Scottish Premiership To Have 19-Day Winter Break During '17-18 Season

Scottish Premiership clubs "will again get a winter break next season, having done so during this campaign," according to the BBC. The Scottish Professional Football League announced that the Premiership will stop for 19 days from Jan. 1. However, the SPFL said that a majority of Scottish Championship clubs "were against the introduction of a mid-season hiatus for the second tier." The SPFL season across all four divisions will begin on Aug. 5 (BBC, 2/1). The Scotland DAILY RECORD reported SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster said that the break this year "has received positive reviews" -- including from sponsors, but added that the break "will not include lower league sides due to feedback from clubs." Doncaster: "We also asked clubs in the Ladbrokes Championship if they would like to see this introduced in their league, however the clear majority of feedback was against this" (DAILY RECORD, 2/1).