Dev

Certainly a concern at the back of my mind. Hopefully completely unfounded. The Lowland League/EoS/SoS need to watch out for this and set a hard and fast dead-line for the Juniors Association(s) to conclude matters.

…. so it may be sound financial sense for clubs to wind up the SJFA before they resign!

This is a delay which could make it impossible for a WoS administered by the Lowland League to be up and running in time for 2020/21. Beware! The current corona virus will not help either.

They're not short of suitable people in the west. Now they have the opportunity to come forward.

If the north Juniors now move to become a senior league then all that's left is the north of Tay Bridge group and the West Lothian clubs in the Juniors. The first could form their own Tayside Senior League and or merge the top division of that with the top clubs currently the north Juniors. The West Lothian clubs have an answer right on their door-steps in the EoS. This could be a "Done-Deal" by the end of April albeit it would need the late inclusion/switch of clubs to be regarded as an "Exceptional Situation" as currently highlighted on the EoS web site!

Sorry, but the SJFA, Junior Cup, etc need to be consigned to history ASAP.

Agreed! They still need to be wary of which West Junior people are to run the new league though. Hopefully they will clear out the negative ones and bring in new blood who have previously held back because they felt that the whole thing wasn't something which they wished to be involved with at admin level.

This could mean that there's no final league tables and so next season would have to be on a Conference basis. Presume that's your and Shannon's thinking?

Guessing that they would have gone public if they had a viable plan. They haven't so that's that.

All I am suggesting is that all clubs which are not currently west Juniors need to be fitted in appropriately. Not saying how this should be done.

It is not difficult to see a significant number of clubs electing to become direct members of the western Pyramid by joining a Division of the new WoS administered by the Lowland League. If this happens I can see that late applications could be considered after 31st March with a view to providing the remaining west Juniors with the opportunity to move too. This could lead to all moving over, with more or less the same Divisions as at present (adjusted for promotion/relegation) with other clubs fitted in appropriately but wholly outside any control by the Juniors organisations. It would probably be better if all moved as one by 31st March as this would give every club some certainty re planning for next season.

Honestly Dev as long as we are in the Pyramid system no matter what tier I will be happy. Tier 6 preferably, but no, matter where we end up I will follow my team. Good to hear it. Let's hope this is all sorted out quickly.

I'm bored I hope that your club will be in at Tier 6 next season. Will you be there to support them regardless of which organisation wins through this dispute?

It would also be foolish in the extreme to attempt to take the governing body down the legal route. To try to take on your own Football Governing Body may be truly unwise. The existence of the Junior Association is not in their own hands. It is in the hands of the superior body i.e. the SFA.

Unfortunately for this person each time he makes any sort of statement on social media or at meetings he invites responses which either question what he is saying or which explain how he has "mis-understood" his subject. This only serves to drive clubs away from the Juniors into the hands of the WoS run by the Lowland League and may cause this new league to start with more than a single division.

Well we can be sure now that there will be current Juniors playing at Tier 6 next season in the WoS run by the Lowland League - that even fits in with the reported proposal by the WRJFA/SJFA. It's just a question of how many clubs will stay out of the west Pyramid divisions i.e. will still be Juniors and outside the Pyramid.

…. so they're acknowledging that this is about the survival of the West Region Junior Region under the SJFA. They're also acknowledging that it's the Lowland League which controls Tier 6 access to Tier 5. However, they want to control the divisions beneath Tier 6 in the West, hence keeping the WRJFA and, in effect, the SJFA in business. However, these divisions wouldn't be Tier 7, 8 and 9 unless they become senior divisions. Regarding the Maxwell "Done Deal" it is clear that he had no powers to act outside the SFA Rules and Constitution (i.e. Ultra Vires - outside his powers) so this "Done Deal" idea is completely bogus.

…. but if they do it will only be for the sake of saving face, as part of the future blame game.

Yes. The lowest division could do with a regional split if there are enough teams for this to happen. It would make it easier for new teams to make the transition to the pyramid.

Agreed but there may be some total numbers of teams which might be awkward to fit in without wholesale restructuring below the Premier Division, which is what I was getting at. How would teams respond to that in order let in late-comers? I previously suggested the current two East Region south divisions coming in as parallel to divisions one and two next season as a way to integrate them at about the most appropriate level - but could that still happen with conferences now planned?

Most clubs will have picked up on this! edit: Every time Mr Ronney goes onto the media with such comments it under-mines what he seems to be trying to do. Sometimes I wonder if he really does support the efforts of the "enemy" after all?

It's not that bad an article. It mentions clubs from lower down the Junior west pecking order which are considering their futures. A number of them hadn't been flagged up here on P&B previously. In any case they have to consider the future before making any move. It also picks up the point about the SFA not being in a position to block a WoS set up by the Lowland League, even if it desired to do so. There's also club reps stating that, in effect, they see the west Juniors as having an uncertain future. Obviously only time will tell.

Yes. However, only time will tell.

They appear to be claiming membership of an English County FA. All clubs in England must be registered with their local county fa. It is a very different thing to be a member of the Football Association.

Guessing that the North region Juniors may come into the Pyramid as you say. It would have to be as a new Senior League though.