Last night, the Scottish Government announced that football stadiums will be restricted to just 500 fans for a three week period commencing on Boxing Day. A number of clubs have subsequently issued statements calling on the SPFL to move the winter break forward, so that as many fixtures as possible can be played in front of larger crowds.

Celtic, Hibernian, Motherwell, Livingston, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian and St Johnstone have all publicly expressed their desire to see the winter break brought forward by the SPFL. Meanwhile, Aberdeen, Dundee and St Mirren have stated that they are in discussions to find a suitable way to proceed.

According to the Daily Record, the SPFL have now responded by giving Scottish Premiership clubs three options to vote on.

  1. Clubs can vote to start the break after the round of fixtures on Boxing Day
  2. Clubs can back stopping the season for three weeks before Sunday’s round of fixtures
  3. Clubs can opt to pause the season as planned after the Edinburgh derby on January 3

Each SPFL member is thought to have until 5pm to respond to the options listed above, when an announcement is expected to made on how the League will progress.