The rival bosses of the region's top two professional clubs have backed the idea of a mid-season break in the English game.

York City manager Terry Dolan and Scarborough counterpart Colin Addison were reacting to FIFA's plans to shake-up the football calendar.

Although indifferent to the proposals as a whole - especially the idea of running the season from February to November - they agreed that having a winter break by splitting the season into two halves would benefit the English game.

Dolan said: "Giving the players six weeks off in the winter with another six weeks off for the summer is something to think about.

"Obviously it will separate the games out but it will give players more time to recover and recuperate. And the standard of football will therefore improve."

Such a break would effectively halve the three-month summer close-season, but the idea has long been mooted and is practised widely in Europe.

Addison said: "I've worked abroad and (mid-season breaks) happen on the continent. I think that could be a good thing we could introduce here, and extending the season a bit would not be a bad thing."

The full plans announced by FIFA this week could have a major impact on the game worldwide, but both Dolan and Addison felt the changes were aimed at benefiting the top clubs and their international stars more than those clubs at the lower end of the professional scale.

The decision will see competitions harmonised around the globe, with international tournaments all taking place within the same six-week period.

FIFA have yet to announce when that period will be, but they will come under huge pressure from the power base in Europe to conform to their current set-up rather than Africa's or South America's.

Boro boss Addison added that the strong traditions of British football would be hard to break. "I'm a traditionalist when it comes to holding cup finals at the end of the season in the spring. I think that's right, and I can't see any changes happening overnight."

Dolan, meanwhile, was favourable towards the idea of summer football - in effect extending the season into June - but averse to increasing the number of games in one campaign.

He said he was keen to have different ideas looked into, and added: "I'm quite open to changes but only as long as they benefit the game.

"Too many changes have been made in the past that have not helped the game."

FIFA's plan for a unified calendar, put together by a special committee headed by former French international Michel Platini, will see the Premiership come under pressure to reduce the number of clubs from 20 to 18, although such a move has already been met with hostility in England.

The proposal will allow domestic leagues to play whenever they like, as long as they do not clash with international dates.

The new 52-week calendar will have:

Four weeks for holidays

Four weeks for pre-season training

Six weeks for the World Cup or continental competitions such as the European Championships

38 weeks for domestic league and cup competitions.

On the basis of two matches a week, there would be 76 match dates.

The calendar would use those match dates as follows: 46 national league and cup games, 16 continental club competition matches and 12 international fixtures with two dates in reserve.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "Each organisation will be able to organise their own competition as they wish but they will have to respect the framework which has been elaborated."

He added that in the case of the Premiership, league matches could be played every two days instead of two a week if they do not want to cut to 18 teams.

FIFA want to introduce the new calendar when they celebrate their centenary in 2004.

Benefits for British clubs include not losing players to tournaments such as the African Nations' Cup during the league season.

The Football League has confirmed the 2000-01 season will kick off on August 12, with the season drawing to a close on the weekend of May 5-6.

Next year's Worthington Cup Final will again take place on the last Sunday in February, February 25.

However, the first round of the competition will now start in the second week of the season, a week later than its traditional slot.

The play-off finals will continue to be staged over the May bank holiday weekend, with games played on May 26, 27 and 28.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.