Scottish Clubs to Have Winter Break from Next Season

Scottish football's winter break will be reinstated next season after the governing body agreed a radical overhaul of the League Cup.

The Scottish Professional Football League's plan for the new-look League Cup features a summer group stage and means the 12 top tier clubs will be given a two-week break following the 2017 New Year's Day fixtures.

Clubs in the three divisions below the Premiership will be consulted to see if they want to join the winter break, which returns to Scotland 14 years after top-flight clubs decided to scrap the recess.

The new League Cup format will see Scotland's clubs, minus the four Champions League and Europa League representatives, plus the winners of the Highland and Lowland Leagues split into eight groups of five.

Teams will play each other once with the group winners and four best-placed runners-up progressing to the knock-out stages, where they will be joined by the Scottish teams in European competitions.

By playing the group games during a two-week window -- starting next term on the weekend of July 16 -- before the regular league season gets under way, the SPFL says it will guarantee hard-pressed clubs four games during the warmest part of the year while also cutting the number of regular-season dates required for the knock-out rounds from five to four.

"The new format of the Scottish League Cup marks an exciting new chapter for the competition and sees Scottish football leading the way with a number of innovations," SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said.

"Fans, the media and clubs alike have expressed a desire for competitive summer football which will be delivered from next July while the ground-breaking bonus point system should add incentive to teams and excitement for supporters."