Marten

Cappielow, going there tomorrow. Spending the night in Ayr and then a nice drive up the coast to Greenock!

Ayr United 1-0 Dundee United. Now done 41 / 42.

I've seen it as well. How can people possibly compare the 2 cases? Other than the reasons of disappearance being completely different, they are comparing a decision from Guernsey Police to one of the UK Home Office...

Hamilton Academical 0-3 Aberdeen, now on 40 / 42

Counter argument to this is move the line to the forth or even south of Lothian. Then they all become hl feeders in a 50/50 population split. That would be unpopular. This is why I said before that the juniors north/east/west split could work. That would become roughly 20/40/40 which is acceptable imo and easier to manage with Scottish geography. Will the SPFL agree to 3 feeders to SPFL2 though?

Many of the clubs moving from area to area in England are actually more or less forced to do so. England doesn't have any fixed boundaries, so if for example 4 northern teams get relegated from the National League (tier 5) to tier 6, that will mean 2 teams will be kicked from the National League North to South to accommodate them. The same happens at lower levels. Only really at a standard of football that's comparable with amateur football north of the border it regularly happens that teams get moved because they requested so.

If the boundary gets changed I don't think having the likes of Lochee in the EOS Premier would be that much of an issue. Jeanfield will almost certainly be in it next season already for example. In such a case I would advocate for further regionalisation on tier 7 though, with Dundee, Perthsire, Angus and possible North Fife in their own feeder league, to prevent travel getting too much for the level of the pyramid. A distance like Brechin to Hawick at tier 7 would not be appropriate imo. Another question though is if there won't be some LL teams objecting against possible trips to Tayside. I can imagine Dalbeattie Star or Gretna having issues with that. That's why I can understand the 3 region system in the juniors, maybe that would be better at tier 5, but as said before that can be tricky to actually achieve.

I do agree with you on that. It's a difficult subject though as I can see the argument for including them in the HL area as well. Due to the way the population is spread across Scotland, Tayside in the LL area would really make the difference between LL and HL in terms of the area they serve too big. I wouldn't be against copying the junior system of 3 regions, which would solve a lot of issues. But will the SPFL agree to that? We won't know what the EOS have done behind the scenes obviously. They have stated that they got at least 1 enquiry from a club north of the Tay who they were unable to accommodate. Nobody other than the EOS and the club involved (and who can that be?) will know if anything has been discussed with any parties afterwards.

That's 1 club, so it's slightly different from a whole league. But ultimately if the West Juniors come in the pyramid, there should be some kind of boundary agreed with the SoS imo. Or the SoS can even be a feeder to a west league (LL West?).

Why do you keep blaming the EOS for not accommodating the Tayside teams? There is literally nothing they can do for them. Changing the boundary is not something the EOS can do or even influence. If the boundary gets changed and the EOS wouldn't accept Tayside teams, it will be a different story (and I wouldn't agree with that), but until anything gets changed, the EOS can't help those clubs.

If they want access to the pyramid it's not unreasonable to ask them to move to the EoSL. It is unreasonable to expect to have 2 leagues in the pyramid covering the same area. If they don't want to move to the EoSL, they shouldn't be forced, but then they will have to stay outside the pyramid and imo also lose the possible Scottish Cup access.

Agreed, but the reason why I say clarity is badly needed is mainly that in my opinion clubs are now being made promises that are very unlikely to materialise. Yes, you can say it's naive for clubs to believe some of the stuff they are being fed, but the sooner there is no doubt about the structure for next season, the better, even for clubs that don't want to move into the pyramid.

Regardless what the outcome is, clarity is needed sooner rather than later. Even if it's a "no deal" scenario, it will at least make it clear to clubs like Fauldhouse that there are only 2 options: move to the EOS or stay in ERJFA and remain in a Tayside dominated league outside the pyramid. Then it's up to them to make the right decision and I can only hope for @jc1 that it's the one that creates a more attractive league for them with more local teams.

The EOS currently accepts every team they can accept. They simply can't accept teams north of the Tay. They are a feeder league into the LL and they can only accept teams that can go into the LL, which are all teams south from the line of latitude from the middle of the Tay road bridge. The Tay boundary can only be changed if the LL, HL and SPFL agree on that. The EOS is no party in those discussions so there is literally nothing they can do for the Tayside teams at the moment.

Partick Thistle 4 Stranraer 1

Agreed, I've got lots of respect for the hard working volunteers who keep "poor" clubs alive despite the challenges they face. That's the case for Fort William, Inverkeithing, Coupar Angus and so on. These people are the unsung heroes of Scottish football AND often their local communities as well. Dismissing any of them as "dross" is disrespectful. They have as much of a place in Scottish football as bigger clubs.

Seeing as I drive through Coupar Angus twice a day on my daily commute, I should pay them a visit in the near future! So far the poorest team I've seen this season was Fort William, I bet that will change.

It's funny how junior fans still mention the "dross" in the EOS like there is no dross in the juniors. Just to remind people, one result in the ERJFA League Cup in the weekend was Broughty Athletic 18-0 Coupar Angus. Just like I won't judge all the juniors based on the poor standard of Coupar Angus, you can't judge the EOS based on Tweedmouth, Inverkeithing etc. If there is a proper pyramid of what's now "junior" and "senior" non-league, these teams will be in the lowest tier. And there is nothing wrong with that. Let them just play football at the level that's right for them, and let the same apply to Blackburn United, Linlithgow Rose, Kelty Hearts, but also the likes of Arbroath, Ayr United and Hearts for example. That's the point of a pyramid.

I agree it's give and take for the SJFA. Give: agree that the EOS is the only route into the LL for clubs in the east, south of the Tay. Remaining ERJFA can join the EOS, or even bolt on below the EOS. Take: juniors everywhere else (including Tayside) get in from tier 6. Simple and reasonable.

In some countries they have the rule that the highest finished eligible team gets promoted / a play-off spot. Usually with the rule that they will have to be amongst the top x in their division. I think that would be fair in Scotland. That way unlicensed teams (or ineligible teams like Stranraer reserves in SOS) can't block ambitious teams.

Queen of the South 4 Ross County 0 Impressive display from the hosts to hammer the league leaders. Palmerston is a brilliant ground, really enjoyed my day.

I support Wimbledon in England (was ST holder when I lived south of the border), but I don't think Wimbledon v West Ham is a stand out tie, BBC also didn't list it in their highlights of the draw. I'd be quite surprised if it's on TV tbh. A bit disappointing draw I think, at this stage I'd either like a winnable tie or a money spinner, this is neither.

And even more special: that defender who saved the penalty was the same guy who scored the equaliser in the 95th minute. Truly the hero of the game for them.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-2 Queen of the South Boring first half, but the second half was much better. ICT took the lead but 2 goals in quick succession secured the points for the guests.

They take in all members they are allowed to take in. The only applications they can't accept are ones from above the Tay boundary. That's not their decision, that's the boundary which has been agreed by multiple parties (including the SPFL) and not up to the EOS to change. As they feed into the LL they can only accept teams that are allowed to go into the LL. It's not exactly rocket science and has already been pointed out a few times so why do you keep blaming the EOS of "not accepting everyone" when they clearly accept everyone they can accept? And I'd class Arbroath as North-East, not East. I agree a proper solution for the Tayside teams north of the boundary is needed. I live just north of the Tay in Dundee myself so the local football teams around where I live are affected by it and clarity is badly needed. But as things stand now there isn't much the EOS can do for the teams over here. If the boundary does get changed (like the SJFA clearly wants to) it would be a different matter, but as said, that depends on various parties, including the SPFL.