Robert James Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 On 05/01/2022 at 15:28, Cyclizine said: The NCFA is a well run (thanks, @NiallFH et al!) and generally competitive organisation and has a rightful role within the pyramid. It's impossible to subdivide Scotland into equitable regions in terms of geography and population and the depth in the Far North is always going to be shallower than the North East, as the depth in the Highland footprint is shallower than the Lowland. I agree. What some posters seem to ignore, is that the pyramid is supposed to incorporate all regions of Scotland. Ask the the leading North clubs in the North Region if they want to play clubs in the north highlands and islands on a league basis, The answer is no ! The NCL is a competitive league as is demonstrated by the current league table. It presents no 'threat' to the promotion of clubs like Banks O'Dee, Culter, etc , unless of course an NCL club (when licensed) defeats them in the HFL play-off. It does however provide pyramid football for Highlands, Islands & Moray clubs if/when they are relegated from the HFL. Similarly, I can't see many/any South of Scotland League clubs defeating WoSL or EoSL clubs in the immediate pyramid play-offs, but (like the NCL) it still operates as a genuine senior league. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 (edited) Loch Ness saying they have 12 players unavailable for tomorrow, so a chance for Golspie to catch up a bit. Probably too late to make the play offs more interesting though. Edited February 11, 2022 by welshbairn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 7 hours ago, welshbairn said: Loch Ness saying they have 12 players unavailable for tomorrow, so a chance for Golspie to catch up a bit. Probably too late to make the play offs more interesting though. Unless it counts double or similar daftness (which North Caledonian used to do tbf) then match in question is North Caledonian Cup QF not a league game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Oops! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Nairn 'A' won 5-4 on penalties for sake of completeness 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Good to see Inverness finally off the bottom. I was expecting them to do much better this season. They've just lost their manager who seemed like a good guy, hope they find a decent replacement. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Can Loch Ness get promoted to HL? Do they have an acceptable ground? Will B. Thistle return next year? Scourie as well? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marten Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Can Loch Ness get promoted to HL? Do they have an acceptable ground? Will B. Thistle return next year? Scourie as well?No, no, hopefully, no 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 46 minutes ago, Marten said: 7 hours ago, Dominic said: Can Loch Ness get promoted to HL? Do they have an acceptable ground? Will B. Thistle return next year? Scourie as well? No, no, hopefully, no A succint, quick, to the point, response. Appreciated 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marten Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Dominic said: A succint, quick, to the point, response. Appreciated To slightly expand on that: Loch Ness aren't going for licensing at this point, there is still quite a bit they need for that. Bunillidh Thistle took another year out stating they will come back after, I haven't heard any updates on that so hopefully that's still what's happening. I can't see Scourie coming back, they are too remote to get a representative team for this level, which is why they resigned in the first place. As far as I know, they also completely resigned as opposed to Bunillidh, who just became non-playing members. Edited February 23, 2022 by Marten 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 I would like to see more opportunities for teams like Lewis & Harris, Skye, Shetland etc... get more games but think their remoteness is an obvious reason why it is not feasible... however, what about a World Cup style approach to the NC Cup, so that teams get 3 group games, remote teams play away or host clubs stage group games, winners of groups progress? That way they're guaranteed 3 games rather than potentially get knocked out after just 1. Just a thought... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsimButtHitsASix Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 One option, which might be a bit much come the end of the season, is to have the three leagues that cover unrepresented island areas come in as HFL feeders. The winners of the Lewis & Harris League, Uist & Barra League and Shetland Leagues face off with the North Caley, Midlands and North Region champs in a play off. Six instead of three. It's unwieldy but not as difficult as trying to fit a full season of home/away fixtures to/from the Scottish mainland and remote islands throughout winter. It would allow these leagues to keep a summer season (winner of the 2022 season, for instance, would appear in the 22/23 play offs) and also allow clubs to fulfil part of the licensing criteria (commitment to the pyramid) and allow them access to cups on the Scottish mainland including the Scottish. It wouldn't make much difference to the leagues already working as Highland League feeders (apart from a coupla extra games and one belter of an away day each season) as Ness, Harris or Lerwick Hotspurs are unlikely to beat the mainland teams in a promotion battle anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 8 hours ago, AsimButtHitsASix said: One option, which might be a bit much come the end of the season, is to have the three leagues that cover unrepresented island areas come in as HFL feeders. The winners of the Lewis & Harris League, Uist & Barra League and Shetland Leagues face off with the North Caley, Midlands and North Region champs in a play off. Six instead of three. It's unwieldy but not as difficult as trying to fit a full season of home/away fixtures to/from the Scottish mainland and remote islands throughout winter. It would allow these leagues to keep a summer season (winner of the 2022 season, for instance, would appear in the 22/23 play offs) and also allow clubs to fulfil part of the licensing criteria (commitment to the pyramid) and allow them access to cups on the Scottish mainland including the Scottish. It wouldn't make much difference to the leagues already working as Highland League feeders (apart from a coupla extra games and one belter of an away day each season) as Ness, Harris or Lerwick Hotspurs are unlikely to beat the mainland teams in a promotion battle anyway. If they can't handle a full season of home/away fixtures on the mainland at Tier 6. Then there's not much point in being in a playoff to the Highland League. If there's interest they can create closer ties with the NCL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 12 hours ago, AsimButtHitsASix said: ...or Lerwick Hotspurs... ^^^Haven't been in Shetland for a very long time but the name has always been Lerwick Spurs, as far as I'm aware. Their local rivals are Thistle and Celtic. Unless things have changed drastically since I was last there the quality of the club level football looks like pub team level stuff if you are from the central belt although it's better not to tell the locals that. It would need to be the Island Games team becoming licensed if Scottish Cup entry was ever going to be seriously contemplated and participating in a few cup games only every season is all that might be doable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossBFaeDundee Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Massive win for Invergordon, outside shot of still challenging Loch Ness with a game in hand. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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