CHILDREN under the age of 12 can attend Ladbrokes Championship games free of charge over two weekends of the winter break, the Scottish Professional Football League has announced.

Top-flight action in Scotland will grind to a halt for three weeks in January, but there will still be full fixture cards in the Championship, League One and League Two.

All 10 second-tier sides will open their doors to Under-12s on January 6 and January 13, as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult, in a bid to encourage families to continue attending matches in the absence of any Premiership action.

The two weekends in question feature some intriguing match-ups as the battle for promotion and play-off spots intensifies.

St Mirren currently lead the pack and host struggling Inverness on January 6, while Livingston face Queen of the South in a battle between two sides currently separated by just one point in the table.

Brechin City face Greenock Morton, Dunfermline travel to Dumbarton and Falkirk take on Dundee United in the remaining games from that round.

A week later, the Pars welcome title-chasing United to East End Park, Brechin host Livi, the Buddies visit Dumbarton, Caley Thistle face the Doonhamers and Morton take on Falkirk.

Falkirk director Martin Ritchie, one of two Championship representatives on the SPFL Board, said: “With no Premiership fixtures in early January the spotlight will fall on the Ladbrokes Championship for a few weeks.

“We hope that this offer will encourage fans to take in a game, even if they haven’t been for a while. Matches in this league tend to be exciting and entertaining, and hopefully people, especially families, will take the opportunity to discover that for themselves next month.”