rockson

It should give relegated SPFL clubs a better chance of returning to the SPFL.. That would mean they would have to attract good enough players to win the league they get elegated into - which hasn't happened so far (but might in Brechin's case.) As is stands SPFL clubs relegated into the Lowland League - most of whose players will be out of contract, being on one-year deals - seem to face a big problem in persuading enough good new ones to join a sinking ship. Granted a Lowland club returning to the SPFL may occur in future but it doesn't look likely right now for precisely the reason above.

Presumably though he knew he had a contract or he wouldn't have asked for it? And surely he would have signed one or he couldn't play?

Are you a BInos fan in disguise?

But why not include Annan and Elgin in that, then? Does snobbery not extend to them? Don't be ridiculous. The teams have to play whoever the SPFL says they should.

If they get promoted they get promoted. (And they'll probably deserve it.) They most likely wouldn't get past Brechin though. And what's the difference in going to Forthbank to play them rather than the Binos?

Bottom tier SPFL clubs have players who are - mostly - on one-season contracts. (A result of Bosman.) Why should these teams be expected to bounce straight back up when the supposedly "stronger" players who took them down in all probability won't stay around for the next season? They're effectively starting from scratch - as Cowdenbeath had to at the start of this season - whereas the teams they will now be competing with are more likely to have a reasonably settled squad.

In the cases of E Stirling, Berwick and Cowdenbeath it clearly doesn't.

I refer you to my previous answer:- Being relegated out of the SPFL immediately makes a club less attractive to players. This is for a club that has been on the slide (East Stirling a possible exception to that, since they perennially tended to struggle) and so less likely even to keep the players they had - who weren't good enough in any case. Parachute payments don't alter any of this.

They'll possibly get back up this year. But theyr'e in the Highland League so difficult to compare their case with E Stirling, Berwick and Cowden.

If League Two was significantly stronger than the Lowland League then you'd expect the clubs to bounce back immediately but not one team has gone down and won the Lowland League and, this season, the teams aren't even close. Being relegated out of the SPFL immediately makes a club less attractive to players. This is for a club that has been on the slide (East Stirling a possible exception to that, since they perennially tended to struggle) and so less likely even to keep the players they had - who weren't good enough in any case. Being promoted tends to mean higher crowds and a higher budget. Hence being relegated means a lower budget and lower crowds. Is it any wonder no team has yet gone back up? It would be a miracle of sorts if one ever does bounce back straight away.

FFS. I'm not arguing against teams getting promoted if they win their leagues. Those are the rules. All I'm saying is that doesn't mean a team is worthy of promotion. The last time Dumbarton won promotion it was through the play-offs. We had finished third - with a goal difference of zero. We went up because of the rules but was that finish worthy of promotion? Our start the next season would argue it wasn't. The Scottish pyramid has been in place for barely three seasons yet people are pushing to have it changed yesterday. The English pyramid took much longer than that even to achieve one promotion to the Football League. Two promotions only happened after teams had been promoted back into it again. A team getting back up hasn't yet happened in Scotland. If it does it might be a catalyst for change. As it stands dropping into the Lowland League (as opposed to the Highland) looks like a one-way street. That will continue as long as players look at the teams coming down into it as doubtful challengers to get back again.

No it isn't. If they won most group games and knock-out games they were clearly better than the teams they beat. In the scenario I cited the "top" team could be argued to be only luckier than the rest in their division - and not much better than the bottom one. The point I was trying to make was that while the poster I quoted said they would be worthy of promotion they obviously wouldn't have demonstrated that worthiness. Under the rules they'd still get promoted though.

It doesn't look to be going well so far.....

Even if it was on a goal difference of one (or even one more goal scored) over five other teams on the same number of points and they're all only six or so points above the bottom team in their division? A scenario like that (however unlikely: it is possible) argues they aren't worthy of promotion. Nor would the rest of the teams in that division be.

Don't mock Cliftonhill. It's bottled nostalgia in a football ground.

Seulement un peu?

Well they do act as a safety net for when Rangers go bust.

For those of us long in the tooth it's wonderfully nostalgic of the football grounds of our youth.

Watching Morocco's Safyan Amrabat at the World Cup I was reminded of Chris Turner.... (It might have been the bald head though.)

Oh, agreed.

I've had the fear about this fixture ever since it was announced.

Boghead?

I think Edinburgh Blue was referring to the fact that the original Rangers went bust.

For a second there I thought you meant up Aberdeen way ......

Some Station Roads were named because of their Police or Bus stations.