LongTimeLurker

^^^ https://www.bbc.com/sport/56151863 It would be nonsensical not to allow low risk outdoor activities that were following appropriate protocols to resume at this point but as you say Nicola and co always need to find a way to be different from Boris and co.

^^^ https://www.bbc.com/sport/56151863 It would be nonsensical not to allow low risk outdoor activities that were following appropriate protocols to resume at this point but as you say Nicola and co always need to find a way to be different from Boris and co.

There are no boundaries so the West Lothian and Tayside clubs can apply to the WoS and EoS, respectively. There's no guarantee they will/would get in though as the existing members of the WoS and EoS are also fully within their rights to decide that they don't want the West Lothian and Tayside applicant clubs in their leagues. A similar comment also applies on any application from a Tayside club to the HL, NCL or north region juniors or to having a new Midland League as a tier 6 feeder to either the LL or HL. There's no rigidly enforceable master plan from on high on this stuff, so clubs trying to enter from outside the pyramid could conceivably wind up in limbo where pyramid entry is concerned, if none of the existing pyramid leagues want them.

A reminder of some recent posts from people with strong inside knowledge: ....and going further back if info emanating from Kelty is to be believed the only reason the much fixated upon Club 42 relegation boundary is still in place is that a request for money by the LL to compensate their clubs for extra travel was knocked back by the SPFL around this time last year: The HL and SFA would both have had to be on board for any change to that rule to be possible. The only stumbling block to it happening was the LL who subsequently rejected the rule change at their 2020 AGM after there had been no club 42 playoff for Kelty and Brora at the end of last season.

This is basically what was originally proposed for the north superleague when the superleagues were brought in around 20 years ago. Neither the north juniors or the Tayside region wanted anything to do with it at the time and they had enough votes to help block the superleagues if they didn't get their way, so Tayside got tacked onto the east superleague instead much to the chagrin of people involved with clubs in West Lothian who would have greatly preferred to be able to hook up with the Glasgow area instead. The tensions over how to organise this stuff are not new.

There's an episode of The Sopranos where the term "Elvis country" is explained to Furio as being somewhere out in the boonies with no Jews or Italians that you don't want to spend any time in. Guess Gala could seem like too much of a change from a West Lothian league format to some people due to the absence of bings and flute bands in much the same sort of way. There was an attempt by Gala Rovers to get into the east region a while back. Forget the excuse that was used to reject the application, but it went the same way as Breadalbane's at around much the same time no doubt based on Jamie Sandilands type of mentality on wet Tuesday nights.

Should have expanded slightly. The delusional bit is the scenario emanating from Lochee of expecting to get former pre-superleagues Tayside region clubs in Perthshire back along with adding all of Fife or a large chunk of it and slotting in at tier 6 below the LL beside EoS, WoS, SoS. Too many approvals from other leagues and clubs needed for it to have any hope at this late stage.

There is no evidence that the HL currently has any intention of involving Tayside junior clubs from the east region in its feeder leagues and they will have to sign off on any new arrangements in that regard before anything will happen. They are only negotiating with the NCL and the north region juniors and Tayside never even rates a mention when these negotiations are reported on to local media oulets in the traditional HL catchment. The only place this possibility ever seems to get talked about as if it is a serious option is on P&B. People need to bear in mind that although this may be their preferred outcome or what they perceive to be the rational outcome there are no fixed boundaries for leagues in the senior grade and leagues are autonomous entities with the ability to push their own selfish self-interest rather than having to heed one of Tom Johnston's "board directives" from on high where a pyramid masterplan favoured by the SFA board is concerned. Tayside clubs could be ****ed because as Dave Baikie of Tayport recently stated in a podcast interview neither pyramid setup wants them on board for what are likely to be distance of travel related reasons. The problem at that point is that the SFA are unlikely to do anything drastic to force a particular outcome to help out clubs that very few people outside of the immediate Dundee and Angus area have the slightest bit of interest in. Best course of action for them would be to actively test out the different possibilities so they have something to appeal against to highlight their plight. Otherwise both the EoS and HL may well be happy enough to watch what remains of the east region north putter along doing its own thing with somebody from Lochee occasionally saying something delusional about a new Midlands League that can safely be ignored.

Reasonable to state this is what should happen. There is no evidence available at this point to support the assertion that it can happen and that they have any prospect of entry into the north pyramid.

Most of Harthill is in Lanarkshire and Harthill Royal's ground is a literal stone's throw into the West Lothian end of the town (called Greenrigg). Most people posting on here seem to see a move west for them as fair game. How the people that actually matter view it at a WoS AGM remains to be seen.

Have stated many times I think Harthill should have a choice no matter what but the others really do belong in the east in terms of the sensible outcome, but let's be honest the west will be the strongest LL feeder setup in competitive terms and spectator interest so it was always likely that clubs at around the midpoint of the M8 would try this at some point even if Burnieman and others were not being viewed as the Great Satan for supposedly destroying the east region.

It wasn't easy to move between regions in an SJFA context. The county boundary was understood to be the line and the old counties were what junior leagues had traditionally revolved around.

Craigroyston is in a different part of Edinburgh close to Leith and that club is still going as an amateur club effectively took them over when it looked like they were folding. The ground Edinburgh South might take over and develop is called Fernieside and used to be used by EoS teams many years ago when it was still OK to play on a roped off open public park in that context.

Denny is in Stirlingshire (Falkirk on the new boundaries) and is not much more than comfortable walking distance from Camelon so Dunipace are very much in perceived EoS territory. Their ability to go west was based on a quirk of junior football history. After the Stirlingshire League folded in the 1930s (?) clubs from Stirlingshire and Clackmannsnshire were able to apply to Glasgow/Central, Edinburgh/Lothian or Fife league setups as they saw fit. There are no formal boundaries on this in the senior grade though so the SoS, WoS and EoS do not need to use county boundaries even if most people on here that are used to the junior grade way of doing things think they should (myself included), so the line can wind up being between Kirkconnel and Sanquhar rather than the D&G boundary, or between Armadale and Bathgate...

From what we've heard elsewhere probably Armadale WoS only at this point (still plenty of time to also put an EoS one in) and definitely Whitburn from their Facebook & probably Harthill hedging with two applications would be the most likely fit for that info. If the deadline on applications isn't until March 31st, others like Bathgate Thistle (unspecified announcements coming soon apparently), Fauldhouse United, Stoneyburn and West Calder could easily wait to see what happens at the WoS general meeting on March 1st before making a decision.

Colin Boyd (parkcircus) of the WoS IMG and Kilwinning Rangers has posted on the WoS subforum that he doesn't think the EoS or WoS would ever entertain an application from an existing member of the other league.

A move west by Harthill Royal might get St Roch's fans to fixate less over Larkhall Thistle who have never really been a Rangers mini-me even though they get stereotyped that way.

Where now defunct former junior clubs are concerned Baillieston are the most obvious one that would be good to see return: https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19074366.baillieston-community-backs-bid-new-football-pitch/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Baillieston-Juniors-Football-Team-387489711875230/ Glenboig and Duntocher Hibs are blasts from the past where the ground is still there and likely to be suitable without drastic amounts of work if some new would be entry can arrange access (Clydebank would be a cautionary tale in the latter case). Think a suitable ground would be what would be the main issue for Blantyre Celtic to overcome if they wanted to take the plunge.

Surprised this didn't create more of a stir. Sounds like 10+ amateur and youth clubs from old west region sort of territory want to step up and think they can meet EoS style ground criteria in time for next season despite what's happening on COVID lockdowns right now. Find that mildly mind blowing where revelations made by officialdom on P&B go.

...so having a sensible looking division in numbers terms for would be newcomers next season probably requires a strong West Lothian component at this point given half of that could easily be from the east region south (Fauldhouse, Harthill, Whitburn, Armadale, Staneyburn, Bathgate and West Calder).

Not how Scottish football works. The SFA has very little power to dictate where the pyramid is concerned as the SJFA quickly found out when Tom Johnston was rattling on about board directives. All they can do is attempt to facilitate agreement between the various leagues involved. That means if the HL doesn't want Tayside clubs entering it from below then Tayside clubs are not getting into the north pyramid regardless of where boundaries were set a few years back for Club 42. It also means that if the WoS membership decides they want to accept a West Lothian club like West Calder should they apply then they will get in, if not then they'll need to try the EoS instead.

Think what you have to accept at this point is that if the EoS could be flexible on perceived boundaries where Tweedmouth and Luncarty were concerned in recent years then so can the WoS with applicants that are perceived by some to be east rather than west (local folk saying ken, radge, barry = east, but if they say know, mental, gallus = west might have been a useful rule of thumb). There are no fixed boundaries in place at tier 6 and below, so if the WoS clubs want to accept West Calder as things stand they can. If the EoS don't like this then maybe they should have ensured fixed boundaries and permissions from other leagues got written into constitutions before they signed off on the WoS getting in at tier 6?

...or they can help many of the remaining SJFA members south of the Tay into the pyramid in a way that retains their SJFA membership to get it right up the league that blocked SJFA entry into the pyramid. Think we'll have a much clearer picture which way the wind is blowing after this March 1st SGM once the WoS becomes its own thing seperate from the LL.

...and most of the east superleague had defected at the same time the BUs did anyway so what was left wasn't what people may or may not have been staunch about in those bygone days of yore. Losing to Ellon United in the SJC and playing league games against clubs like Rosyth and Syngenta was a pale imitation of the real thing.

There may still have been an expectation in some quarters that the east region could get into the pyramid. There certainly still was in SJFA circles long after it should have been obvious that the EoS had the ability to block it and there was hee haw the SFA board could do about it, beyond the plan Z scenario that quickly got shot down by the LL. East region pyramid entry would have meant that Atletico BUs could effectively hijack the junior legacy of Real BUs.