The Premier League will have a major calendar change from next season with the winter break being scrapped.
The FA has just announced that from next season, the Premier League will not have a winter break, instead it will extend the summer break. The decision was made after consulting with medical and technical experts.
Statement on the FA homepage: “The mid-season break has been removed from the calendar, thereby allowing the Premier League to start the new season in mid-August. The longer summer break will allow Premier League clubs to ensure that Players get 3 consecutive weeks off during the summer.
“The decision was made after consulting with medical and technical experts. Accordingly, experts consider the longer period of complete rest in the summer to be more important than the shorter winter break.”
In fact, English football officials have approved this change since 2018. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 World Cup starting in November, the plan cannot be implemented yet. until this year.
Arsenal is the team that benefits the most from the winter break this season. After a training and relaxation trip in Dubai, the Gunners won 8 consecutive matches and made a breakthrough in the rankings. But from next season, Arsenal and other Premier League teams will have their winter break cut off.
In addition to changes in the Premier League, the FA Cup also has major reforms. Accordingly, the world’s oldest cup arena will eliminate replays from the first round from next season. This change broke the tournament’s 151-year-old format.
In particular, no Premier League match takes place on the same weekend as round 4, round 5 as well as FA Cup quarter-finals. This is intended to restore the tournament’s importance.
For the same reason, the FA Cup final will take place on Saturday and no Premier League matches will be held on the same day, but will take place on the penultimate day of the season. These FA Cup changes will apply for a minimum of 6 seasons.
