Cyclizine

I picked three clubs roughly from each of the regions, so cheers for agreeing with me. My point was the pyramid is roughly right. Poorer clubs will be relegated, better clubs promoted. A cliché, but that doesn't make it wrong!

I hate to break it to you, but Talbot have far more in common with Hawick RA, Lossiemouth or St Cuthbert Wanderers than they do with St Mirren, Aberdeen or Dunfermline. The pyramid seems about right and as always: teams will be promoted and teams will be relegated!

Fort shipped double figures without reply again today. 12 away to Formartine. 1 sub on the bench as well.

In the same vein of alcohol-induced thought-disordered rambling, I'm hoping Dipple might return to give us his current opinions this evening. Sure he's well lubricated after today's result...

I was thinking it was a warning about the dangers of mixing buckfast and lighter fuel

I genuinely have no idea what point you're trying to get across here.

Just playing devil's advocate: there's no reason why LTHV, for example, couldn't play out of an entry level (except for the need to find one) and get a licence that way. There is an obsession with clubs owning their own grounds and a presumption against groundsharing which I'm not sure is realistic. Personally, I think it is a logical solution for many clubs. The BSC and Edusport situations don't sit easily with me though, but I don't think anyone could blame them for what they've done.

That's why I said 'ideally', I think it's ridiculous too. To be fair, I could also ask where is Rob Roy's new ground as well?

Many junior clubs don't own their own grounds - Carluke, Greenock etc - I'm not sure what the issue is. Rossvale played at Petershill (another council owned park). Rob Roy currently don't have a usable ground at all! It makes sense for clubs to share facilities anyway, it's more economical. I agree BSC playing in Alloa is a bit of a stretch, but there's was nothing stopping other teams doing similar: ideally whilst developing somewhere closer to their natural home.

This tweet would suggest otherwise

Windsor have an amateur team in Div 2 of the LEAFA

Realistically, what are the LEAFA and KFAFA going to do if the above teams do leave without notice?

I think most people would agree that the current Highland / Lowland division is inequitable, but at the time, there was a roughly 50:50 split of licenced (or nearly licenced) teams in their geographical areas. It would make sense for there to be a West feeder at Level 5 - I do think it will eventually come. You could actually argue for four regional divisions: a Central feeder, for example, which would produce a more even split of teams in population terms. Pragmatically, we have the two division for the foreseeable future and any leagues at Level 6 and below will have to feed into this. Logically, the North, East and West splits make most sense. Once this is established, it wouldn't take much for a Western League to be established on a par with Lowland and Highland.

Yep. The North will never have as deep a pyramid as further south, with multiple divisions at each level, the depth just isn't there. That is the pragmatic one - although I think the HFL will struggle with any more teams than it currently has in trying to fit in the matchdays.

Maybe something like having the bottom one or two spots in the HFL as potential relegation places. Then, something like the English lower league system where a club in the NCL or NRJFA or North of Tay ERJFA (if integrated) can declare their wish to be promoted by a certain point in the season.

I was going to say Uncle Roy getting up on a stage in a gazebo on the away terrace at Victoria Park, to play guitar with Torridon. But actually that was awesome.

A fair number of clubs stated their support to the pyramid, in whatever form that takes. I'd imagine the uni would be keen, they have enough players to run multiple teams and, as you said, a decent floodlit ground. However, I'm struggling to think of any other NRJFA sides that might be keen (Banks o' Dee's statements taken with a pinch of salt). I suspect many of them don't feel the current discussions really apply to them.

I think it depends on if they can get a reasonably committed squad together. It's such a small catchment area with talent spread thin in the Far North. It'd be good for them to be back, even if you do have to face the trip to the Seaboard Villages...

It's a cracking away day, but the denizens of Fort Bill seem worse than apathetic about the club and football in general (given the Lochaber Welfare League appears to have gone). Unless Fort can drum up some local support, I can't see how they're sustainable. It'll be gutting if they do resign from the league. I do wonder if a team of locals might fare better in the NCL, yes, there's still travelling, but the standard is lower and there's less games and more cups to win, so might generate a bit of local interest. Keeping the licence would at least allow Scottish Cup entry, as long as the SFA are sensible with how they define commitment to the pyramid...

I don't think there's really been any discussion about how a theoretical north pyramid would look. Part of the issue with the Highland / Lowland split is the population mismatch: only a fifth of the population are in the Highland catchment. What talent is available is thinly spread with the majority of players Aberdeen and Shire based. Only a few NRJFA sides would be competitive in the HFL, with the caveat that the furthest north the region goes is Inverness. My personal view is that there should be some form of trapdoor in the HFL - how this is realistically achieved, I don't know.

Oh, the irony. But yes, it was a terrible post.

Pretty much, they were Bridge of Don Thistle at the time and playing at Hillhead until the University joined the juniors (the NRJFA didn't allow two juniors to groundshare). They then moved to groundshare with Newburgh Thistle amateurs and eventually changed their name. I presume the amateur team will continue, it was never really a merger as such.

If you failed to pay it would in all likelihood go to a County Court in England and you'd get a default judgement against you assuming you don't defend it. If you failed to pay the fine plus costs you get a CCJ which would affect your credit rating. Technically they can't chase you for the money in Scotland based on a CCJ but they could apply to the Register to get a warrant issued that could send the Sheriff's officers after you. This would incur more fees on top. It's probably easier to pay the fine, since it's a council one.

It's alright, not a huge selection of places, Old Bridge Inn does decent beer and music. Skiing Doo can be lively as well. There's a nightclub called the Vault which is full of local underagers and tourists in Berghaus fleeces.

I might be wrong, but are you referring to the "Stables plan" of two 10 team divisions? That was voted down years ago as the plan was for playing once home and away and then an extended group stage League Cup. It was a terrible idea! The current HFL plan is to split if the numbers go above 20. How practical this is really given with 18 teams it's a struggle to complete the season before the playoffs. There certainly needs to be a discussion about how a pyramid structure can encompass the north. It's difficult since it's geographically huge but with a relatively small population and thus the quality drops off fairly rapidly. Currently as well, North of Tay (Bridge) clubs would fit into HFL territory. I'm not sure how things will progress up here, but given the majority in favour of the pyramid, it can't be ignored.