'There will be a vote' over summer football - Lawlor

Northern Ireland Football League [NIFL] chief executive Gerard Lawlor says he hopes to discuss summer football with clubs before Christmas, with a view to a vote over changing the Irish League calendar as soon as the 2028-29 season. Earlier in the week, Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins said it is "a worry" that Irish Premiership sides will never improve in Europe without a switch to summer football after his side became the third Premiership team to bow out of the qualifiers. The Irish Premiership currently sits 51st in the Uefa coefficient system and could lose their fourth European spot if Larne, the only Northern Irish team left in the qualifiers, are knocked out before the group stages. Lawlor has long been an advocate of summer football, something which has long been a discussion point within football in Northern Ireland. "There will be a vote somewhere," Lawlor told Sportsound on BBC Radio Ulster. "I'm hoping before Christmas that we could have the clubs all in a situation to sit down and say, here's the information, here are the pros and here's the cons. Away you go. "We always tried to keep everybody happy and we've come to realise we try almost to model things into a situation to suit everyone when maybe it only suits one person, or there's one person it doesn't suit and we've moved 12 others to serve. That's something we've come to learn in our model." Higgins 'big believer' in summer calendar switch 'A change of season will definitely help' The Irish Premiership campaign currently takes place between August and May with clubs facing teams on the European stage who are primarily mid-season. Of the four Irish Premiership clubs in Europe this summer, Glentoran, Linfield and Coleraine were beaten in their ties, while Larne are the last club standing and will face Georgia's Iberia 1999 in the Europa League qualifiers. The suggested switch would follow the same schedule as the League of Ireland and run from mid-February to early November. Lawlor said that the vote would consist of the 12 teams from the Premiership as well as the 16 clubs from the newly expanded Championship, whose season would also be switched. He added a change of campaign, if successful, could be in place as quickly as the 2028-29 season. "I think a change of season will definitely help and I discussed it with [Northern Ireland manager] Michael O'Neill because Michael's like, 'why are we not doing it and just get it done?'," he continued. "I think we're very close to the clubs wanting to do it and we have just finished our second report in an economic element of it. "So our job has been trying to give the clubs as much information as what they can get about the financial model. It has really proven Europe has such a financial impact and brings money into the game that is spread out everywhere." 'This is the reality we must adopt to' As things stand, the Irish Premiership winners, runners-up and the Irish Cup victors secure a European qualifying spot, while teams who finish between third and seventh compete in a play-off for the final position. However, if the Irish Premiership was to lose the fourth spot, Lawlor said that the play-off may not take place. "We would need to talk to the clubs about that and have a discussion, but it is probably the most sensible and easy outcome," when asked would the play-off be cancelled. "We will give the club different models but it is the reality we must adopt to." "When you take that out across the board, it's hundreds of thousands coming into the league and, so, Larne need to beat the Georgian team, it's that simple. That is the be all and end all at this stage for the good of everyone." A change to a summer season has split opinions within the clubs and fanbases over the years. An argument against summer football has been concerns over part-time players, many of which are teachers, taking holidays in the summer, but Lawlor says there would be a break included to facilitate this, like there is in the League of Ireland. Some had raised concerns of many issues including the loss of the Boxing Day fixtures when clubs play their local rivals, but Lawlor said that "it is the most ridiculous argument". "We keep talking about Boxing Day, for me, with all due respect, it is the most ridiculous argument. "Yes, it is a wonderful day, but it only comes around once every two years for each club and I think we could create a weekend, and I talk about a new Boxing Day, we need to create that in the summer. "We have our current fan base, but we want to grow that fan base and it's not taking the current people for granted but they are bought into the product."