FairWeatherFan

In terms of relegation from the Lowland League the standing practice is that clubs nominate what league they want and all the leagues have to agree to it.

So how does it work with only 3 licensed champions?

The future of Scottish Football and only SPFL chairmen are invited along. Kind of tells you all you need know.

The addition of floodlights for licensing might have slowed the rush for next year. With EoS having their 31st March deadline any East Region applicants could trigger the same panic to get something done across the board. Or if nothing comes out of the next PWG the Lowland might go for their LL2 option. After last year's hesitation I'm not sure a breakaway WoSFL would happen.

The majority of Tayside clubs will probably not have to travel much further than the Aberdeen area on league duty. Dundee to Aberdeen and Dundee to Edinburgh there isn't much difference. It's the bigger clubs that would actually make Tier 5 Highland League that are scared of trips to Brora and Wick but think Gretna and Dalbeattie is fine when looking at the Lowland League.

Probably the two main reasons it happens. 1) Simple enforcement of the HL/LL boundary as it stands. The SFA, SPFL, HFL and LL worked with a blank slate and intentionally drew the line as the mid point of the Tay Bridge making it clear that Dundee would fall into the Highland League area. Even when Montrose speculated relegation to the Highland League could be the death of the club nobody batted an eye and the boundary has remained. 2) There isn't a ton of depth in the North Region and NCL to improve the present standard of the Highland League. Its a small sample size but look at Montrose Roselea. They've gone from bouncing between East Premier/District level and are now firmly in the North Super League. Clubs that have a greater track record in the East Region like Lochee United, Broughty Athletic and Carnoustie Panmure should hopefully replicate or improve upon the performance of Montrose Roselea. A line's got to be drawn somewhere and regionalisation down pyramid tiers will prevent extreme journeys as much as possible.

The boundary between the Highland League and Lowland League is a straight line of latitude 56.4513N which crosses the Tay Bridge. Aberfeldy is North of that latitude and right now there isn't a Tayside senior league to put in an application. The likes of Auchinleck Talbot and Kelty Hearts were told to join a senior pyramid league to get licensed. So will the SFA tell Breadalbane to apply to the Highland League in order to get licensed. That's why it's interesting because it deals with many issues that people would like to see formally resolved heading into next season.

Looking for quotes it's a bit of mess due to other plans that have popped up over the years. Would they go to 19 if SPFL42 was relegated with LL champions being promoted. Then early in the pyramid years Keith's chairman put forward a plan to split into 2x leagues of 10 which was something that was voted on but rejected. From what i can tell they dealt with the issue at an AGM a couple of years and set splitting into divisions if they increased beyond 20. I think if/when the ever get to 19 they'll be more proactive about the matter.

The SoS don't have to do anything. I'm thinking more of the creation of Lowland League 2, Lowland League West or WoSFL type divisions that would probably require licensing for entry pushing the SoS further down the Tiers.

The magic number for the Highland League to split I usually see is 21. How they'd manage a 20 team league I don't know though Stick the North of Tay East Region as a 16 team league at Tier 6 under the Highland League. Do the same for the North Region Super League and North Caledonian League. Licenced Champions can play-off for a promotion spot just like in the Lowland League. Eventually you'll get enough clubs licenced to form a Highland League 2. The 20 South of Tay East Region clubs join up with everyone that doesn't make EoS Premier in Tier 7 EoS Conferences to form up proper divisions for 2020/21. The North and East will then sort themselves out within a few years in a fairly natural way. It's just a case then of dealing with West Region and SoS integration.

It'd be an interesting one SFA licensing wise as you fall into the Highland League area.

Scone Thistle are South of the boundary. Luncarty just scrape into the North https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1k4xWEiA6DvPhdnfOqT835ybt52xQ4Grr&ll=56.965619412276396%2C-3.433614900000066&z=7 The 16 North of boundary East Region Juniors are:

This came up during talk about a friendly being played there.

There's an even more obvious example of a "Tayside club" being accepted. Jeanfield Swifts: traditional "Tayside club" but geographically fall in the Lowland League boundary.

Certainly something they seem to have understood

It's the one thing in the SJFA's control to do and they want in the pyramid so that more of their membership don't bolt. It doesn't change the fact that there are aspects around integration that have to be resolved.

It is from the pyramid play-off relating to club 42. I included it as an example of the way the rule was written and how it has potentially been paraphrased for the LL/EoS/SoS playoff. Then mentioned how relegation only East of Scotland and South of Scotland Leagues.

This is from the Lowland League rules relating to the play-off between the LL/HL/SPFL42 Then when it comes to relegation only the East of Scotland and South of Scotland are named. The South of Scotland rules are a bit lacklustre But does mean that Pyramid Play-off Rules are set aside somewhere. The EoS only seem to have their policies up rather than their constitution, but as the Lowland League was set up largely by EoS members there's a good chance that their rules are similar to the Lowland League. So there might well be a rule set aside stating the Tier 6 Playoff and that any change will have to be agreed between SFA, LL, EoS & SoS.

That's my take as well, calling dibs to claim the spot. A bit like the SJFA sending out Ian Maxwell's email to all their members knowing things were still being ironed out.

I take the advert as a quick update from their original one due to the criticism it received. Stating that they would be joining the SFA Pyramid was good enough, there was absolutely no need for them to include a term like Tier 6 except to rub it in to the likes of @Burnie_man

Would be true if they were in the same set up, but they haven't been so far. SFA Pyramid: SJFA Pyramid:

Why would the 24 other clubs in Premier League North and South accept a team from the amateurs ahead of them?

The closest thing i've seen to any discussions between Highland and North Region is the below post from the EoS Forum Although i've seen no mention of this on the likes of FitbaNorth which I thought would of revived one of their topics on the pyramid to discuss such a meeting.

The draft email from October only mentioned talks between Highland League and North Region would be looked at. Seems simple enough to follow the Lowland League model. Instead of 16 as the maximum number of clubs set it to 20. Have the NCL, North Region Super League and East Region Super League (for North of Tay representatives) as the Tier 6 leagues. Their licensed champions can be involved in a promotion playoff for one spot. The Highland League sets a relegation rule where no club has to be relegated unless to balance the league at 20. That gives the current Highland League clubs a bit of a breather from fear of falling into the unknown. With only 20 licensed North of Tay clubs outwith the SPFL right now and Golspie Sutherland not having floodlights, nothing will really change in the short term. Then deeper discussions over a Highland League 2 or more fluid structure between the tiers can take place.

As the Highland League is meant to be open to membership applications and not a closed shop, the suggestion i've seen floated is that any Tier 6 champion North of the Tay would be required to apply for membership to the Highland League. As the historically the Highland League has had stricter requirements than SFA licensing it would be a way for clubs to avoid promotion. It also avoids having relegation from the Highland League. Eventually you'd probably get a Highland League 2 out of it.