Jambo'ness

It's actually harder for bigger clubs to reach a decision, as they have EGM's to arrange and will want a high level of support. A smaller club could more easily decide on just half a dozen committee members voting for it. Having said that, certain clubs need to get their skates on!

You go on about this "brand". If I was the marketing director of any company with a "brand", I would have expected to be sacked by now if I acted as the SJFA does with its "brand"

You make it sound like a war. It's all FOOTBALL. History is important but you can't keep living in the past. Maybe if TJ at the top had "cared a jot" about the East region as he does about the West, things may have been different. Now progressive football clubs from all areas are looking to evolve.

"Junior brand"? What brand is that exactly? It certainly isn't a marketed brand. It's an old name, from a bygone age. If the changes that are beginning, continue to sweep through, then the name 'Junior' will be dead in 5 years.

I'm not so sure it can be said he has done his best FOR Junior football. He is in a position where there is no periodic election for his position. Even FIFA ran elections! He is protecting himself, pure and simple and instead of aiding change, he grips firmly on to what semblance of power he thinks he has, even if it is to the detriment of the game.

Know what you mean there. I have missed the last three league games against the wee rose due to being booked for holidays. Before anyone gets smart, we did win two. I wasn't deliberately missing them.

Funny, I read that as 'keep Tom Johnston in a job'.

I kind of guessed it would come to this. At first, a mass shaking of heads and nobody interested. Next, a wee opening is sniffed by some of the more progressive outfits and discussions start. Next, a lot of clubs scrambling over each other to get into a newly formed league. Those that hold back will then be wondering whether it was wise to be cautious, or annoyed at missing the bus.

Care to say who, allegedly? One would expect a Superleague side or is it a surprise package?

Exactly. It's not compulsory in the English pyramid. This whole 'adventure' should be about finding the right fit for all clubs, regardless of size. Forcing clubs to go further than they wish, or can afford, would be counter-productive.

Yes, good luck to them but a fanciful notion of reaching the Premiership. I'm sure my own club, with its history and fan base has no such delusions. I well remember the Ebbsfleet experience and it is not profitable. Most people joined up out of curiosity, myself included, just to see how it would work but soon lost interest when it became clear I was better off playing Football Manager!

Loved the quote from Chris Ewing... "We have no history, we have no fan base and we have carte blanche to create a brand new football club that meets the needs of the supporters." If they have no fan base how is it meeting needs of supporters?

Had to check there it wasn't April 1st.

Sorry, still not buying it. Full-time is a commitment that should only be entered into when you have sufficient guaranteed income streams. I respect your opinion but feel it verges towards fantasy on this issue. Also no interest in furthering the modern-day slave trade that is young, full-time professionals

Pro-youth football is one of the reasons that Junior football has declined in quality over the last few years. Before, the youths would join a junior side from their juvenile team, then make the step-up to senior. That path has almost disappeared recently. Only now with community clubs bringing through their own players are we going to see an improvement.

Putting aside your lame attempt at sarcasm, it is indeed the Junior Football forum. However, please also note this is a thread called 'Junior football, what is the future?' As the future will most likely mean a complete overhaul in the current Junior game, it is sensible to discuss football as a whole.

Maybe we would make some progress if we stopped making the distinction between junior football and senior football. Amazingly enough, it is all FOOTBALL.

Whilst I agree with the rest of your post, I have to take issue with the opening sentence. No way are we big enough to go full-time.

http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/mathesondougal.html The link above should tie it all up, with yet another variance in spelling but did play for both Yoker & Fauldhouse.

Interesting set of figures. If anything, they give hope to a club like mine. Bo'ness had a population of just under 15,000 in 2008, now increased. I would be confident that entering into a structure where we could progress would see our gates exceed the 1000 mark, the higher we went, thus roughly giving us 15%. So even getting to L2 would see us outstrip the current incumbents. Conjecture I know but based on our support at Junior level through the years.

Good one

It used to be about the pools money. Being in the 'Leagues' meant you would appear on the Littlewoods coupon. Now it's as much about Soccer Saturday on Sky. They don't give scores for the Lowland League, occasionally chuck in a Highland League result. Clubs are fearful their national exposure will be diminished by regionalisation, thus affecting sponsorship.

She's looking at things from the top(ish) end of the scale. As usual, those in that position are only interested in protecting their financial interests, with little consideration for the good of the game or the fans at large. Nobody has the right to dictate how many clubs there should be. If clubs are viable, they have a right to exist. Some business people forget their roots and if their current opinions had been applied to them when they started, they'd have been burst from the start.

They are not the ones that regionalisation should focus on. If you use England as an example, tier 5 is the National League, Tier 6 is split North and South, then tier 7 and below is far more localised, more on county lines by and large. Here, we have tried the East Super League with varying degrees of success but we have to acknowledge the junior fanbase is , ironically, an older one and travel is an issue, so 4 or 5 hour round trips to Tayside aren't helping our game any. Fans feel no attachment to a game against, say, Carnoustie but are more interested in Bathgate playing us. Personally, I'm okay with travel but many aren't and we risk alienating an already dwindling support further.

Bo'ness played them there a few years ago in the big Scottish and playing in the shadow of Ben Nevis and with the giant yellow rescue 'copter beside the ground it was some experience. BUT it was a bugger to reach and that seems to be the problem in Scotland. There are a lot of remote areas and it seems to bring down plans when people try to work things out. That can't be allowed to happen and regionalisation may need to be invoked to a further degree, creating further leagues. Just look at England, Germany, Spain etc. They all have a multitude of feeder leagues. The last thing anyone wants is to increase travel times, not just for fans but players too.