Kelty Hearts Thread

[leomessi1984]

Free hit vs the Accies this weekend. Unsure if that's good for either team. We've done well through there this season so shackles should be off & we can go for it. They're a good side of course so will be favourites.

Might see a few fringe players getting game time = Biabi, Cunningham, Owens (Billy).

[CraigFowler]

Congrats on securing your League One status this season with a couple of weekends to spare. Seems like you had a real shot at the play-offs before injury woes lined up not-so-perfectly with a murderers' row of fixtures.

Reason I'm here is that I'm looking to get a Kelty fan on to the podcast (for a Patreon episode) to discuss the season and the club's long-term standing within the SPFL. I was wondering if anybody here would either be up for it or could recommend a fellow Kelty fan who you think would be decent on a podcast?

Cheers,

CF

[leomessi1984]

Cunningham now signed up for next season. That makes the below so far:

Gourlay. Moore. CJ. Cunningham. Tidser.

Got to think given the atmosphere & good end to the season that many will be keen to stay. 

Edited May 4 by leomessi1984

[Kelheart]

21 hours ago, leomessi1984 said:

Cunningham now signed up for next season. That makes the below so far:

Gourlay. Moore. CJ. Cunningham. Tidser.

Got to think given the atmosphere & good end to the season that many will be keen to stay. 

Think if Corbett , Oware and McKluskey resign then the backbone of the team is decent but defo needing a strong (Forster type) CB, better competition for GK , a 6ft 5 prolific  mobile striker all on the books as well , Tids proven already he can pick a loan player but who knows just overjoyed at  not only better performances on the pitch this season and the higher league position but the fact we get to go again in a very competitive league , yes there were a few pumpings but all a learning curve for Tids in his first year  and overall he's gotta be proud of what he's achieved this season

[leomessi1984]

Thomson retires. Solid two seasons from him overall. Probably the right decision as although his experience has been invaluable he was starting to slow down too much. Thanks for solidifying us in league 1 Thommo.

Campbell also away. Decent young keeper who needs 1st team games. Could well make it elsewhere though.

Excited to see who Tids brings in.

Edited May 12 by leomessi1984

[Kelheart]

1 hour ago, leomessi1984 said:

Thomson retires. Solid two seasons from him overall. Probably the right decision as although his experience has been invaluable he was starting to slow down too much. Thanks for solidifying us in league 1 Thommo.

Campbell also away. Decent young keeper who needs 1st team games. Could well make it elsewhere though.

Excited to see who Tids brings in.

Yip no complaints about Thomson always gave it all , young Campbell never really got a chance but to be fair was probably a little out his depth at this level , hope he proves me wrong , hopefully we manage to get Lyon and Corbett tied up and Paterson for that matter  for next season would also take Odonell and Bavidge back on loan but think they will be Championship bound if not in and around first team , defo need someone up top to complement Johnstone , just buzzing to still be competing in this league as Stirling showed yesterday it's a very fine line between league 1 and 2 , also hoping Shearer , Mcgiffen , Garvie can build on getting into the squad and show they are good enough for first team action , that would be the icing on the cake to be getting academy players filtering through so soon

[Kelheart]

No new signings yet wtf is going on at our club , if I was to have a wish list it would be 

LB. Brodie Paterson signs permanently 

RB ,CH. Adam Corbett resigns 

CH , Tam Oware resigns 

CM, Reece Lyon resigns 

RW , Agyeman comes back 

CF , Jordan Allan would do nicely 

add them to the already signed , few young ones and loans that would be not too bad 

[SouthStander1876]

2 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

No new signings yet wtf is going on at our club , if I was to have a wish list it would be 

LB. Brodie Paterson signs permanently 

RB ,CH. Adam Corbett resigns 

CH , Tam Oware resigns 

CM, Reece Lyon resigns 

RW , Agyeman comes back 

CF , Jordan Allan would do nicely 

add them to the already signed , few young ones and loans that would be not too bad 

You paying for Agyeman?

[Kelheart]

1 hour ago, SouthStander1876 said:

You paying for Agyeman?

Think he'll get released or do you think he's got it for Championship ?? 

[SouthStander1876]

5 minutes ago, Kelheart said:

Think he'll get released or do you think he's got it for Championship ?? 

He'll be in the squad. I think he'll be good off the bench.

[EdinburghBlue]

What’s the story with you guys SFA license? See you’re still showing as Entry in this year’s update published today by the SFA.

[1320Lichtie]

2 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

What’s the story with you guys SFA license? See you’re still showing as Entry in this year’s update published today by the SFA.

Got a link to this?

[Clyde01]

3 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

Got a link to this?

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11825/150524-club-licensing-awards.pdf

[leomessi1984]

Believe it's the club doctor element from previous conversations. No concerns from the club though on any changes needed.

Edited May 15 by leomessi1984

[EdinburghBlue]

11 hours ago, leomessi1984 said:

Believe it's the club doctor element from previous conversations. No concerns from the club though on any changes needed.

I’ve said elsewhere that I think it’s nonsense that a doctor is required at games at this level. 

[leomessi1984]

14 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

I’ve said elsewhere that I think it’s nonsense that a doctor is required at games at this level. 

Is a bit of a stretch considering the general state of local practice/ GP numbers also.

[Skyline Drifter]

On 16/05/2024 at 08:54, EdinburghBlue said:

I’ve said elsewhere that I think it’s nonsense that a doctor is required at games at this level. 

 

10 hours ago, leomessi1984 said:

Is a bit of a stretch considering the general state of local practice/ GP numbers also.

I don't think it's a nonsense. The suggestion that a qualified medical person is unnecessary at such physical sporting events is a terrible look. We had a Falkirk game at 'this level' last week with about 8,000 at it. We also had a player collapse on the pitch in the Championship a fortnight ago and need extensive treatment from the Club Doctor and Physios. He was ultimately fine but if he hadn't been, the delay in calling an ambulance may have been critical. We had a supporter die  and three hospitalised at one of our games this season in a major car park incident dealt with fantastically by the Doctors and staff on duty. We're half a mile from the ambulance base for the area but still, the fact that medical staff were immediately on scene was crucial.

However, I do think it's a major problem and I'm not sure what the solution is. It's getting more and more difficult for smaller clubs to find a qualified Doctor prepared to attend games every fortnight at least and those who do usually want the equivalent of a player's wage to do so. It's a significant cost for smaller clubs and, for those in the most isolated geographic position, potentially a real problem to source. I have real sympathy for clubs like Buckie who clearly had a major issue finding a Doctor. when they are in the middle of nowhere. Google suggests Buckie has two GP practices with 11 Doctors there. That's not a big pool to recruit from in terms of them maybe having no interest in football, commitments to other sport, perhaps mountain rescue, working weekends on call, etc. There are obviously a pile of neighbouring towns but it's not a populous area and it's over an hour and 60 miles to the nearest main hospital in Inverness.

Whilst Kelty (and Edinburgh City) are clearly in far more populous areas, it's still a potential huge difficulty and an expense that could be done without.

I suppose the SFA / SPFl could potentially provide Doctors in the same way they provide referees, take the costs out of the general pool of money and reduce everybody's prize money a little but I fancy the last thing they want to do is bring more of that 'in house'.

 

Edited May 17 by Skyline Drifter

[Otis Blue]

15 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

 

I don't think it's a nonsense. The suggestion that a qualified medical person is unnecessary at such physical sporting events is a terrible look. We had a Falkirk game at 'this level' last week with about 8,000 at it. We also had a player collapse on the pitch in the Championship a fortnight ago and need extensive treatment from the Club Doctor and Physios. He was ultimately fine but if he hadn't been, the delay in calling an ambulance may have been critical. We had a supporter die  and three hospitalised at one of our games this season in a major car park incident dealt with fantastically by the Doctors and staff on duty. We're half a mile from the ambulance base for the area but still, the fact that medical staff were immediately on scene was crucial.

However, I do think it's a major problem and I'm not sure what the solution is. It's getting more and more difficult for smaller clubs to find a qualified Doctor prepared to attend games every fortnight at least and those who do usually want the equivalent of a player's wage to do so. It's a significant cost for smaller clubs and, for those in the most isolated geographic position, potentially a real problem to source. I have real sympathy for clubs like Buckie who clearly had a major issue finding a Doctor. when they are in the middle of nowhere. Google suggests Buckie has two GP practices with 11 Doctors there. That's not a big pool to recruit from in terms of them maybe having no interest in football, commitments to other sport, perhaps mountain rescue, working weekends on call, etc. There are obviously a pile of neighbouring towns but it's not a populous area and it's over an hour and 60 miles to the nearest main hospital in Inverness.

Whilst Kelty (and Edinburgh City) are clearly in far more populous areas, it's still a potential huge difficulty and an expense that could be done without.

I suppose the SFA / SPFl could potentially provide Doctors in the same way they provide referees, take the costs out of the general pool of money and reduce everybody's prize money a little but I fancy the last thing they want to do is bring more of that 'in house'.

 

Can't fault @Skyline Drifter 's reasoning there.  I suspect the issue is the need to define at what level a doctor's presence is and isn't required at football matches.  Ideally, it would be at any recognised level but that's clearly not practicable for either financial or GP availability reasons, so there has to be a cut-off point.  So for me, it seems not unreasonable to introduce this requirement at the senior professional league (ie top four leagues) structure level where the physicality/athleticism of the players is at its maximum (you'd like to think ...) and also where the potential for sizeable crowds becomes more of a significant possibility.

Now (as SD points out) the financial and GP availability wherewithal to provide this becomes difficult in the lower levels of the senior leagues.  So maybe the SPFL/SFA should be dipping into their pockets to deliver this (sensible) requirement for say the two lowest leagues (one and two)?

[GordonS]

All of the above is fair. For me, there are two factors in drawing the line: professionalism and crowd numbers. If it's your livelihood you deserve a good standard of medical care, and a crowd of maybe 1,000 seems a reasonable starting point too. You regularly get clubs in tier 3 with those but I don't recall a full time club ever being in tier 4, so that's where I'd draw this line.

That said, I'm not convinced a GP adds all that much. If I had a heart attack or a broken leg I'd much rather have a paramedic around than one of the GPs from our practice. Few GPs have much experience in accident and emergency, the kind of thing they'd be called on for match days. Someone must have done some work on this somewhere.

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, GordonS said:

All of the above is fair. For me, there are two factors in drawing the line: professionalism and crowd numbers. If it's your livelihood you deserve a good standard of medical care, and a crowd of maybe 1,000 seems a reasonable starting point too. You regularly get clubs in tier 3 with those but I don't recall a full time club ever being in tier 4, so that's where I'd draw this line.

That said, I'm not convinced a GP adds all that much. If I had a heart attack or a broken leg I'd much rather have a paramedic around than one of the GPs from our practice. Few GPs have much experience in accident and emergency, the kind of thing they'd be called on for match days. Someone must have done some work on this somewhere.

A few bits and pieces from this:

• It's already a requirement to have a separate Crowd Doctor if the expected attendance at a football match exceeds 3,000. If it's below that the Club Doctor is accepted as covering both roles. I don't think that's unreasonable.
• Rangers were very obviously in Tier 4 not so long ago. Livingston and Morton were too. I think Livi were full time but not certain and can't recall if Morton were or not. Perhaps not. We were possibly three points from it this season................
• For clarity, it's not per se just a GP who covers this point off. The Club Doctor, which needn't necessarily be a GP of course, also has to have done (and passed) an SFA approved course in Pitchside Trauma and Resusitation within the last 3 years. These guys are specifically trained to deal with sporting injury so I disagree with you there. I'd much rather have one of them than a Paramedic, especially if that paramedic takes half an hour to get there in an ambulance!