By Matt Majendie

Empty stands will become regular when the Premiership shuts up

From January next season, the Premiership looks set to close down for two weeks after a winter break was agreed in principle on Wednesday.

The 13-day break has been tabled to take place for two seasons on a trial basis.

The move will take the Premiership in line with much of the rest of Europe, where winter breaks are standard.

We look at how such a break would affect the parties involved and how it would work in practice.

The players

A chance to rest weary legs for a fortnight and escape from football both physically and mentally ought to be welcomed by all and sundry.

Manchester United took a recent mini-break to Dubai, which midfielder Paul Scholes believes could have the desired effect.

He said: "Only time will tell if the break will have helped us, but we hope it will."

Managers

Managers may end up blocking players going off on holiday midway through the season, but would welcome a seasonal interlude to get their squads back to full fitness.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp pointed towards Southampton's money-spinning friendly against Bayern Munich during a recent mini break.

He said: "They could have had a break but decided to fit a game in and keep the players playing. It will be interesting to see how everybody uses the break."

Fans

Devoted fans will be left stranded halfway through the season and the proposed break has been heavily criticised on the BBC message boards.

Have your say on 606: Your view on the winter break

Wullie said: "It's an absolute disgrace. The amount of money they get paid, and they can't cope with a bit of cold weather? They should be ashamed."

Internationals

For England there can be little doubt that the break will enable players to be fresher come international time, which is why manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has always been such a staunch supporter of the idea.

Eriksson had previously argued a lack of time off in the season had affected his team's World Cup ambitions back in 2002.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "Sven thinks players should have an absolute break for seven days and then have six days back in training."

Chairmen

With the two-week window yet to be defined, chairmen could use the opportunity to send teams on lucrative tours of the Far East.

Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric admitted it was something he was considering and backed the break regardless.

He said: "It means recharging your batteries and rehearsing some of the things that they didn't do well. People will come back like it's the start of the season."

How it could work

On paper the idea looks achievable. How it works in practice, is some way from being defined.

Sceptics would suggest players may not get a chance to recharge their batteries during the time off, with club's money men instead opting to cash-in with money-spinning trips abroad.

Such tours could effectively rule out any potential benefit.

On the positive side, should teams stick to Eriksson's general plan of players having one week completely, they may have time to shake off the niggles that most of them carry.

That could well provide a much-needed new spark to the season.

Only time will tell.