[Pyramid 2019/2020]

And nobody has picked up on the fact I’m a Penicuik boy, and gave Lithgae the 18th place in LL.

Another thing I normally wouldn’t have done, but after hearing about LR’s early license application and wording on joining the pyramid (before anyone knew what it was!), I feel they deserved the 18th spot ahead of Penicuik/Broxburn 

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

2 hours ago, Steven W said:

I enjoyed that - good work.

Unfrtuantely the realms of fantasy though, due to lack of appetite / desire from some clubs, and an administating body who make an arse of everything.

It needs a "dictator" from somewhere to say "This is how it is now. Deal with it" (I think you'd do good job based on your plan) 

I would love to hear what the non-believing committee’s had to say. There’s plenty of areas where I had 3-4 options and still kept the structure so I think it would hold up to any challenge if I was given the chance to tailor it.

Until last year I could never understand some arguments of why clubs kept holding back, I’m big enough to admit where I’ve been wrong. I just wish some committees could accept the same a open their minds a little

[Who replaces Cove?]

3 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

There are loads of exciting games and it it will be a lot more competitive now that Cove have fucked off. Any of the top 5 or 6 teams have a decent shout at the play off next season.  

True, at the top it’ll be great next year tbh.

From 7th-8th to 17-18th will be bored stiff by February unless they get a decent cup run

[Who replaces Cove?]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

Talk here of ICT colts playing friendlies with HL teams on their weeks off because of the odd number. And that Banks o'Dee were invited to apply but said no.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-48381160

Shitebags, although maybe time for the HL to wake up from their dormant state and create an exciting league that teams actually WANT to enter

[Junior football, what is the future?]

1 hour ago, Big Davy Boy said:

Woa there fella - far too sensible

It’s a far way from what my perfect scenario would be, but thanks to the SFA doing their usual self-preservation sh!te, it’s as good as we are getting.

[Junior football, what is the future?]

Something like this...

 

 

Plan.pdf

[League reconstruction: Let's hear your view]

I’ve been busy...

Plan.pdf

It’s not perfect, it’ll upset some. It seems the best way to FAIRLY allow new teams to enter at tier 8 with no major restriction to entry, to progress to as far as they wish to go.

* Jeanfield Swifts, Newburgh, Kinnoull and Tayport can choose between NoS or EoS but once chosen, any changes will result in starting at tier 8.

Jeanfield can enter straight into HL Division 1 at the expense of Broughty Athletic (or Lochee if they don’t wish to be at tier 6), basically the highest ranking team who pass tier 6 licensing standards and is willing from that area. 

Apart from that, it leaves plenty of spaces open all over the country for any new team wishing to have a go at tier 8.

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

I’ve been busy...

Plan.pdf

It’s not perfect, it’ll upset some. It seems the best way to FAIRLY allow new teams to enter at tier 8 with no major restriction to entry, to progress to as far as they wish to go.

* Jeanfield Swifts, Newburgh, Kinnoull and Tayport can choose between NoS or EoS but once chosen, any changes will result in starting at tier 8.

Jeanfield can enter straight into HL Division 1 at the expense of Broughty Athletic (or Lochee if they don’t wish to be at tier 6), basically the highest ranking team who pass tier 6 licensing standards and is willing from that area. 

Apart from that, it leaves plenty of spaces open all over the country for any new team wishing to have a go at tier 8.

 

[EOS Grounds for Optimism]

1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

Here's a couple of photos I took of Old Shielfield when I was at the Berwick v Cove game on Saturday. Tweedmouth are certainly investing a fair bit in facilities. The ground is looking much improved from a year or so ago when I was last there.

Tweedmouth are a great club, an example that the team on the pitch is just a small part of what makes a brilliant club.

Part of me is still gutted they couldn’t get their old pitch at Ord Road under the viaduct up to scratch, good memories from there... 

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

3 hours ago, newcastle broon said:

I'm sure Blyth fans canny wait on their league next season. Extra mileage for them looking at so called south teams playing in a north pyramid league  ?

Exactly, it’s not as perfect as folk would have you believe. Even the German model is a bit ropey, but there’s no reason in a country as small as Scotland why we can’t do it properly. So what if the geographics are lopsided, as long as clubs are given the same opportunities to progress IF THEY WISH.

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

4 minutes ago, GordonS said:

I've been holding off posting this because I think I'll get dog's abuse, but here goes...

I was at Auchinleck v Troon last Wednesday. There was a really big crowd, it took me over 5 minutes to get through the turnstiles and there was a good queue behind me. The atmosphere was good and the bar and pie stall were doing a roaring trade. The football was so good it was jarring after a season watching EoS. Talbot would kill Linlithgow Rose right now, it would be a brutal watch. I think Troon would take us; we're better middle-to-front, but their defence is alright and ours isn't. I'd predict a high-scoring defeat.

I know it was an unusual night because one side could - and did - win the league. Talbot won 5-0 but that wasn't a measure of Troon, it was a sign of the really high quality from Talbot. They're head and shoulders above anything else I've seen in non-league this season, including HL and LL. 

Clubs in that superleague are mostly doing pretty well. The standard is very good, crowds are decent at every club, it's a proper matchday experience.

So why would they want to leave that for the LL? Two of the clubs are universities, with about 80 fans. One is a club from Glasgow that plays in Alloa, in front of similar crowds. One is an academy for French youngsters based in Mount Florida but playing in Annan. Even some established community clubs are getting crowds below 100.

Those who read this forum - me included - know that the pyramid means these leagues will inevitably improve and it'll take a few years to get there, and obviously every one of those teams deserves respect and has its place on merit, as should be the case in any football league system. But look at it from the perspective of Talbot, Hurlford or Pollok. Would you want to spend the years needed before the league levels out, when there's nothing wrong with where you are? Honestly? In the east we had a ridiculous division between junior and senior, but there are only two senior clubs below tier 5 on the WRSJFA patch (IIRC). The imperitive just isn't there.

 IMO a lot of work has to be done to sell the benefits of the pyramid to the west juiors before enough pressure will build, because we've they've got right now is still bloody impressive.

 

Can’t argue with any of that...

The SFA has a great idea, and if done properly could have been a major plus-point in Scottish football. But they’ve totally f**ked it up and now we aren’t much further forward, and A LOAD of red-tape in the way now

[Who replaces Cove?]

6 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

 

Halkirk would never be able to sustain a HFL side, realistically. The place is tiny. You're right that Wick are the de facto Caithness side, any clubs stepping up would dilute an already shallow player pool. Thurso have been mentioned on and off, but the same issue applies to them. I think Halkirk (and Thurso) are happy enough in the NCL at the moment.

Morrison Park in Halkirk is pretty good, they had a benefactor about 5 or 6 years ago who spent some cash: they've floodlights and an enclosure, but it's not enclosed and the changing rooms are a walk away. It would take a reasonable amount to do up to licence standards. That's not to say that it couldn't be done though if the NCL becomes a pyramid league and Halkirk fancy a crack at the Scottish Cup. At the moment there's no route into it for them at all.

I can't really think of any North teams outwith the HFL who would step up. Most of the bigger towns already have a team or are close to another. Unless there's a change in attitude from some of the NRJFA sides, I think the HFL will be at 17 for a while, unless someone comes down from above...

I have always toyed with the idea of a Halkirk/Thurso/Pentland team in the HL.

Yes it would initially have an effect on Wick (and Brora), but there’s a lot of good players up there who aren’t interested in trips to Aberdeenshire with the couple of games “that really mean something” when they get local games against the best local players in the Amateurs.

With 2 Caithness teams (possibly with 1 or 2 of the best players from Orkney in a new Pentland team), with Brora as well, you almost create a mini-league and a bit of meaning to the lower-half obscurity that Wick often find themselves in.

It will take time and a bit of encouragement, but they should push each other on...

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

14 minutes ago, Khufu2 said:

You can perhaps get away with a Tier 5 of 2 division ( HL and LL) at the moment, when the LL doesn't represent the best of non-league football south of Dundee.

When things settle down, and the best teams in the east make it to the LL and the West juniors jump aboard, the long term has to be at least a three division Tier 5 with LLW,  LLE and HL.  And even then you could easily argue that HL gets too good a deal given its very small population footprint..

That was my original plan, posted in the “If you started from scratch...” thread.

Obviously until the west team properly intergrate, it will be a tad lopsided but the final goal would be an LLEast - LLWest - North/Central HL

 

EDIT - Looking back, I changed everything! Maybe the sentiment got lost in my exuberance 

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

20 minutes ago, GordonS said:

SoS are tier 6.

My mistake, just woke up for nightshift, brain not engaged yet!

There’s no reason, with a bit of fuckaboutery, that you could make it work. Once I’m full of coffee I’ll have another look

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

4 hours ago, FairWeatherFan said:

The idea of the "pure pyramid" is that at steps 1-5 of the National League System the leagues will doube the further down you go. 1-2-4-8-16

You could maybe get away with something similar.

Tier 5 = 2x leagues Highland and Lowland League

Tier 6 = 4x league Highland North, Highland Central, Lowland West and Lowland East

Tier 7 = 8x leagues is where you start stretching things too far to be truly equal.

 

The problem with this is that you currently have the SoS league at tier 5, and they aren’t going to relinquish that, so there’s needs to be 3 leagues at tier 5. It would be more pleasant if the SoS could be ‘lost’ in amongst the new West section...but that’s never happening

[EOS Select Squad]

The keeper from Broxburn

[Who replaces Cove?]

37 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

Of course an oddity of Junior regulation saw Roselea play a season in North Juniors West District despite being an east coast port!

Presumably HL's ground rule got liberally applied to Cove's "homeless years"?

Offt! You really went there... low blow 

[Pyramid 2019/2020]

Back to the pyramid, for argument’s sake as a solution to the junior issue

Once the EoS create a Division 1, using this seasons standings as an example, using what would become Division 2...

Whats left of the East Juniors and the bottom 2 divisions of the West Juniors...

Would there not be a good case to regionalise further at this point, OUTWITH the current entertainment requirements for EoS?

Lothian/Borders (16 teams)

Craigroyston, Tynecastle, Peebles Rovers, Edinburgh United, Hawick RA, Orimston, Tweedmouth Rangers, Eyemouth United, Whitburn, Fauldhouse, Pumpherston, Livingston United, Armadale Thistle, Bathgate Thistle, Stoneyburn, West Calder United, 

Fife/Central (15-16 teams)

Burntisland SA, Inverkeithing HS, Dunipace, Glenrothes, Thornton Hibs, Kennoway Star Hearts, Lochore Welfare, Harthill Royal, Newburgh, Rosyth, Kirkcaldy YMCA, Lochgelly Albert, Glenrothes Strollers, Linlithgow Rose CFC, Bo’ness CFC, G’mouth Sygenta(?)

Lanarkshire/Glasgow (19 teams)

Larkhall Thistle, Bellshill Athletic, East Kilbride Thistle, Glasgow Perthshire, Royal Albert, Wishaw Juniors, Maryhill, Shettleston, Yorker Athletic, Lanark United, Lesmahagow Juniors, Carluke Rovers, Vale of Clyde, Ashfield, Vale of Leven, Thorniewood United, St Anthony’s, Forth Wanderers, Newmains United

Refrew/Ayrshire/South West (12 teams)

Girvan, Kello Rovers, Greenock Juniors, Port Glasgow Juniors,  Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Maybole, Lugar Boswell Thistle, Johnstone Burgh, Muirkirk Juniors, Annbank United, Saltcoats Victoria, Ardeer Thistle, plus any newcomers

 

The Tayside teams sort it out with the NoS juniors as a feeder (non mandatory!) to the HL and the SoS just stays as is, with option to join Ayrshire league at teir 8 if teams wish.

The top 2 leagues slot in beside EoS and we can all just get in with it! I know it will upset a few folk but it would finally create something that resembles a pyramid...

SoS - LL - HL

same - 2 feeder leagues (2 tiers)  - 2 feeders (NCL and NoS)

N/A - 4 feeder leagues - N/A

PROMOTION TO TIER 7 IS NOT MANDATORY  

 

[Who replaces Cove?]

31 minutes ago, Hampden Diehard said:

12 hours ago, Burnie_man said:

Don't budget for it then, you're hardly going to be relegated. Enter and work towards boosting finances.  I really hope they get their Licence removed if they continue to refuse to move to the Pyramid.

Remove their licence and burn their park to the ground! That'll learn them.

 I said that after the Brora vs Montrose fiasco, didn’t go down well surprisingly!

[West Region League 1 2019/20]

Seeing as it seemed to be overlooked last season, I’ll get in early.

West Region League 1 could be a belter, some near neighbours and a great selection of places to watch a game from.

The teams...

Girvan

Kello Rovers F.C.

Larkhall Thistle F.C.

Ardrossan Winton Rovers F.C.

Greenock Juniors F.C.

Port Glasgow Juniors F.C.

Bellshill Athletic F.C.

East Kilbride Thistle F.C.

Glasgow Perthshire F.C.

Royal Albert F.C.

Wishaw Juniors F.C.

Maryhill F.C.

Shettleston F.C.

Lanark United F.C.

Lesmahagow Juniors F.C.

Carluke Rovers F.C.

[Who replaces Cove?]

Fair enough, I wasn’t sure of their motives behind moving from east Juniors to north Juniors. I was more contemplating the possibility of Lochee, Tayport or one of the Dundee junior teams jumping ship, although they seem happy in their own wee super league now

[Who replaces Cove?]

Asking for the voice in my head, but... What chance of Montrose Roselea applying? It would fair shake things up a bit 

[Hello from Sunny Berwick Upon Tweed]

1 hour ago, Radge Cantal said:

Gonna need a new sat nav to find these new grounds .If we don't make drastic changes to the whole club we'll not be in LL long .The current team would certainly toil in this league. EoS  beckons. As for competing with Edinburgh based sides forget it ..we need to look to Northumberland to recruit. Base our training in Berwick not Edinburgh. Get the local football teams to connect with BRFC which has for far too long been missing. I'm not expecting 11 Berwick lads in the starting line-up but it's not beyond reality that a team of borders and Northumberland lads could turn out for us .

You'll love the pubs in Berwick lads n lasses of the LL

There’s some good Northumbrian Amateur teams around there, the pre-season tourney at the fort with Scottish and English sides was always great craic too. I don’t know how many you could convince to play LL though

[Gala Fairydean Rovers / Netherdale blog]

Biggest issue Gala have is that the best local players would rather play amateurs, while the local boys who do decide to play for Fairydean maybe struggle with pressure of all their (amateur playing) mates on the touchline giving it billy bigbaws???

Or maybe it’s that you have Vale of Leithen, Peebles, Hawick and a really well-run amateur league all around you? Kelso struggled for the same reasons

[Highland Amateur Cup]

On 14/05/2019 at 18:16, Brad Bobley said:

Thanks for clarifying that. If a team from Stornoway drew a team from Shetland, would they sail or fly to the neutral venue? An expensive trip, no?

They would normally play in Dingwall or Thurso, sometimes Culbokie or Contin are used when it’s a team from the western isles vs Orkney/Shetland teams