FIFA are making changes to the international break from next season, and Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson will surely be pleased with the changes.
We are now into our second international break of the season so far, with another scheduled for November.
It makes for a very stop-start opening to the campaign and recently, Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has called for less international breaks.
He said: “I think personally that there are too many international breaks at the start of the season. Half of me thinks that maybe they should reduce one of them to the old fashion way where everyone plays on the Saturday and there is one international game midweek, and everyone comes back.”
And this week, FIFA have announced changes to the international schedule, set to come into effect next season. It’ll see the September and October international breaks merged into one, three-week break.
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How will the international break changes impact Wrexham?
Speaking to Wrexham Insider, football finance expert Adam Williams revealed how the changes will impact Wrexham and indeed most teams in England. Clubs right now are forced to buy large first-team squads to cope with the calendar and Wrexham are no exceptions.
Williams states that Wrexham’s wage bill this season could be as high as £30million, so the changes to the international schedule may allow Wrexham to cope with a smaller set of players, and in turn save money on wages.
Williams explained: “Parkinson’s gripe is common among managers and is emblematic of the conflicting interests between first-team players/staff and the media/ownership class. FIFA, UEFA and domestic football associations are all competing for our attention and no one is prepared to give anything up.
“With FIFA adding the 32-team Club World Cup, UEFA expanding the Champions League and clubs going on pre and post-season tours, there are fewer rest days for players, which has both a physical/mental impact, but also a financial one. There is increasing awareness from some club owners that the bloated calendar means they have to have massive squads to be able to cope – and in turn, that costs them much more money.
“And for every club, the wage bill is always the biggest expense. Wrexham’s is probably going to be £25-30m this season. So there are more owners pressing for an overall reduction in the size of the calendar, but it’s a matter of which institutions within the game are willing to make the sacrifice to scale back their portion of it.
“Wrexham are a Championship side now, so this is one of the things they and their owners have to deal with, and it’s amplified by the fact that they have a 46-game league season after a pre-season that involved thousands of air miles too.
“Reducing the number of international breaks will help in terms of time with players on the training ground and so on, but it’s not going to too far in terms of negating the physical impact on players, nor the financial impact on clubs.”
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When are the international breaks in 2025/26?
After this month’s international break, the next is in November, with another in March after that. So once the November break is out of the way, Parkinson and Wrexham have a run through until March with no international breaks.
It’ll be good for the club and for the fans to get going more regularly. But Parkinson might find himself wanting a break during that five month stretch with games always coming thick and fast in the festive period.
Last time out, Wrexham drew 1-1 with Birmingham City, with the Dragons having drawn their last three now. Form is mixed and the Dragons already have a few injury worries in the side.
Keffer Moore is carrying an ankle injury and the likes of Nathan Broadhead have a patchy injury record as it is, with Liberato Cacace another who’s been out of action for a few weeks.
This is why Wrexham need a bigger squad, but next year it could be easier with the changes to the international schedule.