LongTimeLurker

That throws a cat amongst the pigeons if it applies to Brechin retrospectively. SFA breaking promises is interesting spin. They've been pushing it for ages throughout pretty much the entire PWG process, but I guess that deflects attention away from how the LL naively walked into a trap after being offered a despressingly small incentive by the OF. On a positive note it would have been a shame to see a club like Bonnyrigg Rose miss out on promotion due to George Fraser's shenanigans.

Hopefully they'll receive more of a welcome and flexibility on meeting ground requirements than Letham did. Still quite a few more large towns other than South Queensferry with no pyramid club such as North Berwick, Dunblane, Alva, Kinross and Cupar.

They do care about Nagorno-Karabakh and the Kurdish portions of northern Syria though where Russia is propping up their enemies militarily though so think there could be more than the commercial angle at work. Revenge is a dish that is best tasted cold.

^^^probably just crying wolf to get people to pay attention. Republika Srpska is in a much worse position geostrategically in 2021 than it was in 1992. Last time around there was Republika Srpska Krajina occupying around 1/3 of Croatia's territory which initially had the upper hand militarily because of access to JNA weaponry. This time around Croatia fully controls all its territory and is a NATO and EU member. Last time around they were able to drive a narrow corridor from the Banja Luka area through Muslim-Croat majority areas to Serbia, but they lost that again post-Dayton to the Brcko District.

Have just stopped drinking coffee and may be unduly cranky due to caffeine related withdrawal symptoms at the moment but hopefully the guy does stay if this isn't a done deal.

Total over-reaction to what I posted and using the red dot function on someone who is just interested in what's happening is uncalled for.

Never been to Orkney but looks like you are getting few takers so far which probably means it's much of a muchness in tourist terms. One thing to be aware of is that it's hit and miss with the weather even in the middle of summer, so best to have a plan for things to do when the weather is at its most miserable (Jarlshof or Skara Brae, brochs, museums, etc) and plan what to do when around the forecast as some places are much better on a sunny day and probably not worth the effort if there's low cloud and torrential rain.

Guess they maybe needed to drop a contract and receive a transfer fee to be able to do the Murray Carstairs deal and the influx from Camelon seemed to lead to issues in the dressing room so maybe his face didn't fit regardless of how well he was playing.

Think their player budget isn't what it used to be this season.

No issues with Sat - Tue if it isn't the TV game so maybe precedence wouldn't automatically apply in this particular scenario? Think it's just speculation on the Accies vs Killie game thing and there is no official source for that.

Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies having a Challenge Cup game on the 30th has been mentioned as a possible reason for opting for this tie. Darvel and Clydebank defeating League Two opposition gets described as being a shock but it's got more to do with the top WoS clubs not having had time to progress to their natural level yet and being in a misleading position in league status terms. With the Killie pieman on board that's probably League One for Darvel in a Kelty sort of way. Over time there's no obvious reason why Clydebank couldn't slowly get back to where they were under Jack Steedman.

Will be interesting to see how far Pollok can go in pyramid terms. A core home support of 700 or so makes League One the potential natural habitat and league entry could boost that even further. Hopefully there is no NIMBYism when installing floodlights goes through the planning permission process.

Friendlies against Celtic and Rosenborg Trondheim in March and April of 1974 look most likely for Hamilton Accies: https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltonacademicalmemorybank/seasons/194647-199394-post-war-douglas-park-era/197374 https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltonacademicalmemorybank/seasons/194647-199394-post-war-douglas-park-era/197475

The DPRK's juche compatible version of K-pop:

How stable is the NCL at this point? As recently as 2018-19 there was a nine club 16 game season (summer leagues often being the main focus once you get north of Inverness after all) with several of the clubs playing on unenclosed public parks. That's a big adjustment for HL clubs used to a 34 game season in enclosed grounds with floodlights. The north superleague has its drawbacks as well but provides a bit more than that.

Think shocked is a bit too far. Very surprised would be as far as I would go. Arthurlie, Whitburn and St Rochs would be the most obvious possibilities on that sort of timeline, in my opinion. First two are sleeping giant type scenarios and the latter seem to have been able to tap into Celtic's fanbase in a FCUM sort of way in recent years.

Worth bearing in mind that Rothes and Brora are financially doped right now in a way that might not be the case a decade from now and were very much basement dwellers prior to that so over the next generation or so the HL may wind up being dominated by clubs in the Dundee to Aberdeen area that weren't traditionally (pre-Cove, Formartime and Inverurie) part of the league's catchment. Think only Fraserburgh, Buckie, and Elgin and others from the SPFL if/when they get relegated as Club 42 can be highly confident about being fixtures at HL sort of level beyond that Dundee-Aberdeen axis although no doubt there will be others also involved either some or a lot of the time in the long run. Assuming Brechin City don't get their way and things stay as they are right now it will be interesting to see if Perth area clubs like Jeanfield Swifts will gravitate back towards the Midlands league setup at tier 6 now Letham, Scone Thistle and Tayport have set a useful precedent for them.

Bridge of Don Thistle must be in with a shout on licensing in the north region as well given they play at the athletics stadium close to Pittodrie (that means being close to Seaton and high rise flats and tenements though, so we can only imagine the anguish that might cause even if on a scale of 1 to Glasgow Perthshire it's still in low single digits). Once a pathway opens up maybe some other Aberdeen area clubs like Dyce, Culter and Hermes will start to take the possibility of progression more seriously and will slowly work towards it. Think a lot of HL people don't realise how strong the Midland League is and how many of the clubs have fully enclosed grounds with devil's lanterns rather than a Forres Thistle or New Elgin type setup. It's no surprise that the ones that do would still be OK with a club 42 boundary shift in other words as the recent George Fraser resignation saga strongly suggests. Even clubs like North End, Downfield, Violet and Lochee Harp can't be that far away from ticking the boxes where their ground is concerned. 5 wins on the bounce for the tier 6 leagues from the outset might be pushing it, but it will probably happen more often than not for the first decade and is unlikely to involve progression from the NCL any time soon.

Just to keep things factual on here. The north region juniors has had Banffshire, Moray and Nairnshire clubs throughout its existance including Nairn St Ninian at present and Lossiemouth United in the not too distant past. Strathspey Thistle joined the Highland League from the north juniors and Inverness City were playing in the juniors until comparatively recently. It's difficult to see what the point of allowing clubs to choose was in the first place if it wasn't about enabling HL clubs from west of the Spey to opt for the north region.

Better fitba though even if you do have to visit schemes like Northfield in Aberdeen from time to time rather than hitting the tourist trail. How easy would it be to recruit the players you would need to successfully navigate a way back through the promotion playoffs for a season of away games in Caithness and Orkney in the NCL?

Was it not reported that the HL clubs get to designate the league they would be relegated into? If so, I suspect it's only FW, Brora and Wick that would opt for the NCL rather than the north region juniors.