National Conference League

[Nowhereman]

Genuinely can’t understand why this would appeal to league two sides. Relegation to a league of six where two end up in relegation positions. So a one in three chance. And likely next to no crowds against the colts. Also would the colts have to follow the fixture list or could they just postpone if it didn’t suit like they do in the lowland league. Even if this doesn’t get passed it certainly proves that the SFA don’t have Scottish footballs best interests at heart if you still needed any proof

[stm]

21 hours ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Pages 1-4 can be found here.

As expected it's the usual game of B team bingo. They're daft enough to include Brentford B as an example. A club that doesn't play in an organised league. So why don't the Scottish B teams go do that since it's such a brilliant example?

Also had a chuckle at Callum McGregor being used since his 37 first team appearances before 21 came from being on-loan at Notts County.

Like many I was highly sceptical of this idea but the fact that the proposal points out Romeo Beckham has recently joined Brentford has swayed me towards it being a wonderful idea instead.  Now all we need is to collect semen from all the greats of Scottish football to produce new stars and in 20-30 years time we'll have international tournament success.  Don't ask Kenny Dalglish however, Paul was rubbish.

[Footballfirst]

5 hours ago, cowdenbeath said:

Berwick and Gretna arn’t all that far away with decent rail and road links, Dalbeattie are out of the equation now.

Correct in travel terms. 

In terms of latitude, Shielfield Park in Berwick is further north than K Park in East Kilbride, John Cumming stadium Carluke and Gasworks Park Larkhall, as well as Rugby Park, Somerset Park etc. 

[cowdenbeath]

38 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

Correct in travel terms. 

In terms of latitude, Shielfield Park in Berwick is further north than K Park in East Kilbride, John Cumming stadium Carluke and Gasworks Park Larkhall, as well as Rugby Park, Somerset Park etc. 

Don't bother about that as long as I can get there easily.

[EdinburghBlue]

9 hours ago, Marten said:

They'd probably increase the league to 11 with the Bigot Brothers' C teams...

Unfair to their D teams if you want my opinion 

[rockson]

8 hours ago, HorseyGhirl said:

 

See this pish about travel 'it really pisses me off to no end'.

 

Sorry, I know people don't like posts about language but this mishearing type of thing irritates me.  "To no end" does not mean "endlessly" - that would be just "no end". "To no end" actually means "without an end in sight"" ie "without purpose," which I'm sure isn't what you meant to say .

Again apologies if I upset anyone with this but I think linguistic distinctions are worth preserving.

Edited May 14, 2023 by rockson

[kingbob1875]

3 hours ago, stm said:

Don't ask Kenny Dalglish however, Paul was rubbish.

Yes, but Paul was stuck at the Liverpool academy with guys like Steven Gerrard.

With the new conference league, Paul 2.0 would avoid this and instead reach the pinnacle of world football after a few seasons sharpening his skills against Brora Rangers, University of Stirling and a plethora of other B teams.

[Deanburn Dave]

14 minutes ago, rockson said:

........Again apologies if I upset anyone with this but I think linguistic distinctions are worth preserving.

I would guess that 99.99% of P&B posters don't care.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, rockson said:

Sorry, I know people don't like posts about language but this mishearing type of thing irritates me.  "To no end" does not mean "endlessly" - that would be just "no end". "To no end" actually means "without an end in sight"" ie "without purpose," which I'm sure isn't what you meant to say .

Again apologies if I upset anyone with this but I think linguistic distinctions are worth preserving.

Dude no apologies required. 

It's a quote from Big Trouble in Little China by the character Egg Shen.

"Now this really pisses me off to no end"

I am a saddo who uses movie quotes in his posts and in everyday life.

Edited May 14, 2023 by HorseyGhirl

[Burnieman]

8 hours ago, HorseyGhirl said:

Heh fully appreciate what you're saying and all the points are a real issue for the clubs.

Was just using it to make a general statement 're the travel.

Hear it a bit down here:

Oh South players don't like to travel all the way to Lanarkshire that's why we need our own wee league.

Some of the journeys asked of part-timers, especially during the week are ludicrous but in this day and age for weekends especially, the roads network is good and as long as fixtures people are on the ball there shouldn't be any ridiculous journeys asked.

It's the bleating about it that grinds.

Wee story. 

Was a boy who for a few months last year lived down here and played for a west side. Never missed training or a match. Getting up in wee small hours and returning back to the Stewartry extremely late. Was working full time too. Not advocating that to be the norm. But have heard of players living in West Glasgow moaning about having to travel through to the Lanarkshire's on the odd occasion. That's laughable.

What you have to bear in mind is that every players circumstance is different, every players view of travel is different.

What the game shouldn't be doing IMO is putting 100's of part-time players with full-time jobs in the position of spending hours in cars/buses getting to a game to play in front of 100 people. Same with fans.

I'll use the example of Albion Rovers v Elgin City, and Stirling Albion v Peterhead games I've been to, both of these were on a Saturday afternoon. The traveling support for both numbered less than 20 in each instance. That was central Scotland, on a Saturday, if the host clubs had been Stranraer or Annan or QoS, it may have been even worse. So who does it really benefit, not the visiting clubs support given so very few make the effort.

To make this relevant and not go off on too much of a tangent,  how many Brora or Buckie or Formartine fans would travel to Hearts B, or Tranent, or Uni of Stirling (and vice versa). How many of their players would say "no thanks" and move to a HL club instead. It's utter nonsense to travel those distances at tier 5.

[craigkillie]

Stirling Albion v Peterhead would still be a fixture even if they split the third and fourth tiers into north and south divisions. Based on the 20 clubs from 2022/23, you'd have the following divisions:
 

Tier 3 North

Elgin
Peterhead
Montrose
Forfar
East Fife
Kelty
Stirling
Alloa
Dunfermline
Stenhousemuir
 

Tier 3 South

Falkirk
Edinburgh
Dumbarton
Bonnyrigg
Albion Rovers
Clyde
Airdrie
Annan
Queen of the South
Stranraer

Edited May 14, 2023 by craigkillie

[Gordon EF]

The famous, "why are we asking Stranraer to play Elgin on a Tuesday night" argument.

There have been precisely 0 (zero) midweek evening fixtures in League Two this season where a team South of the Central belt has played a team North of the central belt. So there's a good chance these types of fixtures simply never happen over a season, and if they do, they're very likely to be one-offs.

Some clubs are always going to rack up the miles no matter the structure of the leagues.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Burnieman said:

What you have to bear in mind is that every players circumstance is different, every players view of travel is different.

What the game shouldn't be doing IMO is putting 100's of part-time players with full-time jobs in the position of spending hours in cars/buses getting to a game to play in front of 100 people. Same with fans.

I'll use the example of Albion Rovers v Elgin City, and Stirling Albion v Peterhead games I've been to, both of these were on a Saturday afternoon. The traveling support for both numbered less than 20 in each instance. That was central Scotland, on a Saturday, if the host clubs had been Stranraer or Annan or QoS, it may have been even worse. So who does it really benefit, not the visiting clubs support given so very few make the effort.

To make this relevant and not go off on too much of a tangent,  how many Brora or Buckie or Formartine fans would travel to Hearts B, or Tranent, or Uni of Stirling (and vice versa). How many of their players would say "no thanks" and move to a HL club instead. It's utter nonsense to travel those distances at tier 5.

Aye I understand and appreciate some of the hassles players go through. It's maybe a generational thing. Just seems to be the younger generations moan about everything.

In my day as a boy we thought nothing of getting multiple buses to get to training and matches. When my son was that age everyone needed lifted and laid door to door.

When I moved down to the Midlands for work didn't have a car for a wee while. Lived in a wee village and played in a nearby town. Can't mind mileage but walked to the ground, club had a minibus to get around the county, can you imagine anyone doing that these days.

Anyways I was just having a moan. Ironic I know.

[cowdenbeath]

8 hours ago, Gordon EF said:

The famous, "why are we asking Stranraer to play Elgin on a Tuesday night" argument.

There have been precisely 0 (zero) midweek evening fixtures in League Two this season where a team South of the Central belt has played a team North of the central belt. So there's a good chance these types of fixtures simply never happen over a season, and if they do, they're very likely to be one-offs.

Some clubs are always going to rack up the miles no matter the structure of the leagues.

And half the Elgin squad come from down this way, same with Peterhead.

[Guest]

Jeez didn't intend to open up a sub debate on this.

Not advocating Brora v Tweedmouth on a regular basis or at all.

Being involved with other sports can see first hand the dedication that is almost demanded of the participants. A point to make is enjoy it while you can and as much as you can. You dont know what's around the corner.

Another wee story:

Girl my lass knows was an eventer (that's the 3 different disciplines). This girl was in the Novice GB squad. Anyways had a horrific fall, was in a wheelchair for couple of years has metal pins all over and walks with crutches. Main point does she sit around moaning no she now does the only horse discipline she can Dressage and guess what now on the cusp of GB squad. 

So enjoy doing whatever sport you do and have a laugh.

Please nobody reply, this thread is focused on this God awful conference crap. I won't digress again. Promise.

[welshbairn]

Excellent stuff from Aberdeen..

Quote

All 42 SPFL clubs were invited to express an interest in enrolling a B Team in a newly created Conference League, proposed to sit at the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid.

The new league, due to start in the 2024/25 season, would include several B Teams, two clubs from the Highland League and four from the Lowland League.

B Teams would comprise a majority of Scottish U21 players, with the stated ambition of providing competitive, meaningful game-time for emerging players in the developmental years between the youth academy and first-team football.

Aberdeen FC has carefully reviewed the detailed criteria, including a mandatory financial contribution and the expectations around what a B Team infrastructure would look like in terms of additional players and support staff.

Senior members of our executive, together with the Chairman, and our football management and development staff assessed the benefits and feasibility of being involved in this new league.

At the conclusion of that exercise, the Club has decided to reject the invitation.

Chief Executive Alan Burrows said: “We spent considerable time assessing the impact on our player development strategy, including the player pathway, and reviewed the cost/benefit of entering a B team in the Conference League.

“We also took account of feedback from other stakeholders, supporters and considered the decades long relationships we’ve had with Junior and Highland League clubs, including clubs who are now established in the SPFL.

“The player pathway challenge we would face with a team in the fifth tier is that “one size does not fit all”.

“We have young players who need experience at higher levels in the pyramid. To accommodate that, and have a full-time B team, we would need to have around 55 full-time players. We estimated additional annual costs of around £400,000.

“While we have said no to the SPFL and Scottish FA about entering the proposed Conference League in 2024/25, we are keen to explore other options such as a strategic partnership with another SPFL club, where expanding some of the loan regulations would be key to ensuring Aberdeen FC continues to be one of the best developers of young talent in the country.

“We will therefore continue to push our best young talent to our first team as quickly as possible, along with using the loan market to provide player pathway experience, which has been impactful for the Club over many years.”

 

https://www.afc.co.uk/2023/05/15/aberdeen-reject-conference-league-invitation/

Edited May 15, 2023 by welshbairn

[FairWeatherFan]

5 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Excellent stuff from Aberdeen..

https://www.afc.co.uk/2023/05/15/aberdeen-reject-conference-league-invitation/

I know the Brora representative came out in favour for this, but really anyone with a smidge of sense in the Highland must run from the idea.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

I know the Brora representative came out in favour for this, but really anyone with a smidge of sense in the Highland must run from the idea.

Wouldn't surprise me if the other Brora directors and chairman are raging at him. I think he's been active in the SFA for decades, gone native..

[welshbairn]

Maybe the start of Ian Maxwell's nightmare..

[Pyramid Watcher]

38 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Maybe the start of Ian Maxwell's nightmare..

If you think he actually gives a flying fcuk about this then you are mistaken, he will still pick up his £300k per year regardless of the outcome.