24 Jul 2006(Mon)

July 22, 2006: He's got a big job in front of him, hasn't he?

No, not Ivica Osim.

I'm talking about Kenji Onitake, the new chairman of the J.League.

For a while now I've been thinking the J.League needs a bit of a shake-up.

There are far too many breaks for my liking, and the league could do with some streamlining in certain areas, such as scrapping the all-star game.

I'd start with a radical change, namely from a summer season to a winter season. The hot and humid months of July and August are no time to be playing football, and I'd like to see a European-style season, kicking off in early September and finishing in May.

This would leave June and July free for national team commitments, such as the World Cup and Confederations Cup, without forcing another break on the league season.

I also feel it would benefit clubs by bringing them into line with the European transfer market, where contracts end June 30, and make it easier to negotiate transfers in and out of Japan.

Another advantage -- and I think this is a very important factor -- is the media exposure. At the moment, the J.League season and baseball season run hand in hand, but there is a void in the months from December to February, apart from the Emperor's Cup.

Just think, if the J.League ran from September to May, the profile in the media would be much higher, as it would have a monopoly in the winter months when baseball was closed down.

Right now the two compete for space, and there is no doubt baseball still dominates as a rule, apart from national team matters.

Also, if the J.League switched to a European season there would be less need for midweek matches. Wednesday night games are not big crowd-pullers, and reduce the average crowd considerably. With a September to May season, midweek dates could be reserved for Nabisco Cup and Emperor's Cup rounds.

I know there are disadvantages of a winter season, notably the harsh conditions in Sapporo, Yamagata and Niigata. But Sapporo has a dome, and surely the fixture list could be manipulated so that Yamagata and particularly Niigata play the majority of their home games in late summer/autumn and in the spring. This would mean only a couple of months would be out of bounds.

Yes, I know there would be problems with, and objections to, such a transition, but to me the advantages of a September-May season far outweigh the disadvantages. Overall I think it would be much smoother.

I don't know if the new J.League chairman is even thinking about this, but I feel it would be worth detailed discussion and research, as I am sure Japanese football would benefit as a whole in the long-term.

ends