LongTimeLurker

Have seen conflicting reports about that. Some people say only 2022-23 and 2023-24 for no relegation. Very hard to believe the LL and HL would ever have agreed to a season with no promotion and they need to be on board.

New link is: https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/news/posts/2021/june/midland-league-fixtures-released/

You should maybe explore why they have seperate Saturday and Sunday leagues at amateur level and how it complicates having a fully functional pyramid.

They got rejected at the east region meeting apparently. Speculation is that it was because they were groundsharing (with Downfield) unlike Letham and St James.

This is being claimed on another forum: https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/2021-scottish-pyramid-developments-facts-not-speculation-please.3904/page-24 Apparently the bribe is £290k per club for 5 seasons and not being able to go further than L1. The Lowland League really sold themselves short with the £25k per club. If they can't get it through with that sort of financial inducement plus two seasons with no relegation, hopefully this will finally be the end of the matter for a few years.

Might not go down well with the juniors are dead zealots but definitely should happen now maybe with the NCL tacked on so it can cater to all three north feeders.

That's consistent with it only being the playoff rules that need to be signed off on by representatives of the SFA board.

Don't think Croatia is a particularly good example because colt teams are a relatively recent innovation there. Dinamo Zagreb loaned out Luka Modric first to Zrinjski Mostar the leading ethnically Croat club in the top Bosnian league and then to Inter Zapresic who are from the greater Zagreb area (their equivalent of a St Mirren or Motherwell type club basically) who would almost certainly have been full-time clubs at the time. The Old Firm colt teams would have to be Championship level rather than LL or League Two to provide something even vaguely comparable to that pathway.

Blazer politics can get very petty. The SYFA blazers are no doubt less than thrilled at what the LL U20 has done to their U21 level so no surprise they objected. It would be nice to think that the people in charge at Hampden would care about young players winding up as collateral damage in all of this but it could also be payback for not taking Brechin City. Maxwell, Petrie & co weren't able to get what they wanted on that and lost face in the process so this could be their way of reminding the LL who's boss. Where you have to question the LL board's competence is pushing forward with stuff like the four WoS conferences last season and this U21 proposal if they didn't know for sure that the SFA board were minded to accept it. How difficult is it to call the key people involved to gauge their probable response?

19 if this cup draw is anything to go by: and do you have a source where a single division format is confirmed?

Have Alex McDowall and John Fyfe stepped down as COO and treasurer in addition to Felix McKenna as president? https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/news/posts/2020/august/sjfa-restructuring-staffing/ https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/scottish-junior-fa/structure/

Did the WoS not run into issues on that? A region can't be split into smaller regions got mentioned on the WoS subforum as being the SFA's posture on having geographical conferences in a WoS context as some clubs wanted for this season. Think what's more interesting is that we have been assured by several well-connected posters that the east region (aka Midlands League) and EoS have been in close contact about defining boundaries so presumably the EoS are OK with Letham being in an HL feeder? I seriously doubt that east region pyramid entry would have been jeopardised over the status of a Perth amateur club. Maybe somebody could revisit some of their old line of latitude graphics that were supposed to be oh so pivotal to show us how Letham aren't just south of Luncarty but also Jeanfield Swifts and Kinnoull as well?

The US military-industrial complex has previous for encouraging the UFOs craze to deflect attention away from their own military tests.

It's been obvious for a while that the LL board are not particularly competent. Having to have it explained to them late last year that the LL U20 didn't have a professional exemption in lockdown terms spoke volumes because it was blindingly obvious from the initial SFA press release.

Once there was no danger of a Brechin City inspired boundary shift in a Club 42 context and the east region's Midland League had hooked up with the HL their enthusiasm for anything north of the Ochils probably dwindled considerably. Not objecting to Tayport being in the Midland League showed that limiting travel on geographical grounds had become acceptable as a consideration. It always appeared to me that the main concern of the EoS blazers was blocking east region entry as an LL feeder and if that had required accepting clubs as far north as Brechin Vics they would have recommended that course of action to their members. Once the danger had passed however...

That has been obvious for weeks now and is not what is being discussed, which is what the SFA have to actively apply a rubberstamp to for the Midland League to enter the pyramid at tier 6. Only the HL playoff rules or the WoS style formation of a new league in senior grade terms that happens to be administered by what remains of the ERSJFA?

Letham are now in the Midland League so no need for them to apply again:

Are you hearing this from people in the loop? To clarify slightly I wasn't suggesting they would no longer be part of the SJFA. I was only suggesting that there might have to be a new senior grade affiliation in addition to being part of the SJFA similar to what could have happened with the WoS if that league took up the SJFA blazer positions that are potentially open to them.* Not that important as either way I'm sure the rubber stamp is a racing certainty ar this point. Edit: turns out they actually did take them up given Gordon Ronney and Bobby Macnamara are listed as being on the SJFA's Management Committee for 2020-21: https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/scottish-junior-fa/structure/

Letham being in there is definitely the big story. Shows there is plenty of flexibility on boundaries if a Perth team can still get in at this point. Suspect many/most EoS clubs would not be heartbroken from an away travel standpoint if Luncarty, Jeanfield Swifts and Kinnoull from the immediate Perth area in particular and possibly even more distant Fife clubs such as Newburgh and St Andrews did a flit as well and the door is maybe being left open for that sort of thing to happen subject to the agreement of all parties down the road. Looks like Menzieshill got knocked back for not having a ground of their own unlike Letham and St James.

...and needed to sign off on any changes to the format of the promotion playoff into the LL so effectively had a veto. What matters more than that angle to the question of what needs a rubber stamp from the SFA this time around is whether a league has to be directly affiliated to the SFA to be a tier 6 feeder in the pyramid. I've seen nothing definitive that clarifies that point but would that not be where the Midland League and Grampian League terminology fits in?

The east and north regions of the SJFA may still need similar approvals in order to become directly affiliated to the SFA as senior leagues.

Elmwood groundshared for years so they wouldn't be the first Dundee junior club to have had no long term plans. If Menzieshill are accepted OK, they would only need one more beyond the rumoured St James AFC entry for 20 clubs overall and a more sensible looking10-10 setup that would avoid severe competitive mismatches.

The previous SJFA president was Felix McKenna of St Anthony's. Will be interesting to see how many WoS clubs retained their SJFA membership this season. The draw for the new cup for non-licensed clubs will provide an indication as that is supposed to be running in parallel with the SJC.

Since first hearing it many years ago I've always thought this Czech version of Hey Jude might be better than the original:

They have no traditional fanbase to upset so why would they care when it's mainly about direct participation? Playing in an SPFL ground no doubt makes themselves feel more big time than a groundshare with Petershill or Benburb would have. Fortunately they didn't get promoted in the early years of the new setup. Having them rather than Edinburgh City, Cove Rangers or Kelty Hearts blazing the trail would have risked a major backlash against the pyramid concept.