St Johnstone defender Callum Davidson has asked for summer football to be seriously considered after enduring some of the worst conditions he has experienced in his long career.
The 35-year-old ex-Scotland international is in his second spell at McDiarmid Park has also been there and done it with Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Preston down in England.
Not much surprises him but even he had to admit he was taken aback by the ferocity of the wind and rain when Saints took on Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park on Tuesday night.
The game took place in a storm, with the Perth men going down 2-1 to the Dons, and Davidson has called for the powers that be to think about changing the calendar for the sake of clubs like Saints and, in particular, the supporters.
The match attracted only 1,607 punters, with around 300 making the trip from Aberdeen. That made it the lowest-ever league attendance at McDiarmid and those who did brave the elements rather than watch the game on TV at home or in the pub deserved a medal.
”Those were atrocious conditions,” said Davidson. ”You understand why people ask for summer football when you see that.
”Also, you have to look at the crowd no wonder it was that (size). It was horrendous for the fans.
”People are talking about bringing the crowds back but I just know that I wouldn’t want to come and watch a game in weather like that.
”It wasn’t great out there for us either. We were trying to play football but you could hardly see the ball. I couldn’t feel my hands, it was so cold. I have to say it affected my enjoyment of the game.
”Those were probably some of the worst conditions I have played in because the wind and rain just went continuously. Sometimes you get it for a spell then it stops but it didn’t on Tuesday.”
Davidson believes change would benefit players, too.
”My biggest problem is that you don’t have a place to train during the week because the pitches are either flooded or covered in snow,” he said.
”There is not a lot of money in Scottish football and we are trying to find facilities to train indoors. Down in England they mostly have their own training facilities so you are not affected as much by bad weather through the week.
”They have indoor pitches so you don’t notice it as much as you do up here. I want to train every day on grass if I can.
”I know there are arguments for and against summer football and I doubt it will ever change because we are quite traditional up here. But I think it is something to look at, especially for the sake of the smaller clubs like St Johnstone.”
Saints contributed to their own downfall on Tuesday, with goalkeeper Peter Enckelman kicking the ball straight to Dons’ second scorer Ryan Jack.
They certainly can’t afford to be so generous on Sunday, when Celtic are the visitors to Perth.
”The Aberdeen game was similar to the Motherwell match in that we gave away really soft goals,” said Davidson. ”We are not good enough to come back from that all the time.
”Our success has come from working hard for our wins but we have given away sloppy goals of late.
”I think we have been a little bit unlucky, too, though. I wouldn’t say we have deserved to win our last couple of games but we have maybe deserved to take something.
”Now we have to tighten up at the back.”