Lowland League General Discussion

[FairWeatherFan]

Just now, To B or not B said:

The SFA couldn’t have been seen to be pre-judging the decision of the licensing committee, so plans had to be in place on the chance Buckie were approved.

March 31st was the deadline for waivers, and it wasn't granted. If you go by the SPFL spokesperson Buckie never even bothered applying.

The point of that is to avoid situations like this.

[To B or not B]

1 minute ago, FairWeatherFan said:

March 31st was the deadline for waivers, and it wasn't granted. If you go by the SPFL spokesperson Buckie never even bothered applying.

The point of that is to avoid situations like this.

Was that not for SPFL waivers? It is the SFA licensing committee who ultimately grant the Bronze license.

[Burnieman]

"At 5pm today, Buckie Thistle FC received an email from the SPFL, stating that because the club do not comply with the SFA Bronze Licence criteria, and did not apply for a waiver or period of grace in respect of this non-compliance by the deadline of 31st March 2024, there will be no Play-Off Tie between Buckie Thistle FC and East Kilbride FC, and East Kilbride will automatically go forward to the Pyramid Play-Off Tie with Club 42.

However, we can confirm that the club has been in regular contact with the SFA in regard to the Bronze Licence criteria items, and we were in fact asked by the SPFL to ask for a period of grace for four of these items on Tuesday 23rd April, which we duly did.

Our Club President Garry Farquhar attended a meeting with the SFA on Wednesday 24th April, and we were granted Derogations for 3 items - Floodlights, Safety Officer and Diversity & Inclusion. One item - Medical – has been deferred until the 15th of May, but the club has committed to resolving the matter by May 10th.

It goes without saying that everyone at the club is stunned and devastated by the timing of this decision. It’s particularly harsh on the players and management, who put so much hard work into winning the Highland League title, that they don’t get the opportunity to go for promotion."

[Omnishambles]

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

Edited April 25 by Omnishambles

[Marten]

Just now, Omnishambles said:

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs effectively redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

Apparently it's possible to apply for a period of grace as long as a plan is put in place. So not neccesarily.

[kevsmart]

Just now, Omnishambles said:

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs effectively redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

But looking at the clubs in League 2, most of the clubs are Bronze now.

[PossilYM]

Oh well, the pyramid was a nice idea while it lasted.

[Burnieman]

20 minutes ago, Marten said:

Apparently it's possible to apply for a period of grace as long as a plan is put in place. So not neccesarily.

If Buckie were granted 3 derogations/waivers with the remaining one to be completed by 15th May, and that still wasn't good enough for the SPFL, then I don't place much faith in what the SPFL claim.

[Spyro]

24 minutes ago, Omnishambles said:

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

I think it's more a case of more teams could be Bronze standard if they had to be (with a little work), but it's not worth the extra costs while they're still playing at tier 5

[To B or not B]

3 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

If Buckie were granted 3 derogations/waivers with the remaining one to be completed by 15th May, and that still wasn't good enough for the SPFL, then I don't place much faith in what the SPFL claim.

They were granted those derogations by the SFA licensing committee, not the SPFL. The SPFL require the Bronze license to be in place at the commencement of the play-offs otherwise the clubs haven’t met the entry criteria for the competition.

[Burnieman]

Just now, To B or not B said:

They were granted those derogations by the SFA licensing committee, not the SPFL. The SPFL require the Bronze license to be in place at the commencement of the play-offs otherwise the clubs haven’t met the entry criteria for the competition.

The SPFL lead them up the garden path on the face of it.  Told the club to ask for derogations as recently as Tuesday, they did and these were granted with the final one to be confirmed in two weeks, the SPFL then went back and pointed to 31st March.

The SPFL also implied in their statement that the club were ignoring them, clearly that wasn't true.

We then have Airdrie taking part in the Premiership play-off with an Entry level licence, when they should have had a Bronze licence in place last year. So they do not meet the requirements either.

There's a lot going on here that doesn't add up and doesn't paint the SPFL in a very good light.

 

 

[Brazilianlex]

13 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

The SPFL lead them up the garden path on the face of it.  Told the club to ask for derogations as recently as Tuesday, they did and these were granted with the final one to be confirmed in two weeks, the SPFL then went back and pointed to 31st March.

The SPFL also implied in their statement that the club were ignoring them, clearly that wasn't true.

We then have Airdrie taking part in the Premiership play-off with an Entry level licence, when they should have had a Bronze licence in place last year. So they do not meet the requirements either.

There's a lot going on here that doesn't add up and doesn't paint the SPFL in a very good light.

 

 

This has to be a massive wake up call to those SPFL Clubs who don’t have a bronze licence and have one year to get it.

If they don’t and on the back of todays decision, those Clubs face being chucked out the SPFL at end of next season ?

[Burnieman]

2 minutes ago, Brazilianlex said:

This has to be a massive wake up call to those SPFL Clubs who don’t have a bronze licence and have one year to get it.

If they don’t and on the back of todays decision, those Clubs face being chucked out the SPFL at end of next season ?

Shouldn't they be chucked out now and Airdrie prevented from entering the Premiership play-off?

[To B or not B]

9 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

Shouldn't they be chucked out now and Airdrie prevented from entering the Premiership play-off?

Why? They were given a year to get it, that year is not up.

[Ginaro]

40 minutes ago, Omnishambles said:

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

Depends on exactly what the issues are - a club could fail one criteria in each of their ground, first team, or legal/finance/admin sections that are easily sorted if they knew they were going to be in contention for the play-off.

For Cowdenbeath and Linlithgow already with Bronze grounds, these are the differences between Entry and Bronze:

6.1 Training and Coaching Facilities for Senior Players	Suitable training facilities (written evidence)
6.3 Medical and First Aid Facilities for Senior Players Rehabilitation	Medical examination facility (not third party)
6.4 Medical and First Aid Provision for Senior Players at Matches	Club doctor/paramedic, physiotherapist, medical bag
6.6 Team Manager/ Head Coach	B licence from 2025 and have started A licence course
6.7 First Team Coaches	B licence
6.8 Club Doctor or Medical Officer	Clubs shall have one
6.9 Club Therapist	Clubs shall have one
6.10 Goalkeeping Coach	Clubs shall have one
8.4 Finance Manager	Clubs shall have a professional one
8.5 Safety Officer	Clubs shall have a qualified one
8.11 Annual Financial Statements	Stricter, prepared by qualified accountant
8.13 Insolvency Events	Not since June 2020
8.17 Attendance at a Scottish FA Organised Event on Refereeing Matters	Manager/coach and team captain (instead of just someone from the club)
8.19 Diversity and Inclusion	The club shall identify the training requirements for staff and key volunteers and create a learning development plan within the equality action plan.

5 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

Shouldn't they be chucked out now and Airdrie prevented from entering the Premiership play-off?

There's no difference between the Premiership and Championship in terms of ground or licence criteria. But of course they need to have their Bronze licence by 1st July.

"The SPFL Board has granted a period of grace to 1 July 2024 to all SPFL Clubs that currently do not have a Bronze Standard Scottish FA Club Licence to provide sufficient time for this to be achieved before Season 2024/25."

https://spfl.co.uk/admin/filemanager/images/shares/pdfs/Membership Criteria Letter 2024-25 31 October 2023.pdf

[Burnieman]

Just now, To B or not B said:

Why? They were given a year to get it, that year is not up.

They weren't awarded a Bronze licence today, therefore they will not have one before the play-off begins. Sound familiar?

[stanley]

1 hour ago, Omnishambles said:

With Cumbernauld Colts and EK being the only two clubs 5th tier or below that meet the bronze criteria (at the moment), doesn't it effectively render the Pyramid playoffs redundant in the (likely) event that next season's LL and HL winners don't meet it?

I think the main point of changing the rules to bronze being the minimum rather than entry was to try to reduce relegation from the SPFL. Scottish football is all about self-preservation. I don't think increasing the standards is the main focus of this at all.

Edited April 25 by stanley

[To B or not B]

2 minutes ago, Burnieman said:

They weren't awarded a Bronze licence today, therefore they will not have one before the play-off begins. Sound familiar?

They don’t need one before the play-offs, they were given a time limit to get it, that time limit is not up yet!!

[Burnieman]

1 minute ago, To B or not B said:

They don’t need one before the play-offs, they were given a time limit to get it, that time limit is not up yet!!

One rule for one, another rule for someone else.   I refer you back to the point about the SPFL not looking good.

[To B or not B]

Just now, Burnieman said:

One rule for one, another rule for someone else.   I refer you back to the point about the SPFL not looking good.

It’s not though is it, as current league members they were given a timescale, any new potential new members were told their timescale, this was made clear to all. I’m not sure it’s that difficult to get.