Big Bream, you call yourself a match angler, in other words a competitive angler, thus you are a sportsman. Sports have rules and seasons, e.g. football. Football is no different to river match fishing, both have a season, why is that a problem?
I no longer fish matches, just not my thing now but years ago I fished matches on the big Midland Rivers where a match length was often measured in miles rather than metres or yards. The rivers were hammered week in, week out. By the late eighties the bubble burst, fish stocks plummeted and only now are the rivers such as the Welland, Trent & Witham back on form.
Times have changed, agreed, and so has the cost of entering a match, what with pool & bait it's easy to spend fifty quid or more as I'm sure you know. Good to have a break now and again.
The fish benefit from a break, especially from those big, bulging keep-nets. Unlike commercial waters our rivers don't have stock-ponds from which to top up lost casualties from match fishing. Instead we have a close season!