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IRN-BRU Cup First Round Draw


Jaggy Snake

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I'll try and see what the record low Challenge Cup crowd is ahead of tomorrow.

Cove Rangers v Dundee 'B' could be interesting - they only got 189 v Montrose in the League Cup last week.

I imagine the ties between first-teams will be reasonable*, also Formartine v Aberdeen 'B' and maybe OF fans will turn-out although their first teams are at home the adjacent nights.

*I say that but the ties include East Stirlingshire v Montrose. Normally you'd think a few hundred but I've mentioned the Cove-Montrose crowd and 'Shire-Annan on Saturday drew just 134.

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Guest The Phoenix
12 hours ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

Looking forward to several clubs not releasing official crowds for these matches.

 

Don't get too excited. It's not an option to not declare an official attendance. 

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You seem to have been a committed defender of the adjustments and the inclusion of the 'B' teams, StewartyMac.

What's your view of the Rangers 'B' tie being delayed a week; the various 'B' teams who are playing away from their home grounds (in particular Motherwell twice changing the venue at 4 days notice); and some of the admission charges (in particular QP v Kilmarnock 'B' being £12 and Killie apparently wanting £16).

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This whole competition is bizarre to say the least however.....the proof is in the pudding. So lets see how these first round of fixtures pan out and then judge from there.

 

I also don't believe that the potential inclusion of B teams in the league system would be as disastrous as some have commented. There is space for them say in a revamped tier 6 or 7. Make it that they cant go any further than league 2 or LL. Bring much needed interest/finance to that level especially the LL.

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33 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

You seem to have been a committed defender of the adjustments and the inclusion of the 'B' teams, StewartyMac.

What's your view of the Rangers 'B' tie being delayed a week; the various 'B' teams who are playing away from their home grounds (in particular Motherwell twice changing the venue at 4 days notice); and some of the admission charges (in particular QP v Kilmarnock 'B' being £12 and Killie apparently wanting £16).

I'm not really that big a fan of the inclusion of the U-20s, but I believe in giving things a chance before I tear into them. I've always maintained that if U-20 sides are to be included, they should be drawn away from home wherever possible to minimise the farcical situation of what ground to play the games in. 

As far as admission prices, £12 is steep for what will likely be on offer, but this is all a learning curve. If the tournament continues in the same vein in future years, you'd hope lessons would be learned in that regard. Kudos to my own club though for making tomorrow's game £5. I'm actually quite looking forward to it, it's something different. 

I am thoroughly against colt teams being part of the league structure, however. It may work in other countries, I can't see it being a success here. 

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37 minutes ago, edinabear said:

I also don't believe that the potential inclusion of B teams in the league system would be as disastrous as some have commented. There is space for them say in a revamped tier 6 or 7. Make it that they cant go any further than league 2 or LL. Bring much needed interest/finance to that level especially the LL.

Well, if "the proof is in the pudding" then Hibs U20s played in the EOS League in 2013-14 (then resigned) and that simply didn't happen.

There were only 2 away games where notable away crowds occurred - and by that I mean dozens, not hundreds - and both were against specific opponents on specific dates.

Routinely there were only some handfuls more, if that, mainly friends and family. Can't recall it generating anything much by way of extra publicity either.

They also played at East Mains Training Centre. Clubs in LL, nevermind SPFL2, have invested heavily in ground works and licences. Why should 'B' teams join or displace them.

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41 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

Well, if "the proof is in the pudding" then Hibs U20s played in the EOS League in 2013-14 (then resigned) and that simply didn't happen.

There were only 2 away games where notable away crowds occurred - and by that I mean dozens, not hundreds - and both were against specific opponents on specific dates.

Routinely there were only some handfuls more, if that, mainly friends and family. Can't recall it generating anything much by way of extra publicity either.

They also played at East Mains Training Centre. Clubs in LL, nevermind SPFL2, have invested heavily in ground works and licences. Why should 'B' teams join or displace them.

Fair enough, can't dispute much of what you say. Although the Hibs U 20s was just 1 season, it may have developed over time. Their inclusion certainly made more sense than Spartans or Stirling uni B teams. I am just looking at the current Tier 6 at EofS, SofS and with no West is struggling. Perhaps B teams at this level could plug a gap, but I appreciate for many on here no matter what B teams are a no go.

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10 hours ago, StewartyMac said:

You really need to get over this. 

No, because apathy is what will get the 'Colt' teams into the league. If this competition is a failure then people shouldn't be able to claim otherwise after the fact. It's totally embarrassing to Scottish football.

Hey, if it proves a big success then I'll admit I was wrong. I don't see why you should have to "give it a chance" when it's such a terrible idea on paper though. 

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1 hour ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

No, because apathy is what will get the 'Colt' teams into the league. If this competition is a failure then people shouldn't be able to claim otherwise after the fact. It's totally embarrassing to Scottish football.

Hey, if it proves a big success then I'll admit I was wrong. I don't see why you should have to "give it a chance" when it's such a terrible idea on paper though. 

The thing is though, it's only a football tournament. And a fairly innocuous one at that. The seethe on here about it has been a hundred times more 'embarrassing' that any format they could have thought up. The early rounds will be poorly attended, but then they always have been. The competition will only really start from about the 3rd round onwards. 

Colt teams won't be coming into the league anytime soon, there's absolutely no desire for it at any level. 

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I'm still struggling to believe this is actually happening.

Buzzing to see the attendance figures. I wonder how low they have to drop before the SPFL realise there is no desire to see U20s play 1st teams, and that the next Archie Gemmell will not be created courtesy of playing 75 minutes of a 3-1 defeat to Edinburgh City.

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2 hours ago, StewartyMac said:

The thing is though, it's only a football tournament. And a fairly innocuous one at that. The seethe on here about it has been a hundred times more 'embarrassing' that any format they could have thought up. The early rounds will be poorly attended, but then they always have been. The competition will only really start from about the 3rd round onwards. 

Colt teams won't be coming into the league anytime soon, there's absolutely no desire for it at any level. 

On your first point, this whole forum is about football competitions. Of course people are going to take them seriously. By your logic we shouldn't care about any league games either as it's just football at the end of the day.

Secondly, if Colt teams aren't coming into the leagues then their inclusion is even stupider than I thought.

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2 hours ago, CALDERON said:

Im actually going to Formartine vs Aberdeen U20 tonight.  Curious if nothing else to see the difference in standard. 

 

Prices at £10 for an adult and £5 for kids and only 15 miles from Aberdeen in very much Aberdeen supporting country,

this might actually get a reasonable crowd and will be good to see an U20 team away from home. Hoping to make it myself.

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4 hours ago, StewartyMac said:

 Colt teams won't be coming into the league anytime soon, there's absolutely no desire for it at any level. 

There's absolutely no desire for it? I'm afraid that's a pile of shite. Just 3 years ago the clubs of the SFL were asked to consider letting Rangers and Celtic fire B teams into the 4th tier, with both teams being up for the idea. The desire is there and if you don't think this is trial run then you're a bit of a moron.

It's a honking idea and it needs to fail. I can only hope that the U20 teams crash out of the competition with a several goal drubbing, all watched by the total attendance of 3 people and we can go back to having a sensible tournament for lower league clubs.

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3 hours ago, Sonsteam of 08 said:

I'm still struggling to believe this is actually happening.

.

I was waiting for an appointment this morning and casually picked up the newspaper to see if there were any fixtures in the Glasgow area tonight that I might pop along to.

I'd forgotten all about this farce until I saw what was on. No way am I going to this nonsense.

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