FairWeatherFan
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Posts posted by FairWeatherFan
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29 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:
Holland B Teams;
Utrecht - joined their second division in 2016
AZ Alkmaar - joined their second division in 2016
PSV - joined their second division in 2013
Ajax - joined their second division in 2013
Before that any B teams in Holland played in a reserve league.
Quite literally the only evidence from Holland is that since B teams have been introduced, the national team has done worse. Obviously this isn't down to B teams, but the sort of logic at play there is the sort being utilised by the SPFL.
I hadn't realised that Holland had entered B teams, especially as high as the 2nd tier.
Last year's attendances:
Ajax 'B' - 919 , PSV 'B' - 597, Utrecht 'B' - 837
(first teams Ajax- 49,620, PSV - 33,724 & Utrecht - 18,276)
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5 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:
Looks like the focus has shifted back to parachuting the OF colt teams into League 2 of the SPFL:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/celtic-rangers-colt-teams-set-11886261
so not sure where that leaves the WoS league.
I never thought the OF colt teams would enter in to a WoSFL. The SPFL have been laying the groundwork for colt teams in the pyramid since at least the summer. The knowledge of those talks would have filtered down, in which case why would BSC Glasgow have to send out an email gauging interest in a WoSFL if that was part of the SPFL's plan.
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58 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:
That is a big part of the problems that still exist. It wasn't well executed.
I wouldn't say the problems we now have are due to how the Lowland League was created. It was that the SoSFL & EoSFL were allowed to be tacked on underneath. If those leagues had been kept at arms length like the NCFL, a proper discussion about what would come at Tier 6 would have taken place.
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Bit in the Sunday Mail about setting up a two year trial for next year. Just the OF Colt teams, no promotion or relegation during the trial period. Bit about playing all away games and yet having to have a "home" ground that's compliant, so very much still spitballing ideas. The purchase of 250 tickets got a mention as well.
7/10 League Two clubs apparently accepting of the idea.
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26 minutes ago, Che Dail said:
Why not start 2018/19?
14 or 16 teams out of how many...?
Plenty of time to get something arranged for next season. Just look at how quickly the Lowland League was set up having been a drawing board idea for a year or so, and then consider how easily clubs jumped at the chance without much regard for the leagues they left behind.
The Colts entering the pyramid for 2018-19 was something that the likes of Malky Mackay were talking about in the summer, WoSFL was something that took hold off of the back of BSC Glasgow's email. Anything that does get set up for next season looks to be for the benefit of clubs already in the pyramid rather than those that should be.
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29 minutes ago, Glenconner said:
Has anybody asked what many of the Seniors think of this? Most of them are going mental over the Old Firm Colts never mind the thought of 160 Junior teams joining them.
Doubt most of them would mind. There's only about 90 SFA club members, 42 have their spot in the SPFL. Another 34 are in the HFL or LFL so have a head start over Junior clubs.
Since the Junior Superleague champions already get Scottish Cup entry nothing changes there unless Junior clubs get licenced. The majority of Junior clubs won't be able to licenced for a while, which played a part in Craigroyston & Easthouses moving to the Junior grade.
Even if all 160 did get licenced, the SFA payments you get would only go down to a third. This won't effect the SPFL clubs deeply enough to prevent change I imagine, as they profit more from the SPFL prize money than the SFA's.
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15 minutes ago, happy said:
So,how many routes are there into the pirimid at present? Bearing in mind that pirimids are big at the bottom and pointy at the top.
Realistically, just through the EoSFL & SoSFL. Since the change to the SFA Licencing requiring a "commitment to the pyramid" there hasn't been a club to push the issue in the North, as Golspie Sutherland had their historical membership and Banks O'Dee were licenced before the change was made. Leaving the pyramid as more of a mishappen mutli storey building.
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11 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:
finish the season bottom on several seasons once with only 8 points and yet nothing happened.
It was a bit of protectionism, but something did happen. The SFL brought in a rule saying that a club finishing bottom of the then Third Division two years in a rule would lose full membership to the SFL. Which presumably would mean no solidarity payments from sponsorships etc or voting rights. Then I think they would be under review for another two years to monitor improvements. If no improvement was shown they would get kicked out.
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Well for BSC Glasgow, East Kilbride & presumably Edusport it'd be either the SoSFL/EoSFL. For Bonnyton Thistle they don't have to worry about that yet as no league has been established at Tier 7.
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20 minutes ago, Glenconner said:
What happens to the glorified/kiddie on boys club with zero support and no ground when the Juniors brush past them.
What league did the phantom clubs play in pre the Lowland League?
Did they even exist?
They'd get relegated to a lower league.
As far as i'm aware most of them never ran an adult/senior aged side before 2014.
Yes.
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2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:
Has the SFA not twisted the arm of the SoS to reluctantly accept the likes of Edusport and Bonnyton Thistle? It's not fully clear yet how much leeway the leagues have on that.
Even if nothing has been said, the SoSFL is probably well aware they risk losing their status if they were to reject applications.
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23 minutes ago, The Mantis said:
So Clydebank could easily be rejected by both leagues.
Technically, I don't see it happening with Clydebank due to the size of club and how they would be of a benefit to either league. Playing out the string the SoSFL would again be the most likely to reject an application compared to the EoSFL.
If Wigtown return from abeyance, and no club from the SoSFL gets promoted, that leaves the SoSFL with 16 clubs. There's also the possibility that Dalbeattie Star could get relegated this year depending on certain scenarios. That takes it up to 17 and I don't think the SoSFL has ever had that many members at one time. So they could very well reject any applications.
On the other hand EoSFL would probably take as many credible members it can get and run divisions.
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5 minutes ago, The Mantis said:
Yeah I get that, although EK are just EOSFA members, and Dalbeattie found the travelling too much in the EOS.
I just mean if you were the secretary of Coldstream or Ormiston or Preston or Peebles, would you vote to travel to Clydebank for a fixture? No doubt Bankies would enhance the league, but self interest has dominated football since the year dot.
Those clubs might vote against, but you could just as easily say the same about the majority of those in the SoSFL. When East Kilbride FC was accepted in to the SoSFL they weren't going to play in any of the cup competitions, Edusport moved their home games to Annan. With more than half the trips in the EoSFL being within the Lothian area, rather than the Borders, there would be more than enough votes to get a club like Clydebank in.
It would also make it more attractive to Clydebank in terms of travel for both the fans and team, as well as player recruitment. There's bound to be more players to pick up between Glasgow & Edinburgh, than Glasgow & Dumfries.
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12 hours ago, theshed said:
What's happening here is so called lesser teams are seeing an opportunity to leap frog bigger teams and get a head start on them , dalkeith couldn't lace boness and linlithgow boots normally in the juniors , instead they're taking the opportunity to leap frog the bigger east junior teams and also getting away from a shambolic ran level of football , for doing this I wish them all the best , haddington will be next,
I don't think that's there mentality at all. It's purely about seeing the benefits to themselves. The vast majority of Junior clubs aren't one of the big teams, so there's not the same risk in losing crowds or worrying about not challenging for honours. I doubt the likes of Dalkeith, who have never played in the Superleague, are thinking about promotion to the SPFL. However the can challenge for promotion to the Lowland League and once licenced benefit more from an SFA membership than a SJFA one. So there's nothing to lose and everything to gain.
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28 minutes ago, info said:
If that is so it is a pity. A West (Glasgow -Ayrshire League) certainly makes sense but then when did common sense come into it!
Another West of Scotland club within the pyramid system increases the chances of a WoSFL or LLW in the long term. For either to happen it needs more interested parties than common sense.
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5 hours ago, edinabear said:
If Clydebank are serious about joining the Pyramid I would have thought they would have been a prominent voice in setting up the West of Scotland League. Although, perhaps they view the East of Scotland as an easier pathway
It's certainly easier to join an existing league that is part of the pyramid, than to try and corral another 9+ clubs into forming a new league.
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The SoA universe is officially expanding as Mayans MC has been picked up for series.
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52 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:
A wee bit quiet on this thread lately. I read on the Juniors forum that you have put in proposals for changes to the LL. What's the crack or is it just nonsense talk?
The basic gist was they put a feeler out to some Junior clubs, and supposedly some amateurs, to gauge the level of interest over a WoSFL league feeding into the Lowland League like the EoSFL & SoSFL. If they could get one off the ground a BSC reserve side might be one of the first members, as they are looking for a decent level to place them in.
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31 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:
The idea of a four way play off (not a five way as the North has been ignored, again) will never be considered by the SFA. The junior leagues are indirectly affiliated to the SFA through their affiliation with the SJFA - they would never have been the SFA's choice of feeder leagues. From the SFA's point of view - there are already leagues for the East and West below the LFL. Yes, they are likely poorer quality than the Superleagues, but they already existed. Historical anomalies or not, the EoSFL and SoSFL are senior leagues affiliated directly to the SFA and have been for a long time. It was only natural that these would be the leagues that would feed the LFL. I'd be the first to admit that this isn't an optimum position to be in, but it is what we have. It boils down to the convoluted structure of associations and leagues that England did away with nearly fifty years ago. I think eventually some form of WoSFL will emerge, but it will take time and a lot of compromises from all sides.
I'm still not ruling out the possibility of a Lowland League 2 if there becomes enough Licenced teams with an Eastern bias. You look at how some of the West of Scotland teams have placed their youth teams in the EoSFL structure and the admittedly pure speculation of Clydebank opting for the EoSFL if they were to go for their licence.
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10 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:
Will be interesting to see what happens in the East if/when the EoS stabilizes in numbers terms at around 16 or so. If the HL can operate as a closed shop with no vacancies there is no obvious reason why the EoS couldn't do that as well. If clubs are thinking of making the move I would strike while the iron is still hot.
From following this stuff in the EoSFL side, i've seen wonderings about the league getting to enough clubs to split into divisions again. Which would certainly be helpful from a quality perspective, but makes jumping from Juniors less attractive having to go through 2 divisions just to get to the Lowland League.
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2 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:
It's not going to happen though, certainly not anytime soon, I was told no change until at least 2019/2020. The impression was given that neither the SFA or SJFA are too bothered about Junior clubs being involved, which if true, is damning of both organisations.
So, the BSC proposal appears to be the only show in town for West clubs at the moment.
That's the frustrating part and that's why individual clubs are going to have to start making moves. We're seeing moves in the East, hopefully the BSC proposal gets some traction. Although it's looking more likely that BSC reserves will have to fill out any first season.
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11 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:
I understand the proposal from TJ was simply that the West and East Superleague champs play-off with EoS and SoS for promotion to LL, presumably meaning that the SJFA would remain unchanged (and effectively outside the Pyramid and unlicenced?). So if true, no progress.
Clubs are going to have to force the issue themselves.
That's about the best compromise without dramatically uprooting the whole non-SPFL structure. Let's the likes of Auchinleck Talbot get their licence and forces Junior leagues to organise their fixtures better to allow time for a play-off.
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23 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:
Montrose are at present the likeliest Angus side to finish bottom of L2, although they are far stronger this year than in recent seasons. It's interesting that they would go into the Lowland league (I wonder if they could request the Highland league..?) while Montrose Roselea hopped over that boundary to play North Junior football last year and in the event of a pyramid forming involving Junior clubs, would need to move back (unless they could request dispensation to remain).
When the first SPFL promotion/relegation playoff took place in 2014/15, Montrose were going to be relegated to the Highland League. I've seen the rumour since then that they would of considered going to the Juniors instead of playing in the Highland League due to the travel. Although all the press coverage at the time said they'd have got on with it if they'd been relegated.
I don't know if the boundary has now changed, or they would be more attracted to the Lowland League and advocate to be placed there now that it has become more established.
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5 minutes ago, HTG said:
The North is comfortably the most straightforward to resolve. But the sfa seems determined to let the Highland League teams retain a closed shop.
I've said it before but will say it again. Thus far, the football authorities haven't given a single solitary f**k about the development of a logical pyramid. Their sole requirement was to meet a demand from UEFA that they implement a pyramid of some description. They've done that.
Regan really needs to show that he is willing to support teams with aspiration and content to see those who have had their current status protected for years drop to their appropriate level. I don't think he's got the balls for it.
True. As far as i'm concerned once the Lowland League was created there was a missed opportunity to just place the Junior leagues on at Tier 6. The EoSFL & SoSFL had been gutted so they would of been easily tucked in at the bottom tiers of their respective Junior Region.
Once more Lowland area clubs got licenced you could split the Lowland League East & West. Instead it was allowed to simply tack on EoSFL & SoSFL which has continued the Junior/Senior divide.
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Old Firm Colts in L2
in Scottish League 2 General Chatter
Posted
Celtic = Kundai Benyu (20), Olivier Ntcham (21), Patrick Roberts (20), Odsonne Edouard (20), Lewis Morgan (21)
Rangers = Alfredo Morelos (21), Declan John (22), Dalcio (21), Aaron Nemane (20), Sean Goss (22), Jason Cummings (22)
This season's signing of roughly "development" team aged players. The best OF prospects will already be in the first team, those that spend anytime in a Colt side will be replaced by the likes of above. Just looks like an excuse to retain the Lewis Morgan's of the world. Players they'd otherwise put on the teenage scrapheap, but now need them to be jersey fillers for a 20+ person Colt squad.