East Kilbride boss Kevin Rutkiewicz believes it would be common sense for matches to be brought forward this winter to tackle the cost of living crisis, after the Scottish Football Association announced clubs in the Scottish Cup will be welcome to move fixtures.
Last week the game’s governing body wrote to all participating clubs announcing they would be permitted to move games from the traditional 3pm kick-off to reduce energy and heating costs.
And it is understood all levels of senior football would also be open to the move as bills are set to take a massive spike when darker nights and colder weather draws in.
Rutkiewicz hopes that is the case and insists he would be fully behind it, as he feels it is in the best interest of the game in general.
He said: “It’s not a conversation I’ve had with anyone at the football club yet, but my personal opinion is I think there are a lot of clubs that would love to reduce costs.
“As an exercise, I feel we’ve got to do it. I totally back it.
“I don’t think that while every household is struggling, football clubs shouldn’t look at it.
“There is this perception that football is rich but it just isn’t at this level and underneath the elite.
“I would include the Scottish Premiership as being there, underneath all the riches of the English Premiership.
“There is a harsh reality at the moment.
“There are teams all over Scotland that would love an early kick-off in the winter and I would back anything that would help any club to save a bit of money, whether it be in the Premiership, the Lowland League, all the way down to the amateur leagues.
“There is no need for us to be arrogant or too proud to move a kick-off time.
“I think we should explore every avenue to help clubs and help everyone succeed as best they can.
“That is my opinion on it and hopefully we see sense, and do that for the greater good of the game.
“Football doesn’t prosper without finances and, for me, it’s pretty black and white.”
The proposal could see games from October into March next year kicking off at 12pm or 1pm to avoid the heavy costs.
And Rutkiewicz, whose side are gearing up for a long trip north to face Aberdeenshire side Deveronvale in the Scottish Cup first round this weekend, added: “If you flick the floodlights on at 3.30pm or 4pm in December when it tends to start getting dark, kicking off an hour or two earlier is going to save a lot.
“Common sense should prevail and it’s something that could help everybody this year.
“I’m not saying change kick off times forever more, but I think right now while we are seeing a real surge in costs can we not just be pioneers and say we are going to bring things forward to combat this.
“What works on a football park doesn’t change and would changing a game from 3pm to 12pm change how my players perform over the course of a season?
“I wouldn’t like to think so.
“There will be night games in midweek that you can’t avoid, but I do think we can make savings going forward.
“It is not an easy time for everyone right now, but short-term sacrifices can help us prosper long-term.”
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