Winter break: the case for

Pity the poor menfolk of Wrexham, who've probably put up more shelves and rewired more plugs over recent weekends than they could possibly have imagined. The Dragons have probably been the hardest hit by the wintery weather - their postponed game against Stevenage last weekend made it eight in a row to be called off.

It's not just the Welsh town that's come off worse in the extended cold snap. Luton have felt the squeeze through having a number of games postponed, while Rotherham went for a month without kicking a ball in anger. Countless other clubs are counting the cost of postponed games and the headache of rearranging fixtures between now and the end of the season.

Yet Wrexham's plight highlights the problems both with the calls for a winter break and those who oppose it. If we forget the Premier League, for the time being, most of whom have undersoil heating, then it's the Wrexhams, Lutons and Rotherhams of this world who have the most to lose from bad weather postponements.

Most lower league clubs run a tight ship. The loss of one or two home fixtures increases the strain on their finances, normally precarious at the best of times. Losing Saturday games to the weather is especially galling for these teams. Even if the game can be rearranged reasonably quickly, a midweek game will simply not bring in the same gate receipts as a weekend one, unless the two teams are particularly close geographically.

In this respect, it's easy to see how a break would help teams plan their finances accordingly. A scheduled break in the middle of the season enables smaller clubs to budget for this and minimise any financial damage.

If only it were that simple. Wrexham's case may be at the extreme end of the scale, but it's unlikely a break would have helped them that much. There's simply no guaranteeing when or how long the weather will be at its worst for. Last year, the snow fell in February. Who's to say we won't get a flurry at the end of November next year. Taking a break over that length of time is patently absurd.

But the winter break shouldn't focus just around postponements. They may be an issue at the moment, but January 2010 has been an exceptional month, weather-wise, and may not be repeated in 2011. Besides, Premier League clubs mostly have undersoil heating. It's only when health and safety considerations come into play that cancellations tend to hit the top flight.

Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to bad weather, it's worth considering a winter break in terms of the benefits to a team as a whole. Managers frequently complain about the length of a season, the number of games played, and mounting injury lists, and such complaints usually come from around November onwards.

A winter break doesn't have to be long, but an extra week or so would give players time to relax and recovery from the knocks and strains picked up in the first half of the season. Think about Liverpool - how Rafa Benitez would have loved to give Torres an extra week to work his way back to full fitness.

The benefits would be felt after the season has ended. How often have we heard England managers, or Premier League players, complain of fatigue after a long season at major tournaments. A break wouldn't be the cure-all, but it would provide a small amount of help.

If Germany and other continental leagues can have a winter break, there's no reason why England can't adapt to this as well. Once a break was decided on, the powers that be would have plenty of time to ensure the fixtures fitted. If the will is there, there is a way.

But, like Chris, I'm a traditionalist at heart and would be loathed to lose Boxing Day football. I love that the New Year gets off to a great start with the Third Round of the FA Cup. These are part of the footballing calendar, but there's no reason to lose them for an enforced break.

Instead, my proposal is this: we have a break in English football of one week, probably in mid-January. This would assume that it is a standard week, with just Saturday football, so teams would play one weekend and then play again a fortnight later.

But, in addition to this, the spare week need not be completely free. Clubs who've had games called off prior to this point can rearrange for the spare Saturday, ensuring they don't lose out on matchday revenue. If TV companies are interested, this may even boost revenue. In addition, FA Cup replays can be scheduled for this week, although teams won't be allowed to bring forward fixtures from later in the season.

This way, most teams get the advantage of a week off yet the Wrexhams who've already suffered have the chance to regain much needed gate money. It's far from perfect, but then that's the whole idea of a winter break. At the very least, though, it's the nearest thing to a solution that suits teams from the Premier League to the Combined Counties.