LongTimeLurker

Definitely on the first part. Here are some old posts on the subject: and responding to my post:

Bo'ness United are still members of the EoSFA the body which runs the EoSFL: https://www.eosfl.com/clubdirlist/1040 The treatment of a fellow EoSFA member by the applicant in this regard may not be something that is viewed as being irrelevant by the EoSFL clubs involved in the vote. You don't speak on their behalf.

True, but almost always based on an amicable agreement between the two clubs involved something that will be absent in the Bo'ness scenario. An amateur club called Linlithgow Thistle said we'll be your feeder club in pathway terms to the real BUs and agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect and were welcomed into Newtown Park on that basis. They have now reneged on the MoU after only a couple of seasons and now want to be treated as a rival Bo'ness entity that is not wanted by the original Bo'ness host club. Those circumstances are unusual enough that they merit a close look and careful consideration rather than an automatic rubber stamp if all the boxes are ticked.

Think the way to understand this is that it would be a bit off in protocol terms for the WoS to announce that the competition has been cancelled before all four leagues involved have met to make that decision collectively, but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that's probably going to be the decision when they do.

Not how things actually work on that last bit. The leagues involved in the SFA's pyramid have retained the right to determine who they accept into membership through application and a democratic majority vote of the existing members. The EoS membership is therefore perfectly within its rights to decide that a club that has behaved as deceitfully as Bo'ness United Juniors have vis-a-vis the real Bo'ness United would not be a positive addition to their league and should be told to GTF.

Agree on the second part as long as you also mean every club must be provided with a clear pathway into the pyramid, neutral on the first part because there are reasonable arguments to be made both ways. Forfar WE's application throws a much needed cat amongst the pigeons that will hopefully bring the Tayside issue much closer to resolution.

The parallel between Kelty and Forfar WE should be obvious. At least they are giving it a go rather than leaving it to blazers that won't come up with a solution for genuinely competing the pyramid any time soon.

The things you find in this thread when you take a trip down memory lane.

Unless they are Forfar WE when a very different tune starts being played on here by certain posters. It's not necessarily as simple as you describe if the process involves a majority vote by member clubs. The vote by the existing members is over and above whether the league board determined that the boxes have been ticked on membership requirements. That vote is not necessarily a rubber stamp if there is a reason why the applicant club would not be viewed as a positive addition by the existing members.

Think the CFC thing is just people on here getting confused with the names used by the Lithgae Rose and Sauchie tribute acts? The focus now should also probably be on whether they are still able to use Newtown Park as well as lobbying EoS members to block unwelcome second applicants from communities that already have a well-established semi-professional club. Musselburgh and Glenrothes applicants of that type have been asked to withdraw or knocked back in recent times by the EoS so hopefully that trend will continue.

The weird thing is this was the only one of the tribute acts that genuinely seemed to be functioning as a reserve team type set up.

....and since there clearly isn't going to be an alternative senior league available to them it's strange Dev isn't listing them. Tayport putting in an application has been stated publicly by their chairman Dave Baikie unlike the Cupar Hearts thing which was based on a post by a random poster on here AFAIA. Also not clear why all remaining east region members are not being listed as possibilities now that Forfar WE is part of the equation and the Tay Bridge boundary is now unambiguously known (arguably should have been obvious for around two years since PWG minutes started leaking out on here) not to be the league's fixed northern boundary.

Oakley United might be a dark horse on this as floodlights are reported to have been installed and they also have a reasonable amount of cover that should be OK for 100. https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/lights-at-oakley-united.3694/

Perm any five of Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock, Petershill, Clydebank, Darvel, and Irvine Meadow. Petershill have made the least noise about going for it although strongly rumoured to have had an application in while still a west region club, so I'd lean towards them being the odd one out. From memory Kilwinning Rangers and Rutherglen Glencarin are known to be going for it as well but have stated it's not happening this year.

Needed to happen as far back as the 1960s, unfortunately, before the armchair fan culture started to build. Sportscene and Scotsport alternating having the Rangers and Celtic games meant there were only two clubs you could consistently watch that way, so it was understandable that people began to gravitate to one or the other under the influence of televised coverage.

True, but you can say much the same about the LL sticking to having only one automatic relegation place.

The poster of the info below posted about Brechin City's moves to get the Club 42 boundary rule changed long before it was common knowledge, so he probably knows what he is talking about. https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/index.php?threads/2021-scottish-pyramid-developments-facts-not-speculation-please.3904/post-80215 The information that I have indicates that the SPFL clubs will not agree to automatic relegation until the Lowland League is closer to comprising the 16 strongest clubs available to it. That puts the onus of the Lowland League to strengthen from below.

...the question should be whether it's sensible and whether so much subsidy money should keep getting pumped in by the SPFL and SFA to inflate a part-time level of football up beyond what it would naturally be able to sustain if left to its own devices.

...because large subsidies from the SPFL make it possible for Elgin to make it worth their time to do so.

It was the clubs I was talking about who have to deal with the logistics involved not the fans. Midweek games in Elgin or Peterhead are already highly problematic for part-time players from the central belt that need to work the next day. Brora could push it beyond breaking point. National divisions only work for small part-time clubs in Scotland because so much of the population is concentrated in the central belt and such large subsidies are received from the SPFL. At tier 6, Oban or Campbelltown are unlikely to ever feature in the WoS because of the issue of midweek travel, and Forfar would really be stretching things in an EoS context given Borders clubs were not a factor in an east superleague context. Probably doable with the lower tiers regionalised in an east region sort of way as many of the clubs from the geographical extremes are less likely to feature at tiers 6 and 7 and floodlights can now be used more sensibly but the concerns people express are understandable.

A lot of Elgin's players tend to be from the central belt so they aren't necessarily travelling from Elgin as a team for those games or even able to train together regularly as a full squad. Will be interesting to see how keen League 2 clubs still are on national divisions for part-time players if Brora Rangers crash the party.

...India's large role in Oxford-AZ production has been ignored by the UK media for months now. Probably because it undermined the jingoistic narrative preferred by Boris and co.

Colt teams wouldn't be a new club with the same owner so this is a red herring. There are already three senior clubs with a second team in the pyramid rather than a reserve or youth league, i.e. Stranraer, Stirling Uni and Caledonian Braves. Nairn County's U-20 team entered the North Caley league this season and may soon provide another example.

Debatable on the last two as they were really separate clubs trying to hijack the traditional derby when the east region still thought they had a chance to enter the pyramid under their own steam. The Lithgae "tribute act" has folded, but BUJFC are talking about trying to get into the EoS next season under another name. Real BUs are not happy about that but don't own Newtown Park so might not be able to prevent it. The one you have missed is Nairn County in the North Caley league, which should get into the north pyramid soon as a tier 6 feeder to the HL. The north region seem to be dragging their feet about being the other feeder so whether that actually happens remains to be seen.

They've able to do it in basketball and a lot of the problematic fan groups follow clubs in both sports.