parsforlife Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 So are you proposing a east and west region run in parrarel to LL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 No. LL East and LL West. Which is what should have been on the table in the first place given the population bias in the south. A 2 way geo split was always a nonsense in that respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The juniors were clearly never intended to be part of the "pyramid" by the SFA and there is not going to be a mass migration of junior clubs to the EoS and SoS leagues any time soon to chase the dream of SPFL entry, so there's no point going around on circles on this. What's more interesting is how stable the arrangement that has been put in place will be. Unlike the closed shop that is the Highland League there is a clear, if less than ideal, pathway into the LL for new clubs. The emergence of EKFC, Cumbernauld Colts and BSC Glasgow was surprising and prevented the LL from being a straightforward bolt on of the full members from the EoS and SoS leagues. They will probably be joined next season by either Edusport Academy or as was revealed recently on the LL subforum by Old Northerner last week Haddington Athletic. The rate of future change will be determined by how quickly the excess Borders, Dumfries & Galloway and Uni team filler content gets flushed out by new clubs that gatecrash the party like that and how quickly the LL can become genuinely comparable in quality to the east and west superleagues with clubs that are mainly based where most of the population is along the M8 corridor. That will probably take a couple of decades, but things won't stand still as they are now, and by the time today's committee member generation in SJFA terms departs the scene, the junior grade will probably wind up being very different from what it is now. Crowds are heavily skewed towards people that are the wrong side of 50 (almost there myself), so unless a way can be found to get the younger generation to take an interest, there won't be many people watching junior superleague games in twenty years time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 No. LL East and LL West. Which is what should have been on the table in the first place given the population bias in the south. A 2 way geo split was always a nonsense in that respect. I was meaning in respect to the two year period. Or do you have ll east and west existing on paper only, if so would the clubs in them in season 1 after in 2 years have been decided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Any league directly below the SPFL must contain licenced teams, I think this is correct and reasonable. At the moment, using the SFA's divide, there are 20 teams in the Highland area (all HFL plus BoD and Golspie) and 21 in Lowland (All LFL, CS Strollers, Coldstream, Glasgow Uni, Hawick RA, Linlithgow and Wigtown). I agree that a North/East/West split makes the most sense, but until the number of licenced teams in the Lowland area is at least twice what it currently is, it's not going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Who or what are Edusport Academy? Have Haddington moved into a new ground as the last time we were up there it was nothing special & definitely far away from the license criteria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Northerner Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 it was nothing special Things can change in 14 years Have a flick through some of the recent vids and see what you think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Things can change in 14 years Have a flick through some of the recent vids and see what you think That's true Will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Also do Bsc still play out of Maryhill? If so what's to stop Maryhill getting a license & playing in the Scottish every year like Lithgae & Banks o Dee ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Who or what are Edusport Academy? Have Haddington moved into a new ground as the last time we were up there it was nothing special & definitely far away from the license criteria Edusport Academy are paid by players from France for the chance to be trained as professional players. Weird set up but they either have been or are on the verge of being licensed: http://www.edusportacademy.com/en/home.html No on the new ground for Haddington. Licensing only involves cover for 100 with no need for seats or floodlights, so the bar is actually set quite low where the ground is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Any league directly below the SPFL must contain licenced teams, I think this is correct and reasonable. At the moment, using the SFA's divide, there are 20 teams in the Highland area (all HFL plus BoD and Golspie) and 21 in Lowland (All LFL, CS Strollers, Coldstream, Hawick RA, Linlithgow and Wigtown). I agree that a North/East/West split makes the most sense, but until the number of licenced teams in the Lowland area is at least twice what it currently is, it's not going to happen. I don't disagree. But common sense tells us that a 2 way split is nonsense. So if there was some commitment to rectifying this by splitting the southern half then I'd expect that to encourage a significant number of clubs in the west of Scotland to make the effort to secure their licence. I don't think anyone looks at the way junior football is regionalised and thinks that's nonsense. It is one reason why the junior lowland league equivalent got buried before it really surfaced. Does anyone actually think that the split into two is an optimal solution given the football demographic in this country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Also do Bsc still play out of Maryhill? If so what's to stop Maryhill getting a license & playing in the Scottish every year like Lithgae & Banks o Dee ? Yes, and the obstacle is that clubs need to sign a commitment to engaging with the pyramid at the earliest opportunity, which is usually assumed to mean leaving the SJFA and joining the EoS or SoS instead, although that has yet to be tested in practice. Lithgae got a waiver on that as they started their application before the new requirement was brought in and there is no feeder to the HL up north so Banks O'Dee have nowhere to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Yes, and the obstacle is that clubs need to sign a commitment to engaging with the pyramid at the earliest opportunity, which is usually assumed to mean leaving the SJFA and joining the EoS or SoS instead, although that has yet to be tested in practice. Lithgae got a waiver on that as they started their application before the new requirement was brought in and there is no feeder to the HL up north so Banks O'Dee have nowhere to go. No worries cheers Sounds a load of bureaucratic nonsense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I don't disagree. But common sense tells us that a 2 way split is nonsense. So if there was some commitment to rectifying this by splitting the southern half then I'd expect that to encourage a significant number of clubs in the west of Scotland to make the effort to secure their licence. I don't think anyone looks at the way junior football is regionalised and thinks that's nonsense. It is one reason why the junior lowland league equivalent got buried before it really surfaced. Does anyone actually think that the split into two is an optimal solution given the football demographic in this country? I agree with you here, if there were a statement of intent that East and West Lowland Leagues would be created were enough clubs committed to the licence (twelve-ish more?) then I could see more clubs going for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 It's also not nearly as simple as the ground standards. This is regardless of maryhills willingness to sign the agreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 To be honest & this is just my personal opinion the ll was created to protect the lower spfl sides as only 1 or 2 teams in it will realistically ever challenge your east Stirlings of this world for promotion/relegation where as there would be about a dozen junior teams who realistically give them a run for their money No disrespect but Haddington will hardly have them shaking in their boots as well Self preservation society Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 ...there is no feeder to the HL up north so Banks O'Dee have nowhere to go. I only noticed today that Golspie now have an entry licence too, so that's two teams outwith the HFL in the North. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 So basically almost all of the full members will be finding their way into licensing courtesy of the SFA funding grants that were specifically targeted at them and were not available to other clubs. Anyone know if Girvan are trying to get entry level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 So basically almost all of the full members will be finding their way into licensing courtesy of the SFA funding grants that were specifically targeted at them and were not available to other clubs. Anyone know if Girvan are trying to get entry level? They must have applied, they are in the list of licenced clubs, but their application was refused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think that is just the SFA's way of a "default listing"... Clubs like BSC Glasgow and Cumbernauld Colts never appeared in it last season then promptly turned-out to have obtained their licences, while all members have been appearing in it for months (years) and clearly haven't all been coming forward continuously and getting knocked-back. That said, the 3 other SFA members yet to obtain are known to be working towards it, I'd guess Girvan are too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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