Midlands League

[ExiledLichtie]

19 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

if they had licences they would therefore have floodlights and have been able to play the postponed games from September to early March on the first available midweek. 

Getting the champion to game 38 before the start of May is not going to be problem.

Well that's fine, presumably the licensed teams only play at home and never have to play away games to unlicensed teams?  

Also, its the start of May now.  Who's the champion?

[realmadrid]

1 minute ago, ExiledLichtie said:

Well that's fine, presumably the licensed teams only play at home and never have to play away games to unlicensed teams?  

Also, its the start of May now.  Who's the champion?

Does it matter this year? the fixture secretary made sure the licensed team in contention was in a position to play in any play off, unfortunately they could not win enough games to make this happen.

Unless someone had 4 or more games cancelled at unlicensed teams and there was no way to move games about on weekends (Which there is) there is not a problem. 

 

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

Can’t see North End losing the title from here. 10-0 today.

[invergowrie arab]

The problem with the size of the league is partly the potential for late finishes but for me it's more that by the time you get to May many teams have chucked it.

Every year May is double figures season.

[Lichtie78]

34 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

The problem with the size of the league is partly the potential for late finishes but for me it's more that by the time you get to May many teams have chucked it.

Every year May is double figures season.

Aye I was at Vics 0-10 Kirrie today and their squad can’t be described anywhere near as good as threadbare. Said it before on this thread, it’s an impossible task for teams to recruit knowing that they are literally playing for nothing. A split, or a cup for team below X position on X date is badly needed so these teams actually have something to play for. 

[GNU_Linux]

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

1 hour ago, invergowrie arab said:

The problem with the size of the league is partly the potential for late finishes but for me it's more that by the time you get to May many teams have chucked it.

Every year May is double figures season.

I’m actually pretty impressed Broughty have managed to play 38 league games already as well as all the various cup competitions. 

The Midlands League is surely the most uneven in the country. The top teams are probably EoS Premier standard, whilst the bottom are basically amateur level. A split to two divisions of 10 would make sense, hopefully attracting a few more teams to join so this can be expanded to two leagues of 12 in the coming years. Or combine with the North region, with the Perth teams moving to EoS. I just think there’s far too many games that are a foregone conclusion as it stands.

[invergowrie arab]

The best solution would have been a north east superleague but that seems to have stalled/died.

In a world where we don't have competing licensed teams it probably doesn't matter but in 5 years time anyone playing certain teams in the last month have a 12 point head start 

[forfarton]

Three of the goals from Ogilvy Park yesterday

Arbroath Vics 0 Kirrie Thistle 10

[Cosmic Joe]

1-0 North End from the penalty spot, after a cagey start.

Not a bad turnout ..

[Cosmic Joe]

St James equalise. Also from the spot.

[Cosmic Joe]

Paul Sludden restores the advantage, right on half-time. 

His faither would have been proud of that finish.

HT 2-1 to North End.

[Cosmic Joe]

3-1 North End. Potential league winner, if they can see this one out.

[Cosmic Joe]

St James down to 10 men. Losing it a bit now.

[Lichtie78]

North End March on…took in Panmure Vs Tayport, decent enough for a dead rubber.

[stu2910]

Ashamed to say I know very little about this league considering it's mostly on my doorstep and have only just read the last few pages.  Is it the lack of floodlights that causes so many teams to end up playing catch up or is there something else going on?

Also, what kind of crowds are these clubs getting?  6 clubs from Dundee with another 3 on the periphery in Broughty, Tayport and Carnoustie would suggest a lot of competition for a relatively small potential fanbase.

Does anyone know if any more of these clubs (is it just Lochee Utd and Tayport currently?) plan to get licenses?  While it would be interesting to see if anyone could make the step up to the Highland League or maybe even League 2 in future, it's hard to blame any of them for not fancying away trips to the other side of the middle of nowhere every other week.

Edited May 9 by stu2910

[GordonS]

1 hour ago, stu2910 said:

Ashamed to say I know very little about this league considering it's mostly on my doorstep and have only just read the last few pages.  Is it the lack of floodlights that causes so many teams to end up playing catch up or is there something else going on?

Also, what kind of crowds are these clubs getting?  6 clubs from Dundee with another 3 on the periphery in Broughty, Tayport and Carnoustie would suggest a lot of competition for a relatively small potential fanbase.

Does anyone know if any more of these clubs (is it just Lochee Utd and Tayport currently?) plan to get licenses?  While it would be interesting to see if anyone could make the step up to the Highland League or maybe even League 2 in future, it's hard to blame any of them for not fancying away trips to the other side of the middle of nowhere every other week.

Aye competition for fans in Dundee is an issue. There's even one place where there are two clubs on opposite sides of the same street...

Lack of floodlights is often a factor in creating a fixture backlog. As a Dundee fan you'll know the weather was tough on pitches through the spring so I'm not sure how much floodlights would have helped this season anyway. Fixture backlogs lead to lots of sunny evenings watching football after work so I'm not complaining.

I'd say attendances range from about 50 to 300 or so, others might have more accurate numbers.

You're right, it's just Lochee Utd and Tayport who are licensed at the moment. According to chat on here nobody else is particularly close.

I'd recommend getting along to a few games, it's a different experience to following top-level football. The matches are usually pretty entertaining, entry is cheap, the pies are good and the clubs are welcoming.

[RawB93]

11 hours ago, GordonS said:

I'd recommend getting along to a few games, it's a different experience to following top-level football. The matches are usually pretty entertaining, entry is cheap, the pies are good and the clubs are welcoming.

This.

Was at the Junior Scottish Cup semi last year at Volunteer Park in Armadale and it was excellent, despite Craigie losing. Going to watch them in the final next Saturday v Lochee United at Broughty's ground. It's not a great looking ground but would recommend taking it in, even as a neutral! @stu2910

[Ray Patterson]

On 09/05/2024 at 08:58, stu2910 said:

Ashamed to say I know very little about this league considering it's mostly on my doorstep and have only just read the last few pages.  Is it the lack of floodlights that causes so many teams to end up playing catch up or is there something else going on?

Also, what kind of crowds are these clubs getting?  6 clubs from Dundee with another 3 on the periphery in Broughty, Tayport and Carnoustie would suggest a lot of competition for a relatively small potential fanbase.

Does anyone know if any more of these clubs (is it just Lochee Utd and Tayport currently?) plan to get licenses?  While it would be interesting to see if anyone could make the step up to the Highland League or maybe even League 2 in future, it's hard to blame any of them for not fancying away trips to the other side of the middle of nowhere every other week.

Depends massively on whether or not United or Dundee are at home, weather etc. Around 100-200 is the ballpark figure.

I would say Lochee Utd are probably the best supported club, pretty much always north of 150 even for cup games etc, but can get 300+ if it's a game with something riding on it. Broughty have grown their support too, again north of 100 most weeks. Lochee United are the club you would suspect will go up in the next 3-5 years or so, almost always there or thereabouts and have said that they're willing to go up.

The likes of Broughty, East Craigie and North End have had really good seasons since the "new" league formed a couple of years ago, but Panmure have been the standout until recently.

Tayport and Lochee Utd have probably struggled because they've spent the money on Licencing, but the Scottish Cup berth every year has certainly helped them in the medium term. Always been surprised how little media attention the Midlands League gets from DC Thomson compared to say Highland League by the P&J and the East of Scotland by Scotsman.

I would say definitely worthwhile taking in a game, the standard is actually quite good if you see one of the better clubs, and the hospitality the clubs provide is top notch (as is the scran) - it's not bad for £6 through the gate.

Edited May 10 by Ray Patterson

[welshbairn]

36 minutes ago, Ray Patterson said:

Always been surprised how little media attention the Midlands League gets from DC Thomson compared to say Highland League by the P&J and the East of Scotland by Scotsman.

Yeah, very odd. The North Caley get a decent coverage in the Inverness Courier, little mention of even Brechin in the Dundee/Perth version. 

Edited May 10 by welshbairn