New clubs in the East of Scotland

[Burnieman]

What measures are the EOSFL taking to assimilate progressive Amateur clubs or Youth set-ups whose facilities are currently not up to scratch but can be developed with a little time? In contrast the WOSFL appear to be on the crux of catering for such clubs - perhaps by establishing revised ground criteria for the lowest tier. We will see what unfolds in the next few weeks.
EOSFL could do the same which would provide a window of opportunity for ambitious Amateur clubs in the Borders, Fife etc.

A club applies and is either accepted or rejected. What have the WoS done that the EoS aren't doing with regards to new clubs, can you provide examples?

You're forming opinion based on gossip on a forum. Be grateful the WoS and EoS are attracting new clubs, potentially over 20 between them for next season.

[LongTimeLurker]

40 minutes ago, Dev said:

If potential new clubs can come up with facilities which meet the EoS requirements, with adequate security of use, then, if they have a football track record at an appropriate standard (whatever that would be?), then there's no obvious reason why the EoS would reject an application to join...

Unless they are Forfar WE when a very different tune starts being played on here by certain posters. It's not necessarily as simple as you describe if the process involves a majority vote by member clubs. The vote by the existing members is over and above whether the league board determined that the boxes have been ticked on membership requirements. That vote is not necessarily a rubber stamp if there is a reason why the applicant club would not be viewed as a positive addition by the existing members.

Edited March 20, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[FairWeatherFan]

1 hour ago, Pyramidic said:

I am starting to form the opinion that as an organisation the WOSFL is more welcoming to new applicants than the EOSFL. On the other hand maybe I am being influenced by some of the negativity that is now appearing on P&B to hinder the efforts of small clubs desperate to gain a foothold on the lowest rung of the Pyramid ladder.

The thoughts over Bo'ness United Juniors is no different than the dismissal that clubs like Scoutable United and Edusport Academy have had. It's not a youth club with roots making a step up or an established amateur making the step up. It's an established amateur that erased their own identity, moved town, and leached of the brand of an existing club.

14 minutes ago, Pyramidic said:

What measures are the EOSFL taking to assimilate progressive Amateur clubs or Youth set-ups whose facilities are currently not up to scratch but can be developed with a little time? In contrast the WOSFL appear to be on the crux of catering for such clubs - perhaps by establishing revised ground criteria for the lowest tier. We will see what unfolds in the next few weeks.

EOSFL could do the same which would provide a window of opportunity for ambitious Amateur clubs in the Borders, Fife etc.

The more welcoming idea, is just an idea. They rejected Scoutable United this year. They're applying the exact same ground criteria that the EoSFL (They still even have mention of East of Scotland Football League in the list of criteria). The notion that the WoSFL can form some sort of extra links to the amateur game in the West of Scotland is something they can afford to think about since they swallowed up the Junior game whole. The EoSFL still has East Juniors, Tayside, Amateurs and Youth clubs trying to access it.

[FairWeatherFan]

4 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Unless they are Forfar WE when a very different tune starts being played on here by certain posters. It's not necessarily as simple as you describe if the process involves a majority vote by member clubs. The vote by the existing members is over and above whether the league board determined that the boxes have been ticked on membership requirements. That vote is not necessarily a rubber stamp if there is a reason why the applicant club would not be viewed as a positive addition by the existing members.

The WoSFL had a bunch of West Lothian clubs put in notes of interest and in the end decided to put up a boundary to rule them out. The example of Forfar West End is likely to lead to the same type of decision being made, but whether that would be to include or exclude them we'll have to wait and see.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Being a bit harsh on the EoSFL. They've had new clubs join every year for the last five years. Before Kelty (and Tweedmouth) joined they had lost all their best teams to the LL and clubs like Kelso and Duns had chucked it. They were probably more focused on survival than expansion. Suddenly most of the East Juniors came along, that needed sorting out, then COVID19 hit (as well as other clubs coming from the juniors) and now they've got more applications from the juniors to get sorted as well as being left to try and decide if they can/should accept North of the Tay clubs. The whole time they've been doing their best (and doing a fine job) of accommodating the junior refugees they've still brought in clubs moving up from youth/amateur in Inverkeithing and Edinburgh South. 

Maybe they aren't making moves to create some sort of... intermediate league at the bottom to allow movement between senior/amateur like the WoSFL are potentially discussing but, in comparison, the WoSFL had a very clean transition from junior to senior which the EoSFL is still trying to muddle their way through. 

Edited March 20, 2021 by AsimButtHitsASix

[LongTimeLurker]

On 05/06/2017 at 23:26, Burnie_man said:

It would have been nice for Kelty to have remained in the Juniors and along with other like minded clubs, worked with the SJFA and SFA towards bringing the Juniors into the Pyramid in a structured manner.  Whether other clubs follow remains to be seen but it doesn't change the fact the structure is flawed and the West clubs in reality have nowhere to go if they wanted to follow Kelty (SoS is not a viable option).

The things you find in this thread when you take a trip down memory lane.

[vikingTON]

A new low. 

[Burnieman]

The things you find in this thread when you take a trip down memory lane.

Amazing. Not content with trawling twitter to find me, you trawl this forum to find old posts. Complete weirdo.

That post has been highlighted many times on here. Fill your boots.

[LongTimeLurker]

The parallel between Kelty and Forfar WE should be obvious. At least they are giving it a go rather than leaving it to blazers that won't come up with a solution for genuinely competing the pyramid any time soon.

[Whitburn Vale]

16 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

The things you find in this thread when you take a trip down memory lane.

WTF !!!

[AlanCamelonfan]

4 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

The parallel between Kelty and Forfar WE should be obvious. At least they are giving it a go rather than leaving it to blazers that won't come up with a solution for genuinely competing the pyramid any time soon.

Forfar should be rejected and they need to get firm action on where teams are meant to be playing

[Burnieman]

12 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

The parallel between Kelty and Forfar WE should be obvious. At least they are giving it a go rather than leaving it to blazers that won't come up with a solution for genuinely competing the pyramid any time soon.

There's no parallel. At that point, 4 years ago, the easiest route to a Pyramid was to bring the SJFA in complete to take up tiers 6, 7, 8 and 9, and merge EoS with ERJFA as they were on the brink of collapse.

Anyway that's been done to death on here and only resurrected by halfwits and weirdos looking to have a pop, and who trawl social media, take screenshots of posts, and then put them on here to have a pop.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Burnieman

[LongTimeLurker]

2 minutes ago, AlanCamelonfan said:

Forfar should be rejected and they need to get firm action on where teams are meant to be playing

Agree on the second part as long as you also mean every club must be provided with a clear pathway into the pyramid, neutral on the first part because there are reasonable arguments to be made both ways. Forfar WE's application throws a much needed cat amongst the pigeons that will hopefully bring the Tayside issue much closer to resolution.

[FairWeatherFan]

7 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

The parallel between Kelty and Forfar WE should be obvious. At least they are giving it a go rather than leaving it to blazers that won't come up with a solution for genuinely competing the pyramid any time soon.

I would see it more along the lines of Clydebank applying to the EoSFL.

Clydebank's statement at the time

[AlanCamelonfan]

3 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Agree on the second part as long as you also mean every club must be provided with a clear pathway into the pyramid, neutral on the first part because there are reasonable arguments to be made both ways. Forfar WE's application throws a much needed cat amongst the pigeons that will hopefully bring the Tayside issue much closer to resolution.

Definitely should  be. I actually dont have a problem with tayside being in lowland area but  not as part of eosfl 

[Pyramidic]

1 hour ago, Burnieman said:

A club applies and is either accepted or rejected. What have the WoS done that the EoS aren't doing with regards to new clubs, can you provide examples?

You're forming opinion based on gossip on a forum. Be grateful the WoS and EoS are attracting new clubs, potentially over 20 between them for next season.

We will see what unfolds over the next month or so and whether the WOSFL have enough clubs to form a sort of Intermediate Division. Why Harthill would wish to play in a division that would be destined to become Tier Ten I am not sure. Hopefully someone from Harthill will explain.  We will also see how the EOSFL copes with the latest influx of applications.

The transparency of Parkcircus, a key official with the WOSFL, is not mere gossip and we have been able to get a glimpse of current issues in the WOS. Information provided has then been confirmed in podcasts etc. How things/structures will pan out remains to be seen.

I am truly grateful to both the WOSFL and EOSFL regarding the numerous clubs that are being accepted into the Senior fold - potentially more than 20 this time around. Like a number of others on here it is very difficult at the moment not to take my eyes off P&B to watch the latest changes in our real-life football drama in our covid closeted world.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Pyramidic

[FairWeatherFan]

14 minutes ago, Pyramidic said:

The transparency of Parkcircus, a key official with the WOSFL, is not mere gossip and we have been able to get a glimpse of current issues in the WOS. Information provided has then been confirmed in podcasts etc. How things/structures will pan out remains to be seen.

It amounts to gossip because it hasn't actually happened yet and it's still to go to a vote on membership. At the moment new applicants are still being assessed against the existing criteria (which is why it's there) and it's only intended to be a new standalone division for new applicants next year due to the commitment not to disadvantage the original 67. After next year they would be integrated as normal into the WoSFL.

The Intermediate Division or linking up with amateur leagues isn't about this year but ideas for down the road.

[Pyramidic]

3 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

It amounts to gossip because it hasn't actually happened yet and it's still to go to a vote on membership. At the moment new applicants are still being assessed against the existing criteria (which is why it's there) and it's only intended to be a new standalone division for new applicants next year due to the commitment not to disadvantage the original 67. After next year they would be integrated as normal into the WoSFL.

The Intermediate Division or linking up with amateur leagues isn't about this year but ideas for down the road.

If a WOSFL league official says there has been 17 “expressions of interest” I would have thought he is expressing a fact. But there is a long way to go before an expression of interest germinates into a successful application endorsed by the membership.

Gossip is when someone says Cupar Hearts are applying to the EOSFL but no evidence has yet to emerge. Fingers crossed that an application is submitted.

[FairWeatherFan]

Just now, Pyramidic said:

If a WOSFL league official says there has been 17 “expressions of interest” I would have thought he is expressing a fact. But there is a long way to go before an expression of interest germinates into a successful application endorsed by the membership.

That's a number now smaller than 17 due to the WoS/EoS boundary decision ruling out clubs. They also mention doing site visits to make sure they meet the criteria and make sure they're on the up and up. Which makes it gossip in the sense they might not even have the numbers to make it work. That's without considering what's left passing a membership vote.

And another reason why the amateur situation in relation to the WoSFL is more important, is actually quite topical due to the conversation around B teams/Colts/2nd XIs. On joinining the WoSFL, Glasgow University and Drumchapel United never resigned from their amateur leagues enabling them to keep a team in the Premier Divisions of the Central Scottish and Caledonian. If there's another dozen or so teams out there about to do the same it starts to make a mockery of the amateur leagues.

 

[San Starko Rover]

Don’t see any issue with a second Bo’ness team as long as they meet the required criteria and obviously have a slight name change as it’s too close to the BUs name. Can Bo’ness sustain 2 clubs? No idea but as long as they’re sustainable they’re doing no one any harm. If they’re not sustainable they’ll drop out or fold. Every team had to start somewhere and find their fan base some lasted and others were consigned to history. Whole point of the pyramid is any team can join and find their level as long as they’re meeting the required standards.