LongTimeLurker

Or split the difference and go for Berdiansk? As things stand the Russians need to keep the frontline not too far from where it is now so all three of those cities are outside easy HIMARS range to keep having a relatively secure land bridge to Crimea. The problem the Russians have is that it's only a matter of time until the 150 km range and relatively cheap GLSDB missiles for the HIMARS systems start to arrive. That will make holding the present frontline irrelevant on keeping the land bridge reasonably secure from missile attack and will lead to many more scenes like this (the Storm Shadows supplied by the UK that can do it now are much more expensive and limited in number so given that backdrop there's likely no need to be in a massive rush to reach the Sea of Azov right now from a Ukrainian standpoint.

Taking the advice of an SLF song called Breakout and getting out of Scotland when Maggie was still PM and working in various places around the world. If you are in a situation where limits are being placed on achieving what you are capable of achieving under a better set of circumstances don't settle for a life of being bitter and filled with regrets do something different try to break away...

Don't think EK are on the hook in any way for what Si Ferry may or may not have done at another club last season. Think one of the players who is out of pocket because of this would have to actively bring the SFA into it before any transfer or player registration ban would be applicable where Broomhill is concerned.

I definitely wouldn't advocate copying what England does on not relegating extra clubs out of feeder divisions to accommodate extra clubs relegated into them and then shifting teams around instead (we are following the German way of doing things on that), but having promotion and relegation agreements with amateur leagues subject to clubs meeting ground requirements and applying to step up after showing they have what it takes on the field of play is the obvious next step where the WoS and EoS are concerned. If numbers are capped at 80 clubs, maybe something like the bottom three in the fourth division would be subject to potential relegation each season, if a club like Dumbarton St Pats has finished in the top few places of their amateur league and has a suitable ground sorted and/or extra clubs are relegated into the WoS from the LL?

Phoenix clubs like Maidstone, or more recently Bury, are usually allowed in again at the bottom of the national league system around the tenth tier rather than at "the bottom of nonleague" where they would be playing against glorified pub teams on unenclosed pitches. The English equivalent of Dumbarton St Pats don't automatically get into that level especially if they don't have a suitable ground sorted out. The WoS have allowed something like an extra division's worth of clubs to enter relative to what was going on with the west region juniors in only a few short seasons so I don't think anyone can sensibly criticise them for wanting to take a wee bit of a breather on that at least for now until they figure out how to handle this issue. From what is being posted in another thread having 16 clubs already means two midweek games next season involving Campbeltown Pupils. Adding a 17th club to the fourth division would have needed another month's worth of Saturdays to fit in the extra league fixtures once the bye weeks are factored in.

Questionable assertion where England is concerned. The national league system run by the FA there actually only goes down to the 10th tier and is capped in numbers terms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_League_System There are plenty of local feeder leagues beneath that but those are arguably similar to our amateur grade which new clubs can easily join. Promotion into the national league system from those feeder leagues only happens if clubs apply for it in advance, finish high enough in their league (top three, I think?), and have the appropriate ground grading. I have no strong opinion on what the WoS should do moving forward, but there clearly does need to be a way for clubs to enter from below one way or another. What happens now, for example, if Annbank United want back in?

This just showed up in my twitter feed: https://twitter.com/Ayei_Eloheichem/status/1669355287839641600 2 unidentified European countries, with US backing, are reportedly set to purchase hundreds of old Merkava II and III tanks from Israel. I have a notion about where these tanks might end up, or at least where the tanks they'll be replacing will end up. Don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out where they are likely to ultimately wind up or possibly where other tanks freed up by their arrival will wind up.

Seems to be legit: https://sportsdesk.com.mt/2021/10/13/edusport-academy-ready-to-thrive-in-malta/

Their B team needs to be playing full-time clubs in the Championship to match what happens in Portugal or the Netherlands with Ajax, PSV, Benfica, and Porto. The idea that games against Edinburgh Uni and Gretna were ever going to be the answer was always laughable if they were going to do this properly and actually develop players that would start regularly for their first team. Think they see there is now zero chance of that ever happening so there's no point hanging around waiting for the final GTF from the LL clubs early next year.

Think the LL board do have some discretion on that in the league's constitution but doubt you could do that at the very last minute after the AGM has been held. Hope the entry fee cheque for Rangers B was already received and cashed along with the Parks title sponsorship money. Think it's a good sign that they have buggered off because the we must find a league for them to play in card can no longer be played.

A lot of the more casual only a few games per season sort of interest in the club traditionally revolved around the rivalry with Linlithgow Rose and junior cup runs. One of those factors is back now and a big Scottish Cup run far enough to face one of the larger full-time clubs wouldn't do any harm either.

Fin Malcolm?

If a merger happened they would have no problem on having any divisions larger than 16 and removing the SoS from the T6 playoff equation would provide a strong incentive for doing so.

What's in it for sponsors though if a club has no fans and little or no community interest? Without Open Goal on board somebody must be funding this level of operations out of their own pocket or odds on it's going to fold soon. The irony is that a new WoS club called Knightswood is going to be playing senior football out of the Scotstoun 3G cage pitch next season that we were always told was a nonstarter for BSC, which calls into question just how necessary the whole stadium odyssey was.

You obviously can't without effectively just booting them out into the amateur grade but is there any evidence that the WoS actually wants to be able to relegate clubs out of their fourth division?

...or they wanted to run with an even number of teams this season rather than having 15 or 17 clubs in their fourth division. If to name but one possible scenario Auchinleck Talbot are promoted next season and Gretna are relegated, they would need to add another club to be able to do that again.

Think the EoS have set quite a high bar on ground criteria, which maybe makes it easier for them to say no. They did that with a club in Perth called Letham a couple of seasons back who were quickly accepted by the Midlands League instead. Also helps that they have multiple vacancies to fill until the lowest division enters awkward numbers for their fixture secretary to deal with sort of territory and that they don't have an extreme geographical outlier like Campbeltown Pupils on board who can't easily do lots of midweek games if there is a fixture backlog.

Hopefully has deep pockets given the latest club statement is still talking about staying full-time. https://hamiltonacciesfc.co.uk/statement-by-the-board-of-directors-hamilton-academical-football-club/ ...The potential new owners have been working with the Board to ensure that everything is in place for the new 2023/24 campaign, talks are ongoing with existing players, their agents and potential new signings, and information should start to flow through in due course. We have appointed a new media officer, who will take control of all social media communications. At this point we are able to report that Hamilton Accies will remain a full time football club, with our Elite Youth Academy fully protected...

So maybe things will look different a year from now once St Pats have a suitable ground sorted out, especially if a WoS club has been promoted to the LL but not replaced as the relegated club went to the EoS or SoS and this thread has turned into a big fuss over not very much?

Glensmad has been careful not to state that in any of his posts AFAIA and has mentioned applications being open again at the next AGM so the five divisions of 16 limit thing is only an inference that certain posters are making at this point. Much the same posse of posters who are doing this used to be firmly convinced that there was a rigid boundary between pyramid leagues at all levels on a line of latitude through the Tay Bridge even though it was only in the Club 42 playoff rules and nowhere else. It's Scottish football, weird and wacky things can and are likely to keep happening. Dumbarton St Pats should keep applying and see what happens next time in other words. Maybe if there had been three applicants who met the requirements there would have been more appetite for extending the 4th division beyond 16?

There's also the possibility of running parallel conferences for the bottom tier like the EoS did. For example, if there were 20 clubs to accommodate then two conferences of 10 with 2 × 9 games against clubs from the same conference and 10 against clubs in the other conference = 28 games overall could be the format. Think all the talk of closed shops is a bizarre overreaction to what just happened when there is very little likelihood that the WoS will be able to stay at 80 clubs without adding some new members in the years ahead. WoS clubs are going to be more likely to be promoted into the LL than relegated into it for at least the next decade or so because after Linlithgow Rose there's not a lot of quality left in the east at tier 6 now.

Maybe I am missing something but does Time really not realise that Chernobyl is also located in Ukraine on the same major river watershed?

The banner image in question:

They wouldn't be able to apply in the east, if that's the case, because there is an agreed fixed boundary with the EoS, only in the south.

Something to bear in mind is that could mean the raion (district) as well as the town itself. A village called Robotyne on the northern edge of Tokmak raion was where the frontline was a few days back and that was only a few kilometers from where the Ukrainian frontlines were before the offensive started. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokmak_Raion My understanding is that the Russians have up to three fortified defence lines and lots of minefields in place so rapid progress wasn't expected initially.