Born To Run

That fiver photoshop is fantastic

Is it safe to come back in yet? Has the Luncarty civil war ended with peaceful resolution? I await news of the SJFA meeting with interest. New boundary maps less so...

My expectation is, similar to what happened in the EoS situation, many late declarations will be made as clubs realise their local rivals etc are also making the move and don’t want to be left behind.

Hearing that we’re over the 20 mark re expressions of interest. Going to need two (or even three) split divisions at this rate...

If the WoS is in place for next season, I’d be very surprised not to see two automatic relegation spots in the Lowland. With three feeder leagues, there can’t realistically be one relegation spot.

Very good point. Its being done this way as the path of least resistance - all that’s required now are applicant clubs.

Perfect statement. Clear on intent, next steps and timescales. Will be very interesting to see if the SJFA release a statement after their meeting tomorrow.

This week.

Are there any serious plans for a home nearer Broomhill? The cynic in me says the money will go into the playing budget rather than the infrastructure. No “serious” plans in terms of anything imminent, but the club has been constantly looking at options ever since going to Alloa. Luckily we have a long-term minded man at the helm. Moving back to Glasgow is our main focus (bearing in mind we may need to buy floodlights etc too).

What makes you say that? There is no requirement for any theoretical LL2 to be a licensed league. When the idea initially came up, it was very much as an unlicensed Tier 6 league. Regardless, if the WoS gets set up LL2 isn’t happening for the foreseeable future.

At the risk of interrupting the stramash... Brilliant day for us. So proud of the boys, and if TC scores his chance on the hour mark it might have got very interesting! Good luck for the rest of the tourney Hibees.

Don't expect to see many more statements. A few interested clubs have kept their council up till now, no reason for them to come out and say anything. Assuming that any WoS follows the same dates as the EoS, we have almost two months until any applications need to be in.

In a way, I’m delighted that this is now out in the open and that we will have movement in time for next season. I’m also mindful not to “rub it in” for people who just want to stay Junior. At least this way clubs can choose their own futures for themselves - set local football, or the prospect of moving up the levels.

That’s my expectation, yeah. Keeps things aligned and manageable. I suspect any interested parties who haven’t already been in touch will be e-mailing now. There is also an outside chance of the SJFA trying to shut this down by offering to take up “Option X”...we’ll see.

Right. This is happening - they aren’t waiting and gambling on declarations of interest post statement, put it that way.

We're almost there... This is HUGE for us as a club. Regardless of the result, people now know that we exist, and the funds generated on the overall run can (hopefully) go towards helping us find a home of our own in the near future. For all the chat about moving the tie as well, looks like the Indodrill is the perfect capacity for selling out as the last tickets are going now. Enjoy your day Hibees - just not too much, eh?

Couple of things here: - George isn’t just a LL rep, he’s the chair of the league. His role is to represent all member clubs. - There is no “split”, nor “tribal” issues on this. The ‘west in as a region’ option would have sailed through. The Lowland has never had any intention of splitting into East and West leagues; LL2/WoS is the only idea that’s came up in the past. - Purely my opinion on this point, but the SJFA still has a glimmer of hope if they now fully commit to the West Region moving in at tier 6 - pronto. If not, the WoS is coming with all the upheaval that will entail.

We’ve officially entered the realms of unsubstantiated guesswork in this thread, it seems. Just as well we’ll get some clarity provided shortly. For the avoidance of doubt, the SJFA were absolutely given the opportunity to join the pyramid by the other non-league bodies. Any suspicion of an “old pals” stitch up to remove them from talks is ridiculous. The issue has been the SJFA’s insistence on moving over as a combined unit. The West Region could already be planning ahead to a first pyramid season if not for that condition.

The other issue with Lowland relegation (as things stand) is upping to two automatic spots doesn’t change anything for the EoS, who essentially have a promotion spot for champs. The second spot would go to the SoS winners who often aren’t too keen on the idea of moving up. Bring in a West league, let the South step down a tier and suddenly two automatic spots makes much more sense.

All joking aside, expect to have more clarity over the next few days.

There you go folks. Announcement announced! ...might even be sooner, depending. Watch this space.

The facts are out there, to be fair. You just need to wade through piles of whataboutery, opinions and agendas to find them! All @Burnie_man does is apply common sense to some background knowledge - not rocket science surely?

Yes. Stirling Uni’s EoS team was also allowed by the rules. The Lowland helping to run a potential WoS won’t change that principle.

Derek (Mozza) here. You’ll see Chris post under “RampantFM”.

I’ll try to clarify - I’m Derek (Mozza) from the podcast. I was more referring to comments made over the last few years, both public and private, in which certain people have stated that the region (at least in part) should enter at Tier 5 as the quality of the Premiership was on par with the Lowland. This obviously can’t happen in practice as all Tier 5 sides must be licensed. IIRC the option was included in one of the questionnaires sent to member clubs however.