Marten
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Posts posted by Marten
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I agree that it doesn't make sense to force all new clubs to go through amateur football first. For some it might work well to build up a club from amateur level, for others it's too low a level to start. If we compare it to England, there are plenty of amateur leagues in the pyramid, but it's possible to apply to start at a higher level than the absolute bottom in your region, which goes as far down as tier 20 in some parts of the country. Clubs who plan to go semi-pro straight away could apply to start at the lowest level in the National League System, which is tier 10 (step 6) all over the country now. That is indeed what happened to phoenix/re-formed clubs like AFC Wimbledon, AFC Chester, Macclesfield, Darlington, Bury, Hereford and so on (some started at tier 9/step 5 like Wimbledon but at the time that was the lowest level in the NLS in their region). There are also a number of clubs that aren't phoenix clubs / (claimed) re-starts but started as a fully new club semi-pro on step 6 straight away, one of the best known of those is FC United of Manchester but there are plenty more. With some of these clubs there were already issues when they restarted in that they took far more fans to away games than the host clubs could handle or that they were too good for that level so completely romped the league. Forcing such clubs to start at the absolute lowest level in their area would just be madness and make that far worse.
A good example of that actually happened in Germany some 20 years ago. Lokomotive Leipzig reformed after bankruptcy and were forced into the absolute lowest level in their area. They absolutely destroyed all opposition, winning everything and recording wins with more than 20 goals difference a few times. Opponents had to scramble for grounds to play the games against Lokomotive Leipzig as they generally played at simple pitches without any spectator facilities that couldn't handle the expected crowds. After that first season, they were quickly allowed 2 tiers higher than the tier they were actually promoted to. And even then they again won that league with ease, although the scorelines weren't as crazy. They got promoted another few times and have since settled in tier 4, the highest regional level in Germany.
I'm more than happy for a route to exist through amateur football to the pyramid. Either with amateurs being formally part of the pyramid but with a different status like in England or with amateur leagues being separate like they are now with the possibility to apply to higher leagues. But it's not an appropriate route for every club.
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1 hour ago, Burnieman said:
What a load of nonsense. So any club wishing to apply to the WoSFL must first join the SAFA,. why? I have my doubts the EoSFL are daft enough to follow suit.
Also, there is only a possibility to join the WoSFL if there is a vacancy. So they depend on clubs promoting to the LL (without a LL club getting relegated to the West) or withdrawing from the league to be able to get into the league. This plan is presented as increasing opportunities to get into the WoSFL, but it's none of the sort.
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15 hours ago, GordonS said:
Good to see, when I was there they didn't have any cover, seats, catering or even toilets. They shouldn't have been allowed to play in SWPL1 with that.
Last time I was there was for a January friendly between Dundee United and Lochee United, well before the stand was finished. There were definitely toilets then as I used them. We got completely humped because Dundee United had some league games called off and fielded a nearly full strength XI to keep up match fitness.
15 hours ago, GordonS said:Odd memory from that trip was graffiti across the road that said F*CK ROMA. If you didn't know better you'd think it was a hotbed of racism against Gypsy/ Travellers.
I know a guy who is half-Scottish, half-Italian, supporting Dundee United & Lazio. maybe I should ask if he did that.
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On 01/03/2024 at 22:06, 2426255 said:
Extraordinary. Whoever wrote the Harry Kane to Bayern script deserves an award. To have Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga after Harry Kane moved to Bayern for "guaranteed" trophies is sublime entertainment.
The amazing thing of this is that if you asked German football fans before this season which team would be the most likely to break Bayern's streak, very few would even name Leverkusen in their top 3. The Scottish equivalent would be if Rangers are having a poor season, Hearts & Aberdeen are unable to put up a fight, yet Celtic still can't manage to get the title as Hibs walk away with it.
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Dundee United Women 0-3 Hearts WomenYesterday I went to Foundation Park, opposite Tannadice (previously called Gussie Park), for this game. I haven't been there since it was improved. There is now a wee stand and catering facilities. That makes the experience a lot nicer than it was previously.The first half was very one-sided. Hearts were easily the better team. A great finish from the edge of the penalty area got them the lead and the 3-0 score at half time didn't flatter them. Dundee United did improve for the second half. Good defending prevented worse for them but they were never really close to getting back in the game.There was a group of Hearts fans who were at Tynecastle for their midday game against Celtic. They left straight after the final whistle there and made their way to Dundee for the women's team. A guy I spoke to was waiting near the exit for the final whistle, went straight to Haymarket station and jumped on a train, to pick up his car from a station in Fife so he could get to Dundee in time. Hats off to these fans for their commitment.
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But Lennon has no problem with the inexcusable penalty Celtic got...
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3 minutes ago, TPAFKA Jersey 2 said:
Watchin this game and I notice that even Hearts suffer the same issue as the rest of us when the old firm come to our grounds I.e. no fucker wants to turn up.
Loads of empty seats on display which is very unusual for Tynecastle.
Shame because loads of fans will be missing a great day.
Yeah, quite telling really. I was at Tynecastle for Hearts v Dundee in January. A cold Wednesday night during a heavy (named) storm and it was considerably busier than today on a nice Sunday v Celtic.
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It's a penalty according to the rules. I still think the new handball rule is shite but the referee had no choice really.
Celtic's penalty definitely wasn't one according to the rules.
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23 minutes ago, The Naitch said:
Say what you like but they’ve got the 2unlimited and Scooter vote secured with that banger.
Thanks for making me laugh.
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On 13/02/2024 at 20:22, MazzyStar said:
Easy Netherlands win this year imo
This is the entry:
Embarrassingly bad. Absolutely 0 chance this will make the final. I voted for The Netherlands a fair few times in the past, just like so many expats voting for their own country, but there is no way I'll vote for this!
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I just feel like we never really tried today. That's what gets me the most. Attitude and playing together as a team is so much worse than earlier this season. That made me so disappointed today. I know we can do much better but we seem to have lost it.
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Well, that's the league over with. Absolutely horrendous performance today from our side. Just very poor. Gutted.
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13 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:
No.There's 3 different play-off rules kicking about: SPFL2, HL, LL.
Highland Pyramid Play-off (NCL, Midlands, North Region) has a deadline of January 31st.
https://www.scottishjuniorfa.com/media/2950/ersjfa-handbook-202324.pdf
The one Brechin City have to worry about in the SPFL2 Play-offs. Is March 1st.
Cheers, I thought so although I'd have been happy to be proven wrong. Although in fairness, our February signings were mainly to cover injured players who should be back in time for a possible PO anyway...
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On 24/02/2024 at 23:47, Ray Patterson said:
Why were the Lochee and North End games off today?
It's looking increasingly tricky for Lochee United to get the season finished in time for a potential Play-off.On 25/02/2024 at 00:17, Junior_Arab said:Presumably frozen. I know astro in Dundee was getting pretty frosty on Friday night. Forfar generally gets it worse being further inland.
Late response but yes, frozen pitches. Forfar did get it worse indeed. It also doesn't help that with both clubs part of their pitch is in the shade all morning due to trees, meaning those areas didn't thaw out on time.
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14 minutes ago, welshbairn said:
Seems we were both wrong, the deadline for the playoffs is March 1st.
I assume that's both for the PO to get into League 2 and the PO to get into the HL? Good to know in case we reach the PO that our recent signings are eligible.
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11 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:
By mid April it's you can play until 8:30pm without lights so they could fit a couple of games in as 6:30 or possibly even 6:45pm kickoffs at a push.
Might need to play Monday/Wednesday though as all four clubs play on the 13th.
Looking at the weeks left currently they only have the following free:
Wed 12 Mar - potential East Craigie (H)
Wed 19 Mar
Wed 2 Apr
Wed 9 Apr - potential away game 6:30pm ko
Sat 13 Apr - all four clubs unavailable
Wed 16 Apr - potential away game 6:30pm ko
Sat 20 Apr - potential away game
Not knowing the playoff dates makes it tricky, but given they were 23 & 30 April in 2022, I'd assume they could be as late as 27 Apr and 4 May this season - although I see the HL is set to finish on 13 Apr - which might take the 20th off the table.
Still better than last season when Panmure won the League title on the 27th May!I believe the original end date of the 13th was due to the PO against other tier 6 winners. As it's nearly impossible already for either Golspie or Fort William to win the NCL, and there are no licensed North Region clubs, we wouldn't need to worry about that one so it's only the possible ML/HL play-off we'll need to keep in mind when scheduling.
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Just now, welshbairn said:
Spartans opted out of the Lowland League Cup last year.
Yep, I know. I could see us doing the same.
In the most extreme case, with us reaching the PO and the finals of both cups we're still in, it could get a very busy end to the season. Something like this:
Sat 27/4: PO leg 1
Wed 1/5: North End v Lochee United (R1 League Cup)
Sat 4/5: PO leg 2
Wed 8/5: Broughty Athletic v Lochee United (R2 League Cup)
Sat 11/5: SF inter-regional cup
Wed 15/5: QF League Cup
Sat 18/5: final inter-regional cup
Wed 22/5: SF League Cup
Sat 25/5: final League CupI'm by no means expecting that we get that far in both cups AND reach the PO. Also, if we're in the PO and would play North End in between, we'll likely rest some players against NE. Against opposition as strong as them, that could easily see us knocked out. This is just what in theory could happen. Obviously, I'd quite happily take promotion AND 2 cup wins, but I'd definitely choose promotion over cup success.
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3 hours ago, welshbairn said:
There's zero chance of the HL finishing on April 13th and no need, the final League 2 fixtures aren't scheduled till May 4th. I do think the Midland and Highland Leagues should consider scheduling some of their cup games after the leagues have finished, the play offs mean a ridiculously early finish to the season. The LL now hold their League Cup after their League is done.
That's already happening in the ML. We don't have a date yet for our League Cup 1st round game at North End or the 2nd round for the winners at Broughty (yeah, the draw means that only 1 of the 3 challengers for the title will make the QF). Most likely, these games will only be played once the league is over. That's nothing new for that cup as clubs that are catching up with fixtures don't tend to play in the League Cup until May. The other cup we're still in, the Tayside/North inter-regional cup, we'll play our QF game away to Letham a week on Wednesday. Should we win that, we're scheduled to play the SF on Saturday 27/4 (potentially to be moved for a PO), the final takes place on 18/5.
If we do make the play-offs, I wonder if we'll bother with the League Cup at all as promotion play-offs will be the obvious priority.
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Anyway, Roselea have been of real added value to our league since they joined. Good team, some great officials, friendly club. As said, I couldn't make Wednesday, but from the one who did go I heard they said Roselea's hospitality was great.
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3 hours ago, charlie king mvp said:
Only Lochee United currently have a license that would allow them to get promoted.
We are still playing Broughty twice, first one next Wednesday. If we lose it, it's pretty much over. If we win, it's very much game on as we'd close the gap to 5 points with still 2 games in hand. Strathspey will very much be rooting for Broughty...
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I haven't posted it in here yet, but sadly I'm soon off to the funeral of our club president. He was one of the people who made me feel welcome at the club when I moved to the area. Passed away way too soon...
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12 hours ago, ekok said:
Agree not The Emirates, but to be fair can see what is going on from most places. The Bronze requirement is quite a step up, sometimes from " best practice " to a very specific need.
On the Community Stadium, my absolute belief and hope is that winning the play offs will see the tractors move in
I've been to K-park, not the best ground I've been to from a spectator's perspective but far from the worst, lovely surroundings as well. It's absolutely fine for LL level, adequate for L2 level, but for the club to develop further you'll need something else so you can grow. Plenty of growth potential as EK as a town is pretty big so I could imagine a community stadium would help you grow as a club.
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13 minutes ago, Spyro said:
All anyone could muster from the responses by you last time was, you were threatened with a national conference league... That no one agreed to, none of the HL wanted to play in and had zero interest from most reserve teams that were mentioned in the proposal.
Apart from that, a lot was apparently said in a meeting that we aren't privvy to and aren't getting to hear any of the important details from.
Plus a few quid into the league coffers, a photo opportunity and a couple of tops from your big teams to auction off
No point arguing really. Cowdenbeath were in the wrong with the vote. Their board's explanation didn't make any sense and didn't provide any valid reason for the vote. But their fans will believe anything they come up with.
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20 hours ago, Burnieman said:
No more so than Uni teams who's squads are decimated during holiday time.
Not that the above is an ideal situation, but it's not like B-teams who get stronger or weaker because of a first team. Also, I don't see a great deal of difference between that with the uni teams and for example Scone Thistle in our league, who due to holidays & a small squad were honking at the start of the season, only to get much stronger by signing loads of players from September or so. We beat them 7-0 away early on in the season which still flattered them while we struggled breaking them down in the home game a few weeks ago before getting a hard-fought 2-0 win. And those games we played against them were no exception, as their results against other teams also show they are basically a different team now. These things happen at our level.
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2023/24 Inter-regional cup
in North Pyramid
Posted
Sorry for the lack of updates. These were the results until the QF:
Second Round
Coupar Angus 0-4 Broughty Athletic
Downfield 3-1 Dundee St. James
Lochee Harp 1-3 Carnoustie Panmure
Montrose Roselea 0-3 Tayport
Letham 1-0 Scone Thistle
Lochee United 4-1 Blairgowrie
East Craigie 3-1 Arbroath Victoria
Dundee North End 6-0 Forfar United
Culter 11-0 Glentanar
Bridge of Don Thistle 3-0 Banchory St Ternan
Buchanhaven Hearts 2-0 Islavale
Newmacher United 1-3 Banks o' Dee Juniors
Rothie Roers 2-3 Deveronside
Hermes 4-0 Maud
Stonehaven 1-3 Dyce
Sunnybank 3-0 Ellon United
Third Round
Downfield 5-1 Deveronside
Bridge of Don Thistle 0-0 Dundee North End (pen 4-3)
Dundee East Craigie 5-0 Sunnybank
Buchanhaven Hearts 1-0 Broughty Athletic
Letham 3-2 Culter
Dyce 1-2 Tayport
Lochee Utd 4-0 Banks O Dee juniors
Hermes 7-1 Carnoustie Panmure