LongTimeLurker

Last time around went worse for Unionism than it needed to because a certain percentage of voters can't be relied on to do transfers in the way parties would prefer under STV. Looks like lessons have been learned from that on not unnecessarily fragmenting their vote on the first count chasing longshot scenarios.

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No FW, Strathspey, Turriff, Lossie and Deveronvale would certainly freshen things up in a big way. Seriously doubt East Craigie get a licence in that timeframe and if they tried odds on the quality of their team would suffer big time so Tayport or Broughty would probably be in there instead. If they don't go for it and keep their team together for a few years they might put a dent into the number of promotions that are likely/possible.

...because one guy from Rotterdam who for all we know has never even played the game at pub team level automatically knows all the answers and is the definitive authority on this subject. The real reason parachuting the OF colts into the LL was so bizarre is precisely because it doesn't do what the Dutch did by having them in against fully professional clubs. There's a big difference between playing against Vale of Leithen and playing against NAC Breda in developing players that you expect to one day play in the Champions League, but there again Ajax actually have a long and stellar track record of bringing young Dutch players through from their youth system while the Old Firm have tended to simply sign the players they needed from elsewhere. In short OF in the LL is more of a PR exercise rather than something genuinely serious.

So Bonnyrigg, EK, Pollok and Auchinleck Talbot in the SPFL by then and VoL, Gretna, Edinburgh Uni, Dalbeattie Star and Cumbernauld Colts in the LL feeders? Think that's maybe a bit too optimistic on how the Club 42 playoffs will go for LL champions. Doubt East Fife will be a factor in tier 5 any time soon but stranger things have happened and that's maybe because I'm old enough to remember them playing in the old First Division.

Maybe so but they still need to use them at least once in a competitive game to tick the boxes on licensing AFAIA anyway.

The difference is that I don't claim to be an expert on what represents a restraint of trade, which is why I'll wait until somebody who actually knows what they are talking about weighs in on the matter. You have been comically wrong on here in the past but don't appear to have learned any humility.

Makes sense that his widow would have had first refusal on that given the circumstances. Think I read something along those lines a few weeks back.

...and d) Tayport cannot possibly play in a Highland League feeder because I can create a graphic with a line across it and post it on here. Look at me amn't I so clever I know more about the SFA constitution than Rod Petrie does. Wouldn't be surprised if a few weeks down the road I find out the real reason for antipathy towards Ann Budge on here is that she was part of Better Together or something.

Vaguely remember Ann Budge and Hearts opposing a move at an SFA AGM to end junior superleague and SJC winner participation in the Scottish Cup, so not sure her distaste for smaller clubs extends beyond the lower division subsidy junkies. I'll wait to hear an expert legal opinion before assuming anything about the applicability of restraint of trade in this context rather than listening to the bar room lawyer types on here who were convinced the Tay bridge boundary was relevant in contexts where it wasn't even in the rulebook. Guest teams getting parachuted in for a single season is not something normal in a league structure that is supposed to revolve around the principle of progression and it has implications on the ability of the SPFL to run a reserve league that meets the needs of clubs like Hearts.

Sounds like something Ann Budge might actually do. Hope that's for real and not just a rumour. Ditto on the care to share on the alternative proposals bit.

If they are not going to open up pro/rel there definitely should be consequences.

The people closest to the situation should be able to tell if he can turn it around. Think he would have got the bullet by now if they were going to make a change.

Appears to confirm they didn't select the Midlands League as their destination of choice. A trip to Lochee or Helmsdale, let's see now decisions decisions...

They are going to have to be dragged out screaming one at a time for now* but relegation is going to clear most of the founding clique out and the LL will eventually be the league it should be. The LL you would be entering next season is an upgrade on the one Kelty entered. People need to consider where things will be only a few seasons from now when comparing the relative merits of being in the WoS premier and LL. * - occasionally two when the HL champion does the business in the Club 42 playoff

That could relegate 6 clubs out of EoS premier this season if the HL champion wins the Club 42 playoff and the EoS champion fails to win the tier 6 playoffs so definitely something to keep an eye on. Don't remember that ever being publicly clarified. Another one for the future is whether Caledonian Braves' SoS membership where their reserves team is concerned has implications on where they would be relegated to.

They'll pass through WoSL premier like a bowl of prunes and find their natural level like Hawick Royal Albert have in the east.

Not sure what the grounds would be but licensed clubs do sign up to the principle of progression so maybe there's a way to argue that the LL vote ran counter to that. Would be ironic if a measure brought in during the Alan MacRae era to block top junior clubs from getting licensed ultimately returned like a boomerang to open up the LL. Whatever the angle being argued is, it's worth pursuing to highlight the issue even if it's a longshot in terms of actually succeeding.

Hopefully there's something else lumbering over the horizon that they need the SFA to sign off on so pressure can be brought to bear again like it was with the Club 42 Tay Bridge boundary. It's unfortunate that was the SFA's main priority rather than the tier 6 promotion bottleneck. Maybe EoS, SoS and WoS clubs could stop participating in the South Challenge Cup and do something else instead in terms of a flagship cup competition minus the LL?

Ludicrous logic. The LL clubs only have it in their power to address one of those issues. On an LL subforum people are going to focus on the promotion bottleneck that the LL clubs can change and you better believe that they are going to continue to highlight their selfishness on here until that change is made.

East Kilbride, Spartans, Civil Service Strollers, Caledonian Braves, Dalbeattie Star, Gala Fairydean Rovers, University of Stirling, Broomhill, Cumbernauld Colts, Edinburgh University, Gretna and Vale of Leithen all predate the arrival of Kelty Hearts in 2018-19, so 12 out of 16 are still part of the EoS/SoS plus youth clubs clique. It's going to take another 5 to 10 years to get that whittled down to a small enough minority to retrofit the league into something more fit for purpose.

2-2 at HT apparently.

That gets stated a lot on here but recent events suggests otherwise. The SFA board had a plan to split the LL into LL East and LL West so they could get the east region of the SJFA in as a feeder alongside the EoS. Apparently they had been led to believe that the LL would go along with that but it soon turned out not to be the case. Doubt they would have bothered trying if the SPFL were going to be opposed. There is considerable overlap on who runs the SFA and the SPFL at board level, so the right hand probably would have known what the left hand was doing in that context. That's all dead in the water now though. Unfortunately we are going to have to wait for more ex-EoS premier clubs like Gala Fairydean who Thomas Brown represents to get relegated before a junior fitba style 3 up 3 down will be on the agenda.