FairWeatherFan
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Posts posted by FairWeatherFan
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Some comments from Tom Johnston in the Daily Record's Junior coverage. Summer football's being looked at as an option. Personally, I think its something to consider as it would help to distinguish the grade and end the constant back and forth over joining the pyramid.
The reason it was brought up was the number of postponements this year. It was mentioned how a few years ago the SJFA handed out payments of £160,000 (if i remember correctly) and are in no position to do so again this year.
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15 minutes ago, energyzone said:9 hours ago, FairWeatherFan said:It's the only other candidate.
Hopefully this can spur discussion of a WoSFL at tier 6, but organising a brand new league for next season would be too much to ask.There was no time frame set in the statement. Setting up a WOS league for next season is unachievable but there are at least two other big junior clubs in the West who are interested in the idea. I would be surprised if discussions between West clubs aren't taking place just now about the feasibility of it.
The EoSFL selling points on joining is listing the chance of more promotion spots to the Lowland League and Clydebank have been rumoured about making the move since the end of the last year. Think this must of been sounded out at some level and the intent is for next season. Better to move now and have a chance of being in the Lowland League and tier 5 for 2019/20. Than waiting around to be in a WoSFL and tier 6 in 2019-20
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6 minutes ago, rigano said:
What other league could they join, sos?
It's the only other candidate.
Hopefully this can spur discussion of a WoSFL at tier 6, but organising a brand new league for next season would be too much to ask.
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2 hours ago, stanley said:
Do you need seats for a licence or is a "standing stand" fine?
For Entry level its only specified as being a "minimum level of capacity is 100 covered places". Bronze would be 500, its only when you get to Silver that they mention seats specifically.
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56 minutes ago, jimmy boo said:
I need your help guys to remind me about a film I watched over last two years since I got the delights of Firestick apps. I've kept records of everything i've watched but I seem to have missed this one.
Low budget British horror thing based in old church where couple of ghost hunter types set up remote cameras to record strange goings on.
It ends with them running through underground tunnel and stuff.
I'm old enough that nothing scares me but I found this really creepy and i'd like to scare the shit out my kids.
The Borderlands?
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1 hour ago, HTG said:
That wouldn't get you into tier 5 up north. I get the point that they're trying to be practical but the bottom line is after 5 years we still don't have an aligned standard in the pyramid. I daresay they'd be just as practical about clubs who nearly meet the LL reqts ... not.
It might very well be good enough in future. Look at how Cove Rangers have used multiple grounds in a season while they deal with their issue regarding a new ground. The Highland League could adopt the same type of ruling on floodlights that the Lowland League has to deal with future applicants that don't currently have their own floodlights.
There are different versions of the Highland League's rules & constitutions from the last 5 years available on their website. That's because they aren't set in stone and are going to evolve. Both the Highland & Lowland Leagues main requirement for entry is that the clubs have a SFA Club Licence. How they deal with the issue of fixture congestion prevention through the use of floodlights differs, but the intent is the same. Neither approach is designed as a barrier to entry but as a means to minimise a fixture backlog.
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49 minutes ago, HTG said:
Sorry but enforcing a different standard on a tier 5 applicant based on geography is nonsense. There are tier 5 teams in the south who couldn't or wouldn't be tier 5 teams in the north.
But the current pyramid is a mish mash of bollocks so we shouldn't be surprised. The sfa never wanted it. It's the absolute minimum to shut UEFA up.
When it comes to floodlighting, the Lowland League does have a requirement that a club can provide an alternative ground for midweek fixtures.
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1 hour ago, HTG said:
There really shouldn't be a difference in requirement at tier 5. If one part insists on it then so should the other. And that should have been the case from day 1.
Chances are if any club in the North received a club licence without having floodlights, they might well be able to get in with the SFA forcing the issue. At the same time it could see a North Junior or North Caledonian club go for their licence but avoid having to join the pyramid.
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4 minutes ago, Robert James said:
Helpful extract from the constitution, thanks.
So not a "closed shop", but not a fluid "pyramid" either. Promotion rules/criteria within the pyramid from the EoSL and SoSL to the Lowland are clear, whereas promotion to the Highland League is by 'grace and favour' voting only.
The Highland League/EoSFL/SoSFL are all dependent on "grace and favour" voting. Just as entry into one of the the Junior Regions would be dependent on the same. Supposedly the BSC suggestion of a WoSFL came about from having their reserve team rejected from the Juniors.
The Highland League certainly have more requirements to meet than any of the other leagues though. As you need to have a club licence and floodlights. Floodlights being quite cost prohibitive for many, which is why they're not needed for a entry level club licence.
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12 minutes ago, Robert James said:
10th February 2018
SCFA Challenge Cup Round 2 result
Wigtown & Bladnoch 1 Lochmaben 5
Does anyone know if this a one off match, or an indication that W&B are intending to return to the South of Scotland League next season ?
The way I remember it, they were always due to compete in some of the cup competitions this year to keep their memberships ticking over.
3 minutes ago, Sharky said:Wigtown will be back next season according to there chairman today
Glad to hear.
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Quick google brings up this article from a couple of weeks ago https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/highland-league/1400865/dee-accent-on-youth-and-say-no-to-joining-highland-league/
There might be others out there.
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3 hours ago, parsforlife said:
It isn't just self centred, it still has a large amount of isolationism to it, something everyone else apart from the HL have managed to get over.
Don't think the Highland League deserves particular stick for this. The SJFA themselves have completely ignored the issue of the North Region feeding into the Highland League. Why wouldn't the SJFA simply propose all 3 Regions' top division slot in at Tier 6, perhaps its because the North Juniors don't want to be involved.
Whatever anyone might think of the Banks O'Dee situation and how it might evolve, they're currently on the record as not interested in joining the Highland League.
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Near enough 5 years since the Lowland League kicked off and its taken all that time for the SJFA to narrow down their options from 3 to 2.
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In the Lowland League forum someone posted the rules/constitution of the League to explain their promotion/relegation. Which made me wonder if the Highland League's constituion is available online as well, and it is http://www.highlandfootballleague.com/History/Item/2017-18 SHFL Constitution & Rules approved by the AGM on 29 May 2017.pdf
Basically proves the issue that clubs are open to apply and until someone does everything else is pure speculation.
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5 hours ago, HTG said:
Joining by application at Tier 5 isn' much of a pyramid. Also, why should clubs in the north still be able to apply to join at tier 5 when in the south it's at tier 6 and will soon be at tier 7.
It isn't much of a pyramid, but there's nothing below it! The SFA wanted the Highland League to go to 16 teams to match the Lowland League in part to ensure that the season would be finished in time for all the playoffs. Sounds fair enough in theory, but where would those 2 teams go?
You might say the North Caledonian due to its perceived senior status. 2013-14 = 7 clubs, 2014-15 = 6 clubs, 2015-16 = 6 clubs. So you would of had 2 Highland League teams going from a 34 game league season plus cups, to a 16/14 game league season plus cups. Quite a dramatic drop off and anything other than that would be forcing the existing North Caledonian teams into a circumstance they wouldn't want.
If not the North Caledonian, most outside observers would say it would be simple to just add the North Region Superleague underneath the Highland League. Great in theory but for the Senior/Junior divide.
The Highland League have had discussions for splitting into divisions to accomodate an increased number of teams. If we can get to that point, hopefully a Highland League 2 will fall into the same Tier 6 requirements as the SoSFL/EoSFL and only need a licence for promotion to Tier 5.
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32 minutes ago, Hillonearth said:
What would be interesting would be if a real geographic outlier like Montrose Roselea got licensed - we'd then see for sure if the dice are loaded to ensure the axis of the HFL remains the strip between Inverness and Fraserburgh.
We played them in the Junior Cup a few years ago - their ground wasn't be too far off the standard required even back then.
Montrose Roselea is a weird one and might not be the best indicator of a HFL cabal, but more a SPFL one. Even though there was the scare of Montrose FC being relegated to the Highland League in the first SPFL promotion/relegation playoff, the boundary is supposedly set so that all SPFL Angus clubs fall into the Lowland League catchment area.
If that's the legit then Montrose Roselea would have to join the EoSFL upon gaining a licence.
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5 minutes ago, Hillonearth said:
As long as accession to the league is by vote by the member clubs and not automatic, it is to all intents and purposes a closed shop. A team that's potentially a threat can be excluded in perpetuity.
Look at the last time they invited applications - using the flimsy excuse of geographic balance they excluded BoD but let in the much weaker Formartine, Turriff and Strathspey - a strategy that obviously backfired as the first two got their act together quickly and ended up challenging, leaving only Strathspey as the no doubt hoped-for cannon fodder.
It's not expressly down to a member vote anymore though. When the Highland League became a Tier 5 league in the senior pyramid, it became a requirement to have a entry level SFA Club Licence. A club in the Highland region gaining a new licence (rather than securing their historical one like Golspie) will likely be forced into the Highland League by the SFA.
It's going to take a club to try it though.
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I don't think there's a single club that should turn full time unless they've been promoted to the Premiership, or have an ownership that would be able to bankroll any losses (and are more in the vein of Roy MacGregor than Brooks Mileson).
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4 hours ago, GLENAFTON93 said:
Well of Original Topic now.
Could argue it relates to where the SJFA offices are going to be in future.
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9 hours ago, afca32 said:
This transfer window alone Greg Docherty and Lewis Morgan have signed from clubs in the Glasgow area, where the Old Firm should have a complete monopoly over young players.
Lewis Morgan was one of those that got picked up by the Old Firm youth system. He was on the books with Rangers from 2004-2013, just as he was about to turn 17. OF argument might well be that if they had a colt side he would of been retained and developed "in house".
However I call bullshit on that theory as its based on how the player he has become, supposedly he was let go for being too short, which is something that goes right to the heart of the coaching & development of young players in this country. He would of been let go just the same, because he couldn't compete with grown men.
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15 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:
Just telling you what i’ve been told...End of March = March 31st seems to be the time frame. The waters been muddied either by applications becoming public knowledge after that date, or in the past later application have been accepted. KEFC was the most recent member i've seen use the end of March deadline that seems to have some knowledge of these things.
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27 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:
Is there an actual closing date where applications have to be submitted for next season ?
Just doing a search on Tweedmouth found the first mention of them applying to join on June 2nd 2016 and then were elected on June 10th 2016. End of May seems a likely deadline to be put up for election. Maybe they'd put out a more fixed date if they get a number of early applications.
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First time i've picked up on the fact that League Two is officially the Scottish Professional Football League League Two. I fully endorse Annan's statement and the use of SPFL Division Two.
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Junior football, what is the future?
in Junior Football
Posted
I've not been following it too closely, but I think a streamlining of the cups are already taking place in the West due to the league restructuring. It's also likely that a move to the summer season will see some dissension in the ranks, which would see some clubs move to the SFA pyramid. That could help to minimise fixture congestion.