HibeeJibee Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 38 minutes ago, Crow said: Has that changed Hibee? I’m sure a few seasons ago someone (an official) told me that clubs had to nominate which league they would go to at the beginning of the season. I’m sure it was Gretna we were talking about. Never been so AFAIA. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Gordon EF said: So hypothetically. VoL could play the entire season without gaining a single point and then the day before their final game and say "Lol, we're withdrawing" to avoid relegation? Either the LL have an utterly ludicrous set of rules or that simply isn't true. Hypothetically no. The Lowland League allowed withdrawals from the league without punishment at the start of the due to the unknowns around COVID. That option was meant to be available until some time in December. Which was then said to have been extended until some time in January. The option was then withdrawn around the time that the SG/Lotto grants were confirmed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 minute ago, FairWeatherFan said: Hypothetically no. The Lowland League allowed withdrawals from the league without punishment at the start of the due to the unknowns around COVID. That option was meant to be available until some time in December. Which was then said to have been extended until some time in January. The option was then withdrawn around the time that the SG/Lotto grants were confirmed. Ah right. I knew that clause had been put in this season for COVID (which I thought was stupid anyway) but I thought you were talking about a general rule that existed before where withdrawn teams cannot be placed bottom for the purposes of deciding relegation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, craigkillie said: But this in itself is a nonsense. There should be a clear demarcation between the leagues, in the same way that there is for the Highland and Lowland Leagues. You can't have Gretna, a club very much in the south of Scotland, being allowed to play in a league which is supposed to be for clubs in the east of the country. They could be travelling up as far as Tayport and Perth, passing through SoS and WoS territory to get there. That might have been OK in the pre-pyramid days when there wasn't a joined up structure and they had to move to play in a higher quality league, but nowadays we should have a better system than that in place. At the moment at Tier 6 we have two very strong leagues and one extremely poor one that is basically added on as an afterthought. There is also already substantial geographical overlap between these leagues. The obvious solution to resolving that is to create an all-encompassing West league which includes Dumfries and Galloway in parallel to an East league on the other side of the country. This is what should have been done this summer when the WoS was set up, but it's not too late to fix it now. Since signing up for the pyramid all i've heard about Gretna 2008 was that they would go to the SoSFL if relegated. Despite still being a member of the EoSFA and playing in the EoSFL prior to the Lowland League's creation. Also does Caledonian Braves reserves count as a substantial geographical overlap? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said: Since signing up for the pyramid all i've heard about Gretna 2008 was that they would go to the SoSFL if relegated. Despite still being a member of the EoSFA and playing in the EoSFL prior to the Lowland League's creation. Also does Caledonian Braves reserves count as a substantial geographical overlap? The SoS advertise and solicit membership from as far afield as Glasgow. Kello play in the WoS. Talbot were told they would have to join the SoS when they looked at getting a licence when they were part of the West Juniors about 3 years ago. Edited January 2, 2021 by Marshmallo -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, Marshmallo said: The SoS advertise and solicit membership from as far afield as Glasgow. Kello play in the WoS. Talbot were told they would have to join the SoS when they looked at getting a licence when they were part of the West Juniors about 3 years ago. 1) It was a tweet. No one took it up. 2) You can't really use Council Areas alone to determine a boundary. Parts of Perthshire & Kinross, Argyll & Bute, and Stirling are split by the HL/LL Boundary. 3) There was no WoSFL 3 years ago. Would you rather they were told to join the EoSFL? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnieman Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: Each league covers a specific area. LL clubs don't choose where to go - they drop to a specific league defined accordingly. Dalbeattie, Gretna = SOSL... Caledonian Braves, Cumbernauld, EK = WOSL... rest = EOSL. Suppose if BSCG ever move back to Strathclyde they'd become WOSL too. I was told that clubs nominate the league to be relegated into prior to the start of each season and this is then rubber stamped by the leagues concerned (perhaps in order to veto eg EK nominating EoS or SoS). The chat was that Dalbeattie and Gretna would in future nominate the WoS. That could have been inaccurate or since changed. Have the leagues now defined areas? in which case the Tayside question has been definitively resolved as far as the EoS are concerned? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnieman Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 "The bottom club will be relegated to the League which will have been decided by the Boards of the three leagues prior to the start of each season." http://slfl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Scottish-Lowland-Football-League-Rules-Version-10.pdf I'm taking from that, that clubs can express their preference and it's then upto the leagues to agree or disagree. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: Suppose if BSCG ever move back to Strathclyde they'd be kicked out to a stupid wee pub league where they belong. FTFY, and the same applies to 'Caledonian Braves' when they get flushed back out of the Lowland League. If we're going to run with regional league distinctions then the clubs at every level from the SoS/WoS should actually be permanently attached to a locality. Next they'll be moving to Inverness to have a crack via the NCL instead. Edited January 2, 2021 by vikingTON 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastle broon Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 As long as the SoSFL remains at tier 6 theres no way Gretna or Dalbeattie should they get relegated have any need to even consider a WoSFL. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnieman Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Just now, newcastle broon said: As long as the SoSFL remains at tier 6 theres no way Gretna or Dalbeattie should they get relegated have any need to even consider a WoSFL. Not what I was hearing, but it's just heresay. Look at it another way, Gretna/Dalbeattie get relegated to the SoS, they are now in that league until such times as they can overcome the WoS and EoS Champs, they also run the risk of the SoS being "re-aligned" at a lower tier level in future. If however they choose the WoS Premier, they're at least guaranteed a quality of football matching the LL and better supported sides. They'll likely never return to the LL but they're in a better environment than the SoS, and a chance to play regularly at a good level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastle broon Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Burnieman said: Not what I was hearing, but it's just heresay. Look at it another way, Gretna/Dalbeattie get relegated to the SoS, they are now in that league until such times as they can overcome the WoS and EoS Champs, they also run the risk of the SoS being "re-aligned" at a lower tier level in future. If however they choose the WoS Premier, they're at least guaranteed a quality of football matching the LL and better supported sides. They'll likely never return to the LL but they're in a better environment than the SoS, and a chance to play regularly at a good level. I see where you're coming from but until such time they will go tier 6 SoSFL. I'm sure they'd get plenty notice for a re-aligned league but then again it is Scottish fitba we're talking about. Pity Dalbeattie and Gretna fans are few and far between on here now. There used to be some decent (Gretna especially) fans input on here. Who'd have thought the LL would ever cause such a fuss ? Edited January 3, 2021 by newcastle broon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 It’s not the LL at fault, it’s just slack / last minute / Boris Johnson type thinking. Lets just set it up and nit pick / woryy about exceptional cases later. In a sense the Covid disruption gives the authorities more time to iron out these problems and they should take advantage of it. Gretna, Dalbeattie, Annan all had EoS history prior to the pyramid. Were the first two relegated it would be a nonsense to see them in the SoS which both would likely win at a canter. The SoS basically is the southern equivalent of the NCL. Few clubs have the infrastructure or the desire to progress. I remember Wigtown & Bladnoch jockeying paperwork to avoid promotion to the LL. The SoS is a bit of an anachronism for sides who are largely amateur. There are about two-three teams (Threave, St.Cuthbert) who could progress with sustained investment. The rest don’t seem at all interested. As a result, should Gretna and Dalbeattie wish to play in WOSFL in event of relegation they should be allowed to. In time the South of Scotland league will slip down the rankings as the pyramid resolves itself I feel. Given the multiple goal drubbings from not too impressive sides in the last round of the Scottish it’s a nonsense the league is deemed tier 6. It’s clearly not equivalent to the top tier of EOS with most of the clubs being the equivalent of poor conference set-ups. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Patterson Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 One future solution may be for the EoS (North, South) and WoS (Central, Ayrshire) to districtise at Tier 8, with SoS being added at that level as a District League, independent of the WoS though. With the Top 2-4 SoS clubs being offered slots at T6-7 in the WoS the season of the move, in order to be fair to clubs that are genuinely interested in the pyramid. Maybe that's too sensible for everyone? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Offside Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 6 hours ago, Burnieman said: "The bottom club will be relegated to the League which will have been decided by the Boards of the three leagues prior to the start of each season." http://slfl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Scottish-Lowland-Football-League-Rules-Version-10.pdf I'm taking from that, that clubs can express their preference and it's then upto the leagues to agree or disagree. This is pre-WOSFL, 2018. The "decided by the Boards of the three leagues" refers to LL, EoS and SoS. Is the principle still the same now that the WoS has been added, or is relegation now automatically to the Tier 6 league determined by their location? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Myles Offside said: This is pre-WOSFL, 2018. The "decided by the Boards of the three leagues" refers to LL, EoS and SoS. Is the principle still the same now that the WoS has been added, or is relegation now automatically to the Tier 6 league determined by their location? http://slfl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SLFL-Rules-Version-13.pdf The current constitution. the bottom club or clubs at the end of the current season will be relegated to the league(s) decided by a joint meeting of the representatives of the League, the EoSFL, SoSFLand WoSFL prior to the start of each season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowenan Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 12 hours ago, HibeeJibee said: Each league covers a specific area. LL clubs don't choose where to go - they drop to a specific league defined accordingly. Dalbeattie, Gretna = SOSL... Caledonian Braves, Cumbernauld, EK = WOSL... rest = EOSL. Suppose if BSCG ever move back to Strathclyde they'd become WOSL too. If VoL and Edin Uni go down this season, it might be several years until another team gets relegated to the EOS. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewie Griffin Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 16 minutes ago, lowenan said: If VoL and Edin Uni go down this season, it might be several years until another team gets relegated to the EOS. I admire your faith in Berwick Rangers 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) 30 minutes ago, lowenan said: If VoL and Edin Uni go down this season, it might be several years until another team gets relegated to the EOS. Gala are having a good season by their standards, but have had seasons where they've struggled at the bottom. If you do lose both VoL & Edinburgh University, then there's not much between Gretna 2008, Dalbeattie and Gala historically. Then Berwick haven't had the greatest performances in the Lowland League. Struggled both seasons so far and this is the last year of parachute payments. They'd also really miss VoL and Edinburgh University. Thanks to a 100% record against them, 15 of the 40 points they've won in the league so far have been against those two teams. Edited January 3, 2021 by FairWeatherFan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowenan Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) Gala seems really strong this season, and seems to have moved away from Gretna and Dalbeattie in quality in the past couple of seasons. Maybe it helps them that they are The Borders team now. Could also see Caledonian Braves go down, and Cumbernauld haven’t been too impressive this season. I’m sure Berwick will improve as their time in the SLFL grows. Edited January 3, 2021 by lowenan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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