Marten

These 2 games are one-legged affairs.

At the very least ban gambling "advertising" sneaked in during live sport broadcasts. The amount of time you hear "the latest odds with ... for ... to turn this match around are ..." during a game is crazy. If you allow adverts, just allow it in the ad breaks and not on such a sneaky way.

You only quoted the first few words of my post. First of all, the East Superleague joining could still be blocked even if EOS (& LL) agreed. But second, as pointed out various times, there was agreement on the west joining the pyramid, which was knocked back by the SJFA. They had their chance to get the WRJFA in there but didn't take it. So there is no valid argument to accept the license application at this point until the SJFA co-operates. I really want the west to come on board, but the ball is in the SJFA's court who should accept the offer whilst continue working on a solution for the east. So far there no reasonable solution for the ERJFA has been proposed, simple as that.

Agreed, he also clearly doesn't care about clubs in the north as they were quickly forgotten about in the "all in" approach. He only cares about the east when it suits him. He is pushing for the East Superleague to be part of the pyramid, but how much do the remaining south of Tay ERJFA clubs really want that to happen? They didn't join the EOS when they could join at tier 6 and even now they could still join at tier 7 they still didn't do it while knowing it will more than likely be tier 8 next season. Then they pushed through regionalisation within the ERJFA, knowing that regional leagues would not be accepted. They clearly are not bothered with pyramid entry. And that's absolutely fair enough. I might not understand their stance, they have to decide for themselves what they think is the best so if that's their choice, fair play. But if they are not bothered, then there is no reason to try to force them in and in the process block the access to the pyramid of 63 clubs in the west.

That's twisting the reality. As people have already made clear, the objections were not about the west. The SJFA were offered the possibility of the West Superleague at Tier 6. However, they didn't agree to it unless the East Superleague was included too. It obviously was unreasonable to demand that. Had the SJFA agreed to the proposal, the likes of Talbot, Petershill & Cumnock would have been in the pyramid now. And even if both the EOS & LL would have agreed to the SJFA's proposal, it doesn't mean it would have happened. Reason for that is that the HL/LL boundary had to be moved to make that plan reality. Neither the PWG, nor the SFA have any power to do this as that decision is with the PGB, comprising of the Lowland League, Highland League & SPFL. So even if the plan had passed the SJFA, SFA, LL, SOS & EOS for approval, the HL and SPFL could still have crushed it. This is why the east and west entry should have been treated as separate cases. West was (and still is) easy to sort out. For the east there are many factors that make it more complicated. With that in mind, it's fair enough to not allow teams to get a license at this stage as long as they are not in a league that is a part of the pyramid, as the SJFA clearly has not yet shown willingness for the west leagues to be moved into the pyramid. The only way to finally get this sorted (which I really want to happen) is for clubs waiting for licenses to hold TJ to account and push for it internally within the SJFA, or for clubs to join a senior league (maybe a new one in the west?).

All of the blame regarding the west not being in the pyramid lies with the SJFA, even though they like to point their finger at the EOS. TJ doesn't really want pyramid access for "his teams", which is why he is deliberately putting down suggestions like both the East & West Superleagues at tier 6, even though he know that won't be possible for the East for multiple reasons (boundary, 2 leagues covering the same area etc.), that plan has rightly been shot down by the EOS & LL. The west could have been in already if it wasn't for the SJFA's unwillingness to co-operate. If clubs are allowed access to licensing now, despite the SJFA not being willing to find solutions for the pyramid, then it defeats the whole point of the pyramid and licensing. Licensing should be a carrot kept in front of clubs to finally force through a change of attitude so a solution can be found.

I don't want clubs like Petershill and Cumnock penalised. But if the clubs really care about it that much, why did apparently not a single club, not even these 2, raise this at the SJFA AGM? All that needed doing was either give TJ the instruction to drop the "all in" (that already didn't apply to the north) approach and just get the west in the period, or pass a motion that going forward, the 3 SJFA regions will be represented individually on the PWG. In my opinion the latter would be the best approach to find a solution as each region have their own wishes / challenges, with the West clearly being the easiest to resolve.

The SJFA claim they want in. But they don't act that way. If they really want in, they'd co-operate a bit more and drop unreasonable demands like the east & west joining at the same time and instead allowing the west to move in whilst working on a solution for the east (and north!).

The point of VAR is meant to be to correct "clear and obvious errors". There are too many "debatable" cases being reviewed. That's missing the whole point. If a situation can be seen as "debatable" (i.e. giving a penalty/red etc. or not could both be defended using the laws of the game), the referee's decision should stand and no review should take place.

That must be one of the oddest rules in the SJFA (and that takes some doing!). What's the issue with 2 teams playing a friendly in June? If both sides agree it, I see no reason to ban it from happening.

It wouldn't be too bad if the colt teams would just get dumped, then the first round can be scrapped with all teams starting in the second round (which will obviously then become the first round).

You'll enjoy Jeanfield, good wee ground and very friendly people there.

So we could end up with Wrexham representing England while being based in Wales and TNS representing Wales while being based in England.

They have a year to sort lights out, otherwise they'll lose their license.

The first penalty shootout at the Women's World Cup is probably going to take a long time with all the VAR decisions on whether or not the GK moved off her line early...

Yes, puts them right back in contention after their disappointing loss in the first game. They've got a decent team now.

There are no rules with the SFA around when you can have friendlies. Them being "approved" just means the SFA take care of appointing a referee.

Agreed. I don't have issues with the final being on a Sunday, but if they do, KO time should be earlier imo.

I'm a big advocate of the pyramid and a big critic of some aspects of junior football. However, this dig at Broughty is out of order. Regarding the pyramid, Tayside is a bit in a state of limbo, the clubs can't join the East of Scotland League due to the boundary and there is no senior league north of that boundary to go to that doesn't involve having to be licensed. Broughty can only beat who are in front of them. There are still some decent Tayside juniors left (like Lochee), so they will have a fight on their hands and it will still be an interesting title race regardless of all the current issues. Meanwhile, they are doing a great job off the pitch. Despite all the uncertainty there is currently due to a situation which isn't their fault, they should be commended for the good work they're doing.

They invited Banks O'Dee to join them. What else are they supposed to do, force them? They are the only club that can join at the moment. It's not the SHFL's responsibility to create a pyramid in the north. If the NRJFA & Tayside juniors aren't interested, you can hardly blame the SHFL.

They have the set-up no doubt. Maybe when the league settles down with possibly a "bottom" division with the smaller clubs involved it might be more attractive to Duns. That's what I hope as well, if there is ultimately a 3 tier set-up, maybe some borders teams might consider returning to senior football in tier 8 as it will be more their level.

Ray Parlour called the draw between AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes a derby. Honestly? He really has no clue what a derby is, because this is definitely not one.

The ball is in the SJFA's corner though. Nobody objects to the west joining the pyramid. All the SJFA need to do is allow that to happen and drop the unreasonable demand of west & east coming in together or not at all. This is why the 3 SJFA regions should be represented on the PWG and not the SJFA as a whole. All 3 have different challenges / wishes and the west is by far the easiest of the 3 in this process.

Links to a certain club in Birmingham by any chance?

The Superleague ones, yes.