossible.

And while we are on the subject, if we want our young players to have technique comparable to their peers on the world stage, it is crucial we build more indoor facilities for them to train in.

For outdoor games a March to November season makes sense. After that, games should be held indoors or not at all.