STEPHEN BRADLEY SAYS the majority of League of Ireland Premier Division managers would be in favour of extending the domestic season to avoid fixture congestion.
The Shamrock Rovers boss will take his side into the newly established league phase of the Uefa Conference League later this year, provided the Hoops don’t pull off a famous comeback against PAOK in the Europa League play-off tomorrow.
Rovers are 4-0 down from the first leg in Greece which means it is the third-tier competition that will be their most likely destination.
The league system has replaced the traditional group phase and guarantees Rovers six games – three home and three away – against six different opponents. St Patrick’s Athletic can join them if they beat Istanbul Başakşehir later today (kick-off 5pm Irish time).
The initial stage of the Conference League runs from 3 October to 19 December, with Rovers playing 10 more Premier Division fixtures before their final game against Waterford on 1 November.
Regardless of their European exploits and the need to schedule friendlies to keep his players ticking over into the winter, Bradley feels altering the domestic calendar should be looked at in the future.
“I actually don’t mind the extending of the season as it obviously means your off season is shorter, which is not a bad thing. Our off season is too long. What we have to do when the [Uefa Conference League] draw is made on Friday is looking at friendlies and who we can get and play in between them games,” he said.
“We’ll look towards Scandinavia if we can, similar sort of seasons. That’s what we’ll start planning after Friday, once we see the draw. But yeah, in terms of extending the season it’s not a problem considering how long we have off.
“It’s too long. I get it’s a complicated one, extending the season at both ends and other clubs will give out about it financially to pay players extra, but I think that’s what we need to be looking to get to.”
The FAI made the decision to postpone Dundalk’s league game with St Pat’s last Sunday in order to give the Dublin club more time to prepare for this evening’s tie while the derby between Rovers and Bohemians this Sunday will kick off at 11.30am to ensure a police presence, rather than rescheduling the game for a more traditional time slot.
“It’s definitely too long,” Bradley said of the off-season. “I think we’d all agree on that. It would make the schedule a lot easier. It seems like every year we have a conversation, debate or someone is giving out about scheduling. I think it would make all of that a lot easier.
“We want it and speaking to a lot of other managers in the Premier Division, they want it as well. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. The majority are full-time. I understand the resistance has come from the teams in the First Division, more so.
“But if we want to keep improving the league and moving it forward, that’s definitely something we need to look at. As a whole, it needs to be really considered. We have no reason to have three and a half months off. I know it’s every now and then but we’re snowed in for a month or so. We have no reason to have that time off.”
