Keep Kicking (Editor’s Letter)

Jen O’Neill opens the February issue on a washed-out winter: fixtures lost, pitches damaged and non-league men’s football hit just as hard, which leads her to ask whether the National Game should be discussing a formal winter break or even summer football. She admits she was a sceptic at first, but points out that youth leagues, the Scottish leagues and the FA WSL have all made the switch and that it now seems to make sense. Off the field, she notes, December and January were frantic, with a dizzying transfer window and some players and agents making optimistic demands. With no World Cup, Euros or Olympics for British teams in 2016, she frames the issue around an eclectic set of players and coaches from across Europe and North America for whom it could still be a big year.