New clubs in the East of Scotland

[Whitburn seniors]

Exciting times ahead now the club has finally applied to join the eos with the tremendous work done by the club on the facilities at Central Park maybe working to get licenced further down the line hopefully the other West Lothian clubs yet to apply can eat a wee slice of humble pie and get an application in.

[Burnieman]

@ForfarWestEndJFC

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: The club would like to announce that we have officially submitted an application to join the East of Scotland Football League next season. This is a significant move for the club and a decision that has not been taken lightly however, following weeks of consultation with the committee and management, it has been unanimously decided that this is the best route forward for the club. Should our application be successful, it will see us move into the SFA tiered system. Further updates will be provided in due course.

[Dev]

7 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

@ForfarWestEndJFC

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: The club would like to announce that we have officially submitted an application to join the East of Scotland Football League next season. This is a significant move for the club and a decision that has not been taken lightly however, following weeks of consultation with the committee and management, it has been unanimously decided that this is the best route forward for the club. Should our application be successful, it will see us move into the SFA tiered system. Further updates will be provided in due course.

So Forfar West End are the Tayside clubs'  "Stalking Horse".  Who would have thought it would be them.

At least it does bring matters to a head so that the Tayside clubs can move forward one way or the other into the senior ranks. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Dev
.

[Jimi Shandrix]

10 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

@ForfarWestEndJFC

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: The club would like to announce that we have officially submitted an application to join the East of Scotland Football League next season. This is a significant move for the club and a decision that has not been taken lightly however, following weeks of consultation with the committee and management, it has been unanimously decided that this is the best route forward for the club. Should our application be successful, it will see us move into the SFA tiered system. Further updates will be provided in due course.

Wow! This is very significant. Supposedly we were all moving together. I can only assume that a collective application has been knocked back. Kudos to FWE. I too am very surprised that it is them who have stuck their head above the parapet first. Pretty sure they won't be the last. Two weeks to go. Tick tock.

[invergowrie arab]

I'm not sure it solves much if they are the only club that applies.

What it does say, is that to the surprise of no one, zero has been advanced on either feeding into HFL or joining north juniors. Especially given it's a team with little to lose/gain travelling in either direction.

Would expect the trickle to become a flood, in terms of applications at least. 

[Dev]

 

 

A list of clubs which are thought to have applied to the EoS or have stated somewhere that is their plan. Now Forfar West End added:

10

Bathgate Thistle

Bo'ness Juniors CFC  Forfar West End

Livingston United

Pumpherston Juniors

Syngenta West Calder United

Whitburn Juniors

Cupar Hearts

Letham AFC

Other East Juniors which may or may not apply:

7

Armadale Thistle

Fauldhouse United

Harthill Royal

Sauchie CFC

Stoneyburn Juniors

Scone Thistle

Tayport

[stulch]

@ForfarWestEndJFC   ANNOUNCEMENT: The club would like to announce that we have officially submitted an application to join the East of Scotland Football League next season. This is a significant move for the club and a decision that has not been taken lightly however, following weeks of consultation with the committee and management, it has been unanimously decided that this is the best route forward for the club. Should our application be successful, it will see us move into the SFA tiered system. Further updates will be provided in due course.

If there was appetite for the Highland League pyramid you'd half wonder if it was to force someone's hand. Maybe Tayside have gone for a North of Dundee club to increase the chances of a club being rejected by the EoS. Then it's, well, we should have a Tayside senior league then! We've tried all other options! [emoji12][emoji23]

[patriot1]

So unless the EOS throw out Forfars application on the grounds they are above the HL/LL dividing line then it appears that Luncarty were a red herring and the pages and pages of pictures of maps and debates over lines of latitude on here a couple of years were a complete waste of time.

Well, who knew?!?

[Sergeant Wilson]

They'll  need to change their name.

[LongTimeLurker]

42 minutes ago, patriot1 said:

So unless the EOS throw out Forfars application on the grounds they are above the HL/LL dividing line then it appears that Luncarty were a red herring and the pages and pages of pictures of maps and debates over lines of latitude on here a couple of years were a complete waste of time.

Well, who knew?!?

You definitely did your best to try to get what was really happening through to people on here, but many simply didn't want to listen. Will be interesting to see what happens with this application and whether it proves to be the first of many dominos to fall over the next two weeks. The east region north is close to a tipping point in terms of viable numbers if a few more clubs follow Tayport and Forfar WE by making similar announcements over the next few days.

Edited March 16, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[patriot1]

8 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

You definitely did your best to try to get what was really happening through to people on here, but many simply didn't want to listen. Will be interesting to see what happens with this application and whether it proves to be the first of many dominos to fall over the next two weeks. The east region north is close to a tipping point in terms of viable numbers if a few more clubs follow Tayport and Forfar WE by making similar announcements over the next few days.

If this application is indicative of a lack of joint action from the Tayside clubs then I would fully expect Tayport to apply. 
 

It will be interesting to see how many more applications are received from North of the Tay. If these clubs genuinely don’t want to join a Highland feeder than they have two weeks to avoid being left in no mans land for another twelve months.
 

 

[LongTimeLurker]

 

One of the retweets is from the East of Scotland official twitter.

Edited March 16, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[Marten]

9 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

I'm not sure it solves much if they are the only club that applies.

What it does say, is that to the surprise of no one, zero has been advanced on either feeding into HFL or joining north juniors. Especially given it's a team with little to lose/gain travelling in either direction.

Would expect the trickle to become a flood, in terms of applications at least. 

I know for sure that talks are still going on about Tayside entry into the pyramid. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing to spread your bets obviously.

[AlanCamelonfan]

37 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

One of the retweets is from the East of Scotland official twitter.

They already said anyone can apply its whether they get in or not

[Whitburn Vale]

Tremendous news out of Central Park last nite,onwards ......

[Burnieman]

2 hours ago, patriot1 said:

So unless the EOS throw out Forfars application on the grounds they are above the HL/LL dividing line then it appears that Luncarty were a red herring and the pages and pages of pictures of maps and debates over lines of latitude on here a couple of years were a complete waste of time.

Well, who knew?!?

I don't think the line is a red herring. I'm surprised they have gone public because they will know that the chances of being accepted are 50/50 at very best.

I guess it will settle the issue once and for all.

[patriot1]

14 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

I don't think the line is a red herring. I'm surprised they have gone public because they will know that the chances of being accepted are 50/50 at very best.

I guess it will settle the issue once and for all.

It was a red herring because it only applies to relegation from the SPFL to tier 5.

At no point have the EOS said the line applies to them. It’s only on here that we’ve decided it does. The Orkney scenario still applies with the caveat that the EOS and WOS have agreed their respective borders.

As I have said several times I don’t care whether the Tayside teams go the HL or LL route as long as they are in the pyramid.

However if the EOS clubs are going to decline the Tayside applications it had better be because they don’t want a lopsided pyramid rather than because they can’t be arsed travelling to Tayside a few times a year.

[Burnieman]

1 minute ago, patriot1 said:

It was a red herring because it only applies to relegation from the SPFL to tier 5.

At no point have the EOS said the line applies to them. It’s only on here that we’ve decided it does. The Orkney scenario still applies with the caveat that the EOS and WOS have agreed their respective borders.

As I have said several times I don’t care whether the Tayside teams go the HL or LL route as long as they are in the pyramid.

However if the EOS clubs are going to decline the Tayside applications it had better be because they don’t want a lopsided pyramid rather than because they can’t be arsed travelling to Tayside a few times a year.

The line by its very nature has an influence on all leagues, directly or indirectly. Ignore it and we open up the scenario of Forfar West End in the LL, and Forfar Athletic in the HL.   So the EoS cannot escape the fact that the demarcation line exists and they have to be mindful of its potential impact further up the tree, they know this. Would the LL accept an EoS Champion from north of the line for example?

That's a different issue from clubs applying, as you say anyone can apply for any league (as West Lothian/WoS demonstrated), it doesn't mean to say they will be accepted.

There has been a desire from some within the EoS to set a northern boundary to match the HL/LL line, this issue will probably settle it once and for all.

As for travel, that almost certainly will colour some clubs attitudes, understandably. As will the upheaval of trying to accomodate Tayside into the sturucture.

[LongTimeLurker]

18 minutes ago, patriot1 said:

...At no point have the EOS said the line applies to them....

Agree with everything else you wrote verbatim but this is where things get a wee bit dodgy.  There was one BBC (?) interview with an EoS officeholder that wasn't an official statement from the league that did make it sound like the line of latitude applied, which wasn't retracted like the misleading tweets last week were.

That's water under the bridge now though. There was never anything in the EoS rulebook blocking applications on the basis of geography and nobody applied other than Luncarty last year.

Lochee United need to get over the idea that they are owed a path straight into tier 6 in the LL catchment through a Midland League because they are Lochee United godammit. At least two clubs (Tayport and Forfar WE) now appear to grasp that tier 8 conferences are the only realistic entry point at this point, if the existing EoS members approve the applications.

Edited March 16, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[Marten]

It's clear that according to the rules the EOS can accept anyone they want to accept (with the exception of the recent agreement with the WOS) and the LL has to accept any licensed champion that wins the EOS/SOS/WOS play-off regardless of their location. I would assume though that the LL could try to put some pressure on the EOS not to accept clubs that are too far outside "their area".