LongTimeLurker

Comeontheloknow (better not to use his real name online even though most of us know it) used to claim floodlights would be a major problem for Pollok for planning permission reasons as there would inevitably be complaints from the owners of neighbouring flats. He also used to be concerned about pitch dimensions from a progression standpoint, which is another possible way to suddenly throw a spanner in the works for a lot of junior clubs down the road.

Bookmark it and wait until they do a Gretna. Revenge is a dish that is best tasted cold.

It's Civil Service Strollers who were pushing LL2 and they don't have floodlights and can expect to be ousted from the LL soon if they don't install them or get a suitable groundshare as they are likely lose their licence when it is next up for review, so there may be a self-serving motive involved. Time will tell. If you are an LL club afraid about losing LL status having the floodlights licensing requirement block most of the WRSJFA and having the ERSJFA in but not really a factor in progression terms as dev was suggesting might happen probably looks quite good. At that point you only need a few ex-junior clubs from the EoS plus Clydebank in LL2 to try to engineer a closed shop.

No disrespect to any of those clubs but this shows that if the WRSJFA enters the pyramid intact as the west feeder to the LL there could be no promotion to the LL from the west for a very long time, if Talbot and a few others are happy where they are and don't make an effort to get licensed. I think Clydebank and Yoker will also be on this list soon after Holm Park gets redeveloped and the former are probably the only club likely to want it badly enough and also large enough to be able to put the finances to mount a credible title challenge any time soon. Clydebank could even try to get licensed by March 31st using Maryhill's ground and apply for the LL vacancy created by Selkirk folding.

The problem the Shire have is whether they can stay ahead of Bo'ness, Lithgae and possibly even Camelon in pecking order terms now they are senior clubs as well. The opportunity that provides is some big local derbys that keep the club relevant in a way that I can tell you having been at the old Shire Park plenty of times wasn't necessarily always the case as an SFL club.

Your manager was right about people not getting excited about a promotion push until after the run of games up to Christmas. As top junior clubs slowly filter their way in, the LL is going to become a much stronger division in the years ahead. That either provides a stronger base to build from with more crowds like the 500 at the Lithgae Rose cup game or provides the recipe for an eventual further relegation.

Not according to what's in Dev's post. They would need to progress via the EoS if licensed, while teams north of the Tay could apply to the HL. Neither would be immediately compulsory. That reads like the ERSJFA not acting as a direct feeder to tier 5 either north or south of the Tay and nothing much really changing from how things are now. Hopefully the west region does get in at tier 6. That should be the easy part, but the longer this drags on the more you have to wonder whether it can still happen by next season and whether the LL2 proposal has a yet to be made clear agenda that involves detaching the west superleague clubs that can achieve licensing from SJFA control.

Excuse me for feeling a little schadenfreude when a club whose fans joined in all the devils lanterns patter on here stand to lose their entry level licence due to a lack of devils luminescence because they behaved just like a junior club by spending the money they had chasing titles in the short term.

...especially for a club that was in the EoS before moving to the LL as they would have been able to use them regularly to clear fixture backlogs. It's understandable that being a perennial title challenger in the EoS took priority over the years but now there's a price to be paid for earlier short term thinking.

Bairn rather than wean if you are fae Falkirk? Suspect the boundary will be shifted because the HL will be happy to have only the north region to deal with so they can do sfa where feeders are concerned.

Not on floodlights in both cases and maybe they are regretting the emphasis they placed on signing on fees and win bonuses over facilities right now in much the same way as Whitehill Welfare probably are?

Where did the money from the Celtic game at Easter Road go? The point made about a lot of money being spent elsewhere over the years so they could be a big fish in a very small pond is probably a valid one.

...and I think were supposed to have them in place in a Lowland League context as far back as 2015? The work around on that has been that these clubs have had to provide a guaranteed midweek floodlight venue or venues in addition to their home ground. Now there is significant interest in licensing some of the smaller traditional full members are probably going to get flushed back around the u-bend as the standards were deliberately set very low to let the likes of Golspie Sutherland in. Suspect covered seating will be the next one to be added after floodlights.

If locheeboy had finished his last sentence with either "...as automatic qualifiers in the Scottish Cup" or as "full members in the SFA" it would be difficult to argue with. The senior and junior thing is outdated terminology in terms of how the SFA is organised. SPFL+LL+HL = the professional game board, while EoS+SoS+juniors+amateurs+welfare = community board and licensing and Scottish Cup entry is aimed mainly at the former rather than the latter. Has there been any word of the Highland League and SJFA having any discussion about how the north region acts as a feeder from next season onwards? I seriously doubt that's going to happen any time soon given how adamant Highland League clubs have been about wanting to keep their current format intact, which is why the key on the ERSJFA doing anything at tier 6 is getting the boundary shifted and it's probably worth investigating how and when that can be done (may have some time on my hands soon to be able to look into that).

The membership applications notice on the website can be interpreted in that sort of manner and was always likely to prompt a response from the ERSJFA. As long as Tom Johnston is doing the negotiating at the PWG meetings there is likely to be an emphasis on the juniors remaining national in scope as he has no ongoing role otherwise.

Something that might be worth exploring is how and when that boundary can be shifted. If as seems likely it's at the next SFA AGM any tier 6 entry for the ERSFA as a feeder only to the LL by next season cannot be gauranteed at this point.

I would read the rules on this. Think you'll find they have a clause in there to basically do whatever they want with no possibility of appeal.

Not sure why would anybody be surprised that they would move the goalposts after what happened previously with the progression clause. The SFA board have always had the ability to tack on extra requirements at their sole discretion, so I suspect this will continue to be a moving target in the years ahead given how low the bar was set initially on entry level and how many clubs potentially want to get in. I doubt cover for 100 with no seats will be the minimum for much longer, for example.

Not what Jeanfield Swifts have been told (see below) and others who would know have also posted about this previously: It is not surprising that the SFA wanted to thin the herd a bit if they had 15 applications to deal with from the EoS alone.

Elsewhere the word seems to be that 15 EoS clubs have applied so far. The floodlights thing will have put a serious dent into that on immediate entry where Camelon, Bo'ness, Bonnyrigg, Musselburgh, Tranent, Haddington, Dundonald and St Andrews are concerned barring a groundshare but there are still a lot of clubs like Sauchie, Blackburn, Broxburn, Heriot-Watt, Tynecastle, Dalkeith, Easthouses, Penicuik, Newtongrange, Dunbar, Hill of Beith and Jeanfield (if they redirect the eight outward pointing bulbs) that would potentially in with a shout of getting it in in time for next season's Scottish Cup even with the new floodlights requirement and the ongoing need for cover for 100 that probably excludes Dunipace for now.

I remember that as well as being what was initially proposed for a north superleague but neither the Tayside or north clubs wanted it, so the only way to get the superleagues through the various agms was to have them in the east.

Think it probably revolves around what works at a minimum for televised games. Previously 200 lux was only best practice on entry level, so if that's still the case, Jeanfield Swifts might be all right with the four bulbs mentioned above and other clubs with lights suitable only for training might be able to get in.

You need bronze level floodlights for the SPFL. If Brora had won the SPFL entry playoff there was a possibility (unlikely but still speculated about) that they could have used this to avoid promotion.

Probably around 50k for a set that would allow progression up into the SPFL. Things like lux levels also come into play on this. That sort of price tag made this the obvious way to prevent a massive influx of new full members and it probably is reasonable enough that a club playing in the Scottish Cup should be able to host a midweek replay at any time of the year.