Summer football and league reconstruction are options for the SFA and SPFL to consider while the sport is put on hold by the coronavirus outbreak, says Elgin City manager Gavin Price
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ELGIN City manager Gavin Price says the current sporting shutdown created an opportunity to introduce summer football in Scotland.
All football under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA was supended indefinitely last Friday in response to government recommendations made to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
But UEFA urged all European domestic leagues this week to make maximum effort to complete their current season by June 30.
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The call has raised some hope that the football campaign can be completed, and with Elgin City in contention for a play-off place in League 2, their promotion efforts may be allowed to continue at some stage.
Price insists that the club's survival is "paramount" during the crisis, but cast his eye further into the future with a suggestion he believes would benefit Scottish football in the long term.
"I think most of us would be disappointed if we didn't finish this season," he said. "But from my own point of view, it's maybe a chance to re-structure the leagues or change to a summer season.
"If we do get started again at some stage, it's just my opinion but we could finish this season at the end of this year and move on to a summer season next year.
"If everything was shut down until October time or whatever, that would maybe give you the opportunity to see the season out by December or whatever, and then you have your break and start the season again in March.
"For me, overall it makes sense in Scotland with our climate.
"Trying to train through the winter months and trying to get players and supporters travelling through these times, for me it's an opportunity to move to a summer football season. But that’s just one opinion."
Like every other football manager in the country right now, Price can't train his players but is asking his squad to look after their own fitness and health in the meantime.
He says people's welfare comes before sporting ambitions, but from Elgin City's perspective he is eager to see his club come through what will be a difficult financial period without any revenue coming in.
"Everything is up in the air in terms of the finances of the club for the foreseeable future.
"The survival of the club is more important than me or players or our current league position, anything really.
"But it's difficult times and football does not take priority at the moment."
