Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray believes the World Cup break could prompt a renewed push for English football to adopt an annual mid-season pause. Major leagues across Europe, including in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, have long since taken a break for several weeks in winter, but in England there is no such hiatus with the festive schedule one of the busiest times of the season before early January brings the third round of the FA Cup - when teams from the Premier League and Championship enter the competition - which is traditionally one of the highlights of the campaign.
There has been talk over the years of introducing a midseason break in England but it has come to nothing. This term, however, teams in the top two divisions in England have had a mid-season break in November and extending into December to accommodate the World Cup in Qatar.
And having proved that a break can be built into the programme, it is possible that there will be fresh moves to make it an annual event, albeit likely of a shorter duration than the current pause. Having had three weeks without a fixture, Sunderland resume their Championship season tomorrow with a home game against Millwall.
READ MORE: Sunderland's home game against Middlesbrough next month moved for live TV coverage
And Mowbray feels the break has helped his side, giving him the opportunity to allow the players a week off before taking them to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp and then returning to Wearside this week to prepare for the Millwall match. Asked whether a mid-season break might now become part of the calendar in England, Mowbray said: "I think it would probably the right thing to do.
"Every other nation in Europe, just about, seems to do it. Every year there's a fixture pileup. We can't have it all ways.
"We play three games a week, and every week there are players breaking down. Yet I think it has been really beneficial to take a gulp of air mid-season, then we can push on again.
"Let's wait and see. Will it come in? It could do.
"It's just that the season might have to start a week or two earlier and it might finish a week later, and to fit it all in you might have to get rid of any cup replays and maybe extra-time in certain competitions. It could happen, and the thing is that this season's break has proven that it can be done.
"It'll be interesting to see if there is a backlog of fixtures. If you get to May and some teams still have five games to play, and you think they won't be able to do it and they are going to have to play Monday-Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday-Friday to finish off. That has happened in the past, but whether it happens moving forward - let's wait and see."
The current Championship season paused for the World Cup following the round of fixtures on the weekend of November 12-13, and most clubs resume on the weekend of December 10-11 but Sunderland start a week earlier having rearranged their game against Millwall for tomorrow, after it had been postponed in December following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Premier League also took a break following the November 12-13 fixtures, but will not resume until Boxing Day.
READ NEXT:
- Tony Mowbray responds to reports that Manchester United could recall Amad in January
- Tony Mowbray on Edouard Michut's 'mystery' injury and when he is expected to resume training
- Return of 'monster' Aji Alese is a big plus for Sunderland, says Tony Mowbray
- Sunderland's Ross Stewart could be involved against Millwall - but it would be a 'gamble'
- Sunderland's Bailey Wright suffers family tragedy in wake of Australia's World Cup joy
