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Lowland League General Discussion


FairWeatherFan

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4 minutes ago, Connor7 said:

If Brechin replaces Clyde is it 1 or 2 that go down? 

Two. It looks like this would be one to the East and one to the South but can you imagine if relegation is increased and three are relegated to the East of Scotland Premier? Not sure how they would cope because it could have a big impact on promotion and relegation throughout the East of Scotland. 

Edited by Voice of Reason
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32 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Two. It looks like this would be one to the East and one to the South but can you imagine if relegation is increased and three are relegated to the East of Scotland Premier? Not sure how they would cope because it could have a big impact on promotion and relegation throughout the East of Scotland. 

Best scenario for the league if they both went down then. Flush out the rubbish as quickly as possible 

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1 minute ago, Connor7 said:

Best scenario for the league if they both went down then. Flush out the rubbish as quickly as possible 

Maybe should do that with your bhoys in the Champions league as well, about an equivalent amount of embarrassment, eh. 🤔

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2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Think you already know the answer. If clubs like that had any class and a spirit of Corinthian fair play they would have agreed to modify the relegation format to something sensible by now. They don't so they didn't. The crazy thing is that there's a scenario in which they both get to stay up if the LL champion is promoted and Club 42 is relegated to the Highland League. Brechin replacing Clyde would not be good news for them though.

I mean yes, but im trying to get an understanding of how its actually good for the club or its fans, i mean Edinburgh would get more money from bigger gates against better supported teams in the east than their blood money would get them, Gretna i mean how is that even fun to watch yer team get pummelled? Wouldnt they rather drop down and actually win a game? Madness. 

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2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Think you already know the answer. If clubs like that had any class and a spirit of Corinthian fair play they would have agreed to modify the relegation format to something sensible by now. They don't so they didn't. The crazy thing is that there's a scenario in which they both get to stay up if the LL champion is promoted and Club 42 is relegated to the Highland League. Brechin replacing Clyde would not be good news for them though.

Sounds like nonsense, wishful thinking or both. The decision re. relegation is a league decision voted for by all lowland clubs. If the number of relegated teams hasn't increased, its because the majority of teams haven't voted for it. But that's no crime, the league 2 clubs have done the same. And all four who have been relegated are miles away from returning to that level. Relegation decisions are clearly based entirely on each teams self interest which those who can be bothered can argue the merits of.

But on the other hand all those complaining about it are from teams who paid no interest when the lowland league was conceived and they had a chance to influence. They have since moved to EoS well after the initial invitations and now have to fight through an imperfect system (which is much improved compared to pre lowland). 

Ultimately the promotion/relegation system between tiers 4, 5 and 6 could be better than they are and hopefully they will improve over the next few years. Most sensible people want that.

But those weaker teams took a gamble to play at a high level when others didn't and are under no obligation to give that up for teams looking for an easy route to progress. Everyone will find their level up or down over time in the current system and maybe quicker if the system improves.

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2 minutes ago, Grandmas Enigma said:

Sounds like nonsense, wishful thinking or both. The decision re. relegation is a league decision voted for by all lowland clubs. If the number of relegated teams hasn't increased, its because the majority of teams haven't voted for it. But that's no crime, the league 2 clubs have done the same. And all four who have been relegated are miles away from returning to that level. Relegation decisions are clearly based entirely on each teams self interest which those who can be bothered can argue the merits of.

But on the other hand all those complaining about it are from teams who paid no interest when the lowland league was conceived and they had a chance to influence. They have since moved to EoS well after the initial invitations and now have to fight through an imperfect system (which is much improved compared to pre lowland). 

Ultimately the promotion/relegation system between tiers 4, 5 and 6 could be better than they are and hopefully they will improve over the next few years. Most sensible people want that.

But those weaker teams took a gamble to play at a high level when others didn't and are under no obligation to give that up for teams looking for an easy route to progress. Everyone will find their level up or down over time in the current system and maybe quicker if the system improves.

Thats a lot of really nice words you’ve written, but for many of the clubs in tier 6 they didnt have grounds eligible for the lowland league when it was formed. 

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2 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Thats a lot of really nice words you’ve written, but for many of the clubs in tier 6 they didnt have grounds eligible for the lowland league when it was formed. 

True. But neither did many of the teams who joined at the time. Some still don't which is why they groundshare.

When the league was first formed the teams trying to get involved needed to show a commitment to achieving entry-level licencing. Which would be worked on over time.

Many clubs who could have achieved the necessary were more interested in spending ridiculous wages on players instead of building sustainable progress (I understand that many teams have little patience for this for differing reasons).

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1 minute ago, Grandmas Enigma said:

True. But neither did many of the teams who joined at the time. Some still don't which is why they groundshare.

When the league was first formed the teams trying to get involved needed to show a commitment to achieving entry-level licencing. Which would be worked on over time.

Many clubs who could have achieved the necessary were more interested in spending ridiculous wages on players instead of building sustainable progress (I understand that many teams have little patience for this for differing reasons).

That's a fair point and you can have some sympathy for clubs invested and committed to the LL when others didn't on the basis that the LL would not survive. However, the aim must be more promotion. Increased relegation is one solution but brings problems to the leagues receiving relegated clubs. Expansion of the LL is an alternative and I understand that the current LL Chairman promoted this. 

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55 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Two. It looks like this would be one to the East and one to the South but can you imagine if relegation is increased and three are relegated to the East of Scotland Premier? Not sure how they would cope because it could have a big impact on promotion and relegation throughout the East of Scotland. 

The EoS already accept the extreme of 2 down from the Lowland League with no promotion. The risk of 3 then isn't as dramatic as it sounds. The trade off in positivity would be more likely to have a guaranteed promotion spot or close enough to it for the EoS Premier champion.

 

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Just now, Voice of Reason said:

That's a fair point and you can have some sympathy for clubs invested and committed to the LL when others didn't on the basis that the LL would not survive. However, the aim must be more promotion. Increased relegation is one solution but brings problems to the leagues receiving relegated clubs. Expansion of the LL is an alternative and I understand that the current LL Chairman promoted this. 

Absolutely. I think anyone reasonable would agree that increased promotion and relegation would be preferable.

But also understand that 'turkeys don't vote for Christmas'. And it's all the teams not just the ones at threat of being relegated or in position to get promoted.

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It has been said before I think... But the lowland league can clearly function successfully with 18/19 teams as we've seen with the 'b' sides. Get rid of them, change the leagues stipulation of 16 lowland teams to 18 and increase relegation/promotion places.

Ideally the bottom club in league two would be relegated without playoff and the playoff winner between highland and lowland would go up. Obviously this is less likely to happen but we are dealing with many hypotheticals already anyway.

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5 hours ago, Sarto Mutiny said:

IIRC Tranent play EK on the last day of the season at Forester's. I can't see the league still being up for grabs at that stage, but how good would a last day title decider be?

It was certainly a big thing in the Highland League last season when Brechin visited Buckie needing a win for the title, & ended up getting a very late winner. Biggest crowd that I've seen at an HL game in the years that I've been watching, a couple of pitch invasions from Brechin fans, & a great atmosphere!

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8 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

The EoS already accept the extreme of 2 down from the Lowland League with no promotion. The risk of 3 then isn't as dramatic as it sounds. The trade off in positivity would be more likely to have a guaranteed promotion spot or close enough to it for the EoS Premier champion.

 

I presume there would be a knock-on effect of increased relegation in the EoS and that the EoS accept that. Or would the EoS Premier expand?

 

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42 minutes ago, Cowdenleith said:

Maybe should do that with your bhoys in the Champions league as well, about an equivalent amount of embarrassment, eh. 🤔

Haha shots fired. Or even better… relegate all the yes voters of the B teams. 
 

Changing the subject, some big crowds in the west yesterday with Pollok and the Clydebank games. 
 

Clydebank currently top of the league, be great to see them come up. Replacing them with either Edinburgh uni or Gretna. Or hopefully both

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6 minutes ago, Grandmas Enigma said:

It has been said before I think... But the lowland league can clearly function successfully with 18/19 teams as we've seen with the 'b' sides. Get rid of them, change the leagues stipulation of 16 lowland teams to 18 and increase relegation/promotion places.

Ideally the bottom club in league two would be relegated without playoff and the playoff winner between highland and lowland would go up. Obviously this is less likely to happen but we are dealing with many hypotheticals already anyway.

Lowland League tried to change the number of Clubs last summer to 18. SFA vetoed it !

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5 minutes ago, Grandmas Enigma said:

It has been said before I think... But the lowland league can clearly function successfully with 18/19 teams as we've seen with the 'b' sides. Get rid of them, change the leagues stipulation of 16 lowland teams to 18 and increase relegation/promotion places.

Ideally the bottom club in league two would be relegated without playoff and the playoff winner between highland and lowland would go up. Obviously this is less likely to happen but we are dealing with many hypotheticals already anyway.

Intrigued as to why this is the case, as the corresponding HL constitution permits for a league of up to 20 teams?

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Just now, Grandmas Enigma said:

I didn't know that. But I'm not surprised the sfa are not renowned for common sense/forward thinking.

One theory goes that the SFA are trying to force the LL to provide somewhere for the B teams to play at the moment so will stymie any attempts to improve it.

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1 hour ago, Connor7 said:

If Brechin replaces Clyde is it 1 or 2 that go down? 

 

Under that scenario, 2 would be relegated from the LL to accommodate both Brechin and the champion of the EOS/WOS/SOS play-off.

However it's distinctly possible that no team is relegated - ie East Kilbride defeat Elgin City.  (using both clubs merely as an example).

Edited by Bundesliga Boy
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2 minutes ago, Left Back said:

One theory goes that the SFA are trying to force the LL to provide somewhere for the B teams to play at the moment so will stymie any attempts to improve it.

If that's true it's huge frustrating. But if you look at the bigger picture everyone acts within their own self interest. It's worse when it's the governing bodies with influence (of which we have too many).

I understand the needs of the 'b' teams but I'm not sure being a shit part of the pyramid is the place to accommodate them. A better organised and supported reserve league aligned with a better loan system would perhaps be the way forward.

But also very difficult when considering the afore mentioned country wide self interest.

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