NIFL Chair insists Boxing Day 'issue we can overcome' for summer football and offers potential alternatives

On Monday, representatives from all 12 Premiership clubs met to discuss a range of topics at Stormont Hotel, including a potential for change to the Irish League’s calendar.

Included in NIFL’s 2023-2028 strategy document – which is titled ‘A bold and brighter future for professional football’ – is an ambition to “lead and implement a change to the professional game playing calendar”.

CEO Gerard Lawlor confirmed last year that NIFL had commissioned a deeper report to get further answers with findings hopefully delivered to clubs in “early-2026”.

NIFL have also been gathering fan feedback around a proposal of starting in May and ending in February, but many have questioned whether that timeline would work.

One of the biggest reasons often cited for keeping the current calendar is Boxing Day – a traditional highlight of the season – but Brindley feels it’s not something which should get in the way and offered alternatives.

"I think the Boxing Day issue is one that we can overcome,” he said. “Who knows when the season starts and finishes, Boxing Day might be your first friendly of the season.

"If you look at Rugby League, which has a February start, their Boxing Day game is a local derby and it's the first game...it's a sell-out.

"Then you've got Easter weekend. If you look at other sports that play outside of the traditional winter sport that we do, they use Easter, they've got bank holidays, they have what's called a ‘Magic Weekend’ in Rugby League...suddenly you can do different things there.

"I think if you take Boxing Day, what's the real argument? Is it that it's a money spinner for clubs? Is it that it's a great day out for fans?

"If those are the two reasons why people see Boxing Day as a barrier, I'd sit there and say we can create a game some time during the year that has good fans and fans can look forward to a great day out.”

While the League of Ireland operates a full-time top-flight, the Irish League has four professional teams with eight part-time, potentially bringing different needs and desires across the board.

Brindley knows any final decision on summer football won’t be universally liked, but insists it’s NIFL’s job to keep driving standards.

"There's no simple answer,” he added. “If it was easy, we would have done it years ago.

"There's a lot of complexity in big decisions. I think the way to do it is to work through it, look at the evidence.

"You will have areas that you'll sit there and go, ‘that'll take me to that particular decision’. Then you'll have areas that will drag you back a bit.

"Big decisions are about trade-offs and therefore you're never going to please everybody, but ultimately the job of our league is to do the right thing for its member clubs to make sure we continue a growth trajectory, that we take the majority of our fans with us – we can't take everyone.

"I've met one already who says ‘I don't want to come and watch summer football because I like doing my garden’. My answer was, ‘we're not going to be playing every day in the summer’.

"There's lots of discussions to be had yet, this is about getting the right decision.”