Junior_Arab

Pro Pyramid when it involves St Andrews joining the Lowland League is one thing. Pro Pyramid when it involves Carnoustie joining the Highland League may well be a different matter.

The committee member who did all their social media has left. Doesn’t look like anyone has stepped up to fill the void.

I know - I got changed in there often enough. There were booby traps in the away dressing room where holes in the floor had been covered with that old carpet!

Sharing with Downfield again till at least Christmas I believe. As you say old ground gone but not much progress on the new one apparently. And the old ground may have been lots of things (a properly traditional junior ground with bags of history and “character” for example), but “tidy” it certainly wasn’t! Not on my last visit anyway.

Statement from Carnoustie: https://www.thegowfers.com/its-time-to-move-on-says-general-manager/ Meeting next week to discuss arrangements for those left behind.

Like this. Except pisher.

I’m sure Carnoustie were pro pyramid in the questionnaire results. I just wish Lochee would come out one way or another and make their feelings known...

I’m sure in the spreadsheet of the questionnaire results a few were pro pyramid. So that suggests that they are either in limbo or just not in favour of the pyramid in this guise (ie maybe they would rather be in the LL rather than HL catchment). I cant believe no team north of the Tay didn’t fire in a speculative EoS application just to test the water. Or hasn’t contacted TJ to see what he’s suggesting. Or the SFA or the HL to see about being part of a feeder. Or the North Region Juniors to propose a merger. It definitely does look like they’ve been largely ignored as poor relations, BUT I’m not sure they’ve been particularly pro active in improving their situation.

“We want to continue playing at the existing Super League standard” Bit ironic given their league position...

But this wouldn’t be the same situation as Junior teams joining an existing set up, so having to start at the bottom. No North of Scotland League exists at present. It’s not simply a case of the Tayside clubs joining the North Juniors set up (even if that’s how it worked in practice) The league would be an entirely new entity. No-one is suggesting that Lochee or Broughty or anyone else jump straight into the HL. That wouldn’t be fair.

Darvel legend? More like drivel merchant.

IF this is the case and a new WoS Scotland league is proposed I would imagine a number of junior clubs from the catchment would look at the EoS / LL and want to get on board as early as possible to avoid the situation that’s emerging now where big junior clubs in the East are having to start at the bottom, below their perceived status. Take it there was no further discussion of the Tayside clubs? Mind you if they all have the attitude that they’re not interested why would there be? They need to engage with the process or they’ll be left behind.

He wasn’t far off doing so.

One for “Juniors4Me”/Larry Duncan if he’s still on this thread, or anyone attached to one of the Tayside clubs - have the Tayside clubs been told officially (by the SJFA or the SFA) that they would have to go down the Highland League route? If so have they been given any indication about how and when the HL will accept promotion and relegation? Has there been any discussion about a new integrated set up with the North region clubs? Alternatively, have they been notified officially by the SJFA, SFA or EoS/LL that they are NOT eligible for the EoS/LL? If the answer is NO to the first part and YES to the second then I’d suggest that they’ve effectively been told to bolt.

Since 2000: Lochee - 1 Scottish final Carnoustie - 2 Scottish finals Tayport - 3 Scottish finals compared to Linlithgow - 5 Scottish finals Kelty - 1 Scottish final Bo'ness - 0 Bonnyrigg - 0 Even this season the North had 2 teams in the quarters (1 from the South) and 1 in the semis (0).

I think everybody on here appreciates junior football for what it is. But some of us struggle to see exactly what the major plus points and benefits of it are that would or could not apply nor be replicated in a pyramid.

I would have thought the SFA will need to have a wee word in the Highland League’s ear about that. Surely they can force them to implement some type of relegation? They can hardly insist that Lochee and co (maybe a bad example given some of the president’s posts on here) have to join the Highland instead of the Lowland set-up only to leave them hanging in purgatory. Not that the Dundee sides will particularly want to play Highland League (I bet there’d be a few suspicious play off results) but a few of the the bigger Aberdeen teams presumably would.

I’d imagine there will be 3 Stirling Uni teams composed exclusively of students that play in competitions against other unis on a Wednesday afternoon. The “University” teams that play on a Saturday whether amateur, senior wherever could presumably sign and play anyone they wanted - could be students, alumni or the simply the best players who’ll sign for them. I’d imagine most will play students as far as possible though.

The surface is I think pretty good on the whole. The changing rooms are excellent (and even if superbigal is right to get misty eyed about the old pitch, I’m sure he won’t remember the old changing rooms so fondly!) The new ground was built by the old chairman, builder DJ Laing who has indeed starting building on the old park, but I think this land was owned by the council, so the new one was built for the council, not the club. Laing (I believe) proposed putting in a covered section at the new ground, but the council refused to stump up for it. I think ownership of the pitch (and the newly resurfaced Astro training area behind the changing rooms) and maybe even the grassy area across the road have recently been transferred to the community club and it’s affiliated youth and women’s teams etc.

I think Carnoustie did vote FOR the pyramid when the survey went out (according to the spreadsheet on here at least), but as you say they’re pretty much in limbo as regards where they would move to at the moment. Given there’s talk of clubs applying for the EoS who are currently West region clubs, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Carnoustie (or Lochee or Broughty or anyone else from this neck of the woods) were to stick in an application.

Edinburgh City Sumo! If you don’t take it, Sky will.

Well if that really is their level then they’ll just get relegated again. It shouldn’t hurt them if they don’t go crazy and overspend in a bid to play above their realistic level. Any increases in travel costs etc should be covered by increases in prize money, sponsorship and gate receipts. They might yo-yo up and down a few times, they might never get back up again, but at some point whether it’s the 1st time they get promoted or the 100th they might have enough about them to stick in the higher league and kick on from there.

Fair enough. But if all/most of the teams move then surely the standard of football remains the same? And a few years down the line where do you think the best players will be playing their trade? At the clubs with the best facilities who are paying them more? Or will they be all misty eyed, playing for £50 p/w less than they could get elsewhere because deep down they love the juniors?

I'm very pro-pyramid, but I think the clubs in and around Dundee (like Carnoustie) probably have reservations for the same reasons as those in the West - there's no obvious place for them to go. As things stand, officially, I believe they would be feeding into the Highland League (although I have seen comments that suggest the HL intend to resist the pyramid and keep running as a closed shop), which is, frankly, a bit mental. League trips to Wick from Dundee and vice versa??? If the dividing line was kept as the Tay that would isolate the Dundee, Angus and presumably Perth teams. Although there aren't exactly many Junior "behemoths" in that area at the moment at least, what might help swing a boundary re-organisation would be the relative proximity of 4 senior Angus clubs (Arbroath, Montrose, Forfar, Brechin) who I'd think would rather play in an East League rather than the Highland one in the event of "relegation" , which very nearly happened to Montrose not too long ago. Actually, I'll chuck my own team, Dundee United into the fray too, cause on current form it may affect them too before too long!

James McPake: Almost ended his own career whilst trying to end someone else’s before ending the career of a hospital porter the same night - c**t.