Jump to content

LongTimeLurker

Gold Members
  • Posts

    12,437
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by LongTimeLurker

  1. On 30/01/2024 at 18:34, Bestsinceslicebread said:

    ...I say my peace on here why, because I actually go and been to games in the WOSFL, SOSFL, EOSFL, LL, HL, NL and ML or watched teams from those leagues play after covid, most areas listed before covid.  I will say, lots of supporters , especially in the Highland and Lowland have that attitude, (and this is from chatting with a lot), about the upstarts from below and I think to myself, WTF have they been reading or who they been listening too...

    Fingers crossed the Highland League types with that mentality will be travelling to Lochee next season. Should be a good laugh to see what they have to post about that on Fitba North. One good thing about the Lowland League catchment is that there is pretty much guaranteed to be a new entrant from below every season unlike the Highland League scenario. If a licensed club from the West isn't champion again there will still be Broxburn to add further to the West Lothian contingent. More of the top West clubs will get there on licensing. That means that eventually this issue is going to get sorted out. Just a pity the pyramid couldn't have been done properly straight away a decade or so back rather than winding up being a work in progress that will take 20 years or so to unfold.

  2. 2 hours ago, ekok said:

    The absolute disrespect being shown by some in this thread is a disgrace.  As usual the entitlement regarding  Tier 6 raises its head from some posters as well. Funny, don't recall much or any of that before West came to the party.

    The pyramid should belong equally to all clubs that participate in it. The goal should be to have all clubs playing at the appropriate level for their playing standards as rapidly as possible and not to have selfish self-preservation policies in place to protect the clubs who found it easiest to apply for the Lowland League ten years ago.

  3. Just now, Left Back said:

    The little I've read about this talks about an agreement between the DUP and UK gov.  Do SF get a say in this and could they scupper it if they aren't happy?

    From the little I have read SF appear happy that Stormont looks highly likely to be back soon. Worth bearing in mind who gets to be First Minister.

  4. No obvious tribalistic windup angle is possible so I guess that explains why there are no posts in response to the latest news from TFS that the DUP will almost certainly be returning to Stormont if the Tories can deliver new Brexit-related legislation. Looks like it has finally dawned on the DUP that a softer Brexit through "unilateral alignment" is better than listening to Little Englander clowns like Nigel Farage who would have happily ditched NI in a second if it got them a hard Brexit for the Home Counties. What's pleasantly surprising is the Tories seem to be on board with a softer Brexit also. The irony to all this of course is that No Brexit at all would have kept the Union safe for the foreseeable future because a United Ireland any time soon wasn't even on SF's radar screen before the referendum went the wrong way. 

  5. 7 hours ago, ekok said:

    Exactly,  sometimes this point is lost in the zany world of the Pyramid in Scottish Football.  The ridiculous and convoluted arrangements for relegation from and promotion to the SPFL are entirely to blame....

    What the SPFL does is not directly linked to what the LL does so that's a completely disingenuous argument. Three up three down is the norm throughout the rest of the southern pyramid. There's no obvious reason why it should not also apply between tiers 5 and 6. There's also no obvious reason why it only has to be the WoS, EoS or SoS champion that is eligible for promotion. Why not include the runner-up in the playoff format if the champion has no licence? The goal should be to create the strongest possible Lowland League rather than protect "longstanding members" in an it's ma baw an you're no playin sort of way.

  6. 6 hours ago, Cowdenleith said:

    What a batshit crazy thread.

    Both Gretna and Edinburgh Uni could stay up this season if, for example, EK are promoted and Elgin or Forfar are relegated so batshit crazy scenarios could already happen.

  7. 3 hours ago, To B or not B said:

    It has been suggested to me by a member club that the decision to ratify the acceptance of the B teams still has to go through the league AGM, as there are one or two rules to be tweaked. I’m not sure if this is the case, but it would be great if any club who voted for originally has a change of heart and votes against the rule changes.

    If it's going to be for multiple seasons, they definitely need to tweak the rules because it's only a year at a time right now.

  8. Think the current bronze level pitch dimensions requirement was deliberately designed to make it possible for your club and Brechin City to be able to do it.

    Brechin's hedge and the threat that it may have to be chopped down to widen the pitch became a cause celebre in the media at one point. I think there was also speculation that you would have to leave Central Park.

    If they ever tightened those requirements up to what they were originally planning a lot of former junior clubs would be completely screwed where progression is concerned.

  9. 21 hours ago, not man of the match said:

    Is there not some requirements to do with a club doctor as well? Heard this mentioned elsewhere.

    There is but that's not mission impossible if clubs like Annan Athletic can do it. The pdf I linked is worth a read to see what all the differences are. The tricky one for some clubs like Pollok with relatively small pitches could be the pitch dimensions needing to be 95m by 60m. Not sure whether it would be an issue for Tranent but their park is also on the small side.

    20 hours ago, Ginaro said:

    Think that would only really affect Tranent and Bo'ness in tier 5, either some more standing enclosures to be built at non-league level in general or those small 100 seat stands where there's already lots of cover (for those looking to get to the SPFL of course).

    No idea how easy it would be to rebuild but worth bearing in mind that Newtown Park still has the foundations in place of the main stand that was used in the old first division in the 1920s as well as a relatively large covered enclosure. If there's going to be a grace period to bring things up to bronze level after achieving promotion before the next season starts, I suspect it all becomes a lot less daunting than it could have been but have no inside knowledge on this.

    newtown-park3917l.jpg

  10. Some posters on here have been concerned about it. Doubt it was ever on the agenda at SFA board level but some League One and Two clubs like Stenhousemuir that have been vocal about limiting relegation out of the SPFL may have been hoping for something more stringent.

  11. Well aware of that but there's nothing in those that look like mission impossible for most clubs that want to build for promotion any more than installing a set of floodlights was a few years back. If they had been trying to end the Club 42 playoff as an annual event they could have upped the ante to 500 covered seats and adjusted the field dimensions to 100m by 64m. The latter would be difficult to fit inside the stock car track at Central Park, so it's not just former junior clubs that have reasons to worry about what they might do on this in future.

  12. Saw these details tucked away in the new club licensing guidelines from the SFA:

    https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11172/sfa-club-licensing-manual-2024.pdf

    For bronze level:

    SEATS OR STANDING PLACES
    There may be seats and standing. There shall be provision for wheelchairs.
    LEVEL OF COVER
    There shall be an adequate level of cover available for both home and away spectators. Minimum level of capacity is 500 covered places.
    DOCUMENTED CAPACITY
    The ground will have a capacity calculated by a competent person in accordance with the Green Guide.
    FROM 2025
    The minimum level of capacity is 500 covered places, at least 100 of these must be seated

    AVAILABLE AREAS
    Spectators will be capable of being accommodated in all areas within the ground which were ever constructed or used for one season or more as spectator areas. It is acceptable however for the club to leave a maximum of one area outwith the terms of the Safety Certificate and therefore
    unavailable for use.

    FACILITIES
    • A designated accessible WC. The accessible WC must have grab rails and an emergency alarm as a minimum.
    • Accessible parking.
    • Access to catering or an ordering service in place
    • Area available for wheelchair users under cover and with no obstructions to sightlines.
    • Personal Assistant seating adjacent to wheelchair user spaces. It is best practice that this seating it beside the wheelchair user.
    FROM 2025
    A covered area with space for at least 4 wheelchairs and Personal Assistants will be required

    If that's all that came out of the review of the licensing criteria, it's difficult to sustain a narrative that the SFA and SPFL are pulling up the drawbridge where progression is concerned.

  13. 7 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:

    ...or a  MAGA Republican-controlled Congress comes in.

    That is arguably already in place. It's important not to underestimate the willingness of the Democrats to leave Ukraine dangling to a certain extent if it helps Biden win by making the Republicans look bad to moderate swing voters. Lend lease is now off their agenda when it could have been the answer to the current impasse.

  14. Something something black helicopters something something FEMA camps, if Alex Jones has anything to say about it. Been ages since I listened to that kind of stuff for light entertainment purposes but would be interesting to hear how they are spinning Donald being revealed as Doe 174.

  15. 3 hours ago, Marten said:

    ..You can't really have the likes of Cowdenbeath in the HL...

    There's only a 4 minute drive time difference to Wick compared to what Lochee United would be expected to do according to Google Maps. You could try to do it in other words but there would no doubt be plenty of turbulence experienced by whoever tried to get that through the meetings where it needed to be agreed just as there was when trying to convince Dundee area clubs that they should be in an HL rather than LL feeder. What we have now is what we are likely stuck with for the foreseeable future bar a few minor tweeks on pro/rel issues and the occasional flit between leagues by clubs close to the existing boundaries.

×
×
  • Create New...