rs1.tv VIDEO: FC Remscheid hampered by winter weather, no league match in four months

The ongoing winter here in Germany has been one of the longest and toughest in recent years and it has had a negative effect on amateur football. My local club FC Remscheid has not played a league match since November 18, 2012 and yesterday's match was called-off short notice due to a frozen pitch.

Here my rs1.tv report in German:

Global United FC: Lutz to interview me live today!

A little later at around 09.30 CET (14.00 IST / 08.30 GMT) listen to me in my friend Lutz Pfannenstiel's livestream ( www.globalunitedfc.com/Igloo_2012.php ), who is sitting in an Igloo (Ice House) at the Biathlon World Championship in Ruhpolding, Germany. Lutz is spending five days in the igloo to raise awareness about climate change and global warming.

We will be speaking about India and its football during the interview. Lutz will share with the others his experience in New Delhi in September 2010, where we both participated at the FICCI Sports Summit Turf 2010.

Over these five day Lutz will be having guests in the 'Talks of the Day' with decision makers from sports, economy, politics and other walks of life and also talk with you all via Internet about climate change and other social projects.

The former football goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, the only professional footballer to have played on all continents, is trying to make people aware of the topic of climate change and global warming through his charity organisation Global United FC, while also supporting social projects.

You can watch the livestream from around 09.30 CET (14.00 IST / 08.30 GMT) onwards under www.globalunitedfc.com/Igloo_2012.php . Enjoy listening!!!

European Football effected by winter weather

Over the last few weeks the winter weather has been effecting everyday life across Europe with especially western and central parts hit unusually hard so early in the winter season. And football is now being more and more effected across the continent with matches being called-off and postponed.

This weekend especially the English Premier League has been hit hard with yesterday's matches FC Arsenal vs. Stoke City, FC Liverpool vs. FC Fulham, Wigan Athletic vs. Aston Villa and Birmingham City vs. Newcastle United all called-off. Also today's much anticipated clash between defending champions FC Chelsea and league leaders Manchester United as we as the game between FC Blackpool and Tottenham Hotspur had to be postponed.

And more EPL matches could be effected in the coming weeks with the Premier League having no winter break like other European leagues plus between Boxing Day and the New Year the Premier League clubs have three matches to play. And with further postponements looks likely it could mean numerous additional match dates in the spring.

Germany has also been hit hard by the winter weather, but unlike in England so far no matches in the top division of the Bundesliga have been cancelled. This is due to the fact that the DFL (parent body of the Bundesliga) has tough criteria for clubs in regard to stadium infrastructure, approach roads and public transport access. E.g. a club can only play in the Bundesliga if their stadium has underground soil heating to keep the pitch playable in such snowy conditions. And such measures have helped in keeping the fixtures and schedules intact. Also the Bundesliga has a winter break with this weekend being the last round ahead of a month long break.

Also effected by the winter weather has been the Scottish leagues, but especially the amateur game across the continent has been hit hard. Many match venues are closed as are training grounds and if you are lucky then you have an indoor training facility closeby which you can use otherwise no matches or training.

But due to their usual harsh winters Russia and Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland) play their leagues from March to November to avoid matches being effected by snow and the big freeze. The other example is that of the Alpine countries of Switzerland and Austria who last weekend played their last match of the year and will only play again in February with a number of clubs having artificial turf grounds due to the winter weather in those countries, which makes it very difficult to main their grounds.

Maybe there is something here for the English Premier League to learn to avoid such washouts in future...

A cold, early winter in Europe

It is time again for something personal which has nothing to do with football. I love the different seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) and am generally interested in the weather, so I do follow the weather reports on television and online. Currently it simply is too cold here...

We are in early-December and normally at this time of the year here in this part of Germany we have cool weather but not really winter weather with rains, maybe some snow but often not, sometimes with overnight frost and often foggy conditions. But this year the winter has come early and has hit the western part of Europe quite severely. In some parts it has been as cold and that much of snow as never before towards the end of November/early-December.

Initially we had not that much of snow, but there were the cold temperatures and the icy wind from the east which was giving us a tough time. Temperatures of -7°/-8°C plus the wind chill made it feel cooler then -20°C. And that is tough if one remembers that only in mid-November we had temperatures of up to +16°C and sunshine.

Now the snow has also set in and after a few days you get used to the -7°/-8°C and with the snow it doesn't feel so cold and the winds from the east have died down for the moment. But even in the normal winter these kind of temperatures are only prevailent for a few days and then it usually gets warmer again.

So this could mean another long and tough winter across Europe. Last season it lasted over three month's with record snow and low temperatures. This year the winter has come over a month earlier which could mean over four month's of snow.

I like such weather rather then those +4°/+5°C and rainy conditions, but life does become a little bit more difficult with traffic and travel by train or plane getting affected. Still is it nice to simply walk through the snow and ice...