New clubs in the East of Scotland

[Salvo Montalbano]

A reasonable argument I agree.......however the play-off system is loaded against the HFL/SLL champions insofar as they have to play a 2 legged semi-final,  before playing club 42 in the SPFL.Twice as many play offs after a long season. 
Also in England, there isn't  a relegation playoff system. If you are in the designated relegation positions, you are relegated. There is no chance of a reprieve, by playing 2  play off games against the winning play off club from the tier below.

Worth noting of course that the SPFL League 2 teams play 36 League fixtures against 34 for the Highland League team and 30 for the Lowland League team. There are extra cups at both levels and I suppose it's more likely that the top Highland and Lowland teams will play most cup ties than a struggling League 2 side, but I wouldn't say the extra 2 games in the play off phase have that much of an effect, especially since they are played at weekends and not Tuesday-Saturday like the SPFL play offs are.

[Slaverysam]

High time a fire was lit under some of these dead beat league 2 clubs

[EdinburghBlue]

With no offence meant to East Stirling, Elgin, Montrose or Berwick they've spent most of the last decade milling around the bottom half of the bottom league. When a coupla teams like Arbroath, Brechin, Stranraer or Alloa find themselves relegated, or regularly close to it over a period of time, the fear of being trapped in the Lowland/Highland league will see promotion/relegation opened up.

Hadn’t realised that Alloa, Arbroath and Brechin were so highly regarded [emoji6]

[SimonLichtie]

8 minutes ago, Slaverysam said:

High time a fire was lit under some of these dead beat league 2 clubs

What 'dead beat' clubs are you referring too? The smallest club in League 2 is Edinburgh City, the only club to have been promoted from the Lowland League.

Are you trying to make an argument against promotion/ relegation from League 2 and saying it should be a closed shop again?

[SimonLichtie]

1 minute ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Hadn’t realised that Alloa, Arbroath and Brechin were so highly regarded

If we ever go down to the Highland League it would be the end of us - and I am rather confident the SPFL wouldn't give a flying f**k about that.

[Slaverysam]

What 'dead beat' clubs are you referring too? The smallest club in League 2 is Edinburgh City, the only club to have been promoted from the Lowland League.
Are you trying to make an argument against promotion/ relegation from League 2 and saying it should be a closed shop again?

The exact opposite my friend am very much an advocate for relegation from league 2

[SimonLichtie]

3 minutes ago, Slaverysam said:

The exact opposite my friend am very much an advocate for relegation from league 2

Oh I know, sarcasm doesn't appear to come across too well on here

As I asked; what 'dead beat' clubs are you referring too?

[Burnie_man]

I wonder how they will seed the three sections now, maybe 1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3 etc based on league positions? therefore Bonnyrigg, Linlithgow and Penicuik all in separate sections, same with Hawick, LTHV and Preston?

[FairWeatherFan]

14 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:

I wonder how they will seed the three sections now, maybe 1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3 etc based on league positions? therefore Bonnyrigg, Linlithgow and Penicuik all in separate sections, same with Hawick, LTHV and Preston?

There's already a couple of breakdowns buried in the thread. If I wasn't on my phone I'd quote them.

[lithgierose]

Will the eosfl rubber stamp every application for certain ? 

[Pyramidic]

On 6/3/2018 at 15:47, Pyramidic said:

Over the moon with the restructuring of the EoSL.
 

I would suggest that the 3 Conferences (13 teams in each) are formed by first establishing 13 pools each with 3 teams based on current league positions.  This seeding will give us the following:

Pool 1
Hawick Royal Albert, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, Preston Athletic

Pool 2
Leith Athletic, Tynecastle, Heriot-Watt University

Pool 3
Peebles Rovers, Burntisland Shipyard, University of Stirling reserves

Pool 4
Coldstream, Eyemouth United, Ormiston

Pool 5
Tweedmouth Rangers, Dunipace Juniors, Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts

Pool 6
Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, Linlithgow Rose, Penicuik Athletic

Pool 7
Dundonald Bluebell, Broxburn Athletic, Hill of Beath Hawthorn

Pool 8
Bo'ness United, Camelon Juniors, Newtongrange Star

Pool 9
Sauchie Juniors, Jeanfield Swifts, Musselburgh Athletic

Pool 10
Haddington Athletic, Blackburn United, Dunbar United

Pool 11
Tranent Juniors, St Andrews United, Arniston Rangers

Pool 12
Dalkeith Thistle, Edinburgh United, Oakley United

Pool 13
Crossgates Primrose, Craigroyston, Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare

A draw should then be made in front of the member clubs to determine which teams from Pool 1 go in Conference A, Conference B and Conference C; which teams from Pool 2 go in Conference A, Conference B and Conference C etc. etc. This process will enable the constitution of each conference to be fairly determined by a draw while at the same time using realistic seeding. (Pool 5 - Tweedmouth Rangers, Dunipace Juniors, Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts - is the difficult one to seed and basically incorporates those teams that are left over).


The provision of a 3 team Championship Play-off League at the end of the season is an awkward process but must be fairly addressed.

Again I would suggest a seeding process - with the Conference champions with the most points (or better goal difference) being seeded No. 1. The next best No. 2. The team with the lowest number of points being No.3

We will then have 6 matches (4 games for each team) in a mini-league (home and away)

1 v 3
3 v 2
2 v 1

3 v 1
2 v 3
1 v 2

If the seeding is correct then everything will depend on the last match 1 v 2 (with 1 having home advantage).

It is a bit messy but I cannot think of a fairer process. It will probably mean that the Championship Play-off League will take 3 weeks to complete. I suppose the other option would be to play a single round of games perhaps using neutral grounds.


The EoSL Championship winners will meet the winners of the SoSL in a 2 leg Lowland Promotion Playoff to determine the promoted team.

The teams finishing 1 to 5 in each of the 3 Conferences will enter the EoSL Premier (Tier 6) in 2019/20 (with the probable exception of the Champions who will be replaced by the last placed team in the Lowland League).


There is then the issue of how to determine Club No.16 for the EoSL Premier in 2019/20.

It could be one of four:

1. The EoSL championship winners are not promoted as they lose the Lowland Promotion Playoff with the winners of the SoSL.

2. An additional club relegated from the Lowland League because of a relegated club from SPFL2; OR

3. Clydebank - if the WoSL is a non-starter; OR

4. The winners of a Promotion Playoff between the 3 teams finishing sixth in the 3 Conferences (similar format to the Championship Play-off League?) 


All the remaining teams in the 3 Conferences drop to Tier 7 in 2019/20 - possibly Division 1 North and Division 1 South.


It is a little more complicated than it first seems. Is my logic correct?

The weak area in my view is the delay created by a 3 week Championship Play-off League before the EoSL Championship winners can meet the winners of the SoSL in a 2 leg Lowland Promotion Playoff.

Previous thread - responding to Burnie_man.

 

I agreed with the debate that the Pools / Pots should be rejigged so that - Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, Linlithgow Rose - are in the same Pot.

I can amend the Pools/Pots if anyone is interested

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Pyramidic

[Cyril]

8 minutes ago, lithgierose said:

Will the eosfl rubber stamp every application for certain ? 

They've already said its definitely 3 leagues of 13, so that pretty much means every team has been accepted plus 2 who haven't went public, believed to be Sauchie and Oakley

[FairWeatherFan]

12 minutes ago, lithgierose said:

Will the eosfl rubber stamp every application for certain ? 

They've announced a 39 team proposal. During the first deadline an amateur had put in an application only to be told they didn't meet the ground requirements at present.

It's only for the clubs to mess things up now.

[Stag Nation]

53 minutes ago, Pyramidic said:

I can amend the Pools/Pots if anyone is interested

 

What would be the point, as it's entirely speculative? We'll know the real thing soon enough.

[Pyramidic]

9 minutes ago, Stag Nation said:

What would be the point, as it's entirely speculative? We'll know the real thing soon enough.

I get the impression that the EoSL admin do read the P&B. No "head in the sand stuff" this side of the divide. Good ideas might prosper - but I am not saying that making a draw for the 3 Conferences would work if the fixture secretary has to build in a number of permutations - ground sharing, no floodlights etc. At least we will have a proper Fixtures List to scrutinise and admire in the near future.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Pyramidic

[Slaverysam]

Will the eosfl rubber stamp every application for certain ? 

Most likely, though another West Lothian club have made a pre AGM enquirey

[Slaverysam]

Oh I know, sarcasm doesn't appear to come across too well on here [emoji6]
As I asked; what 'dead beat' clubs are you referring too?

Hang on, how many in the division......10, there's your answer

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, Stag Nation said:

 

What would be the point, as it's entirely speculative? We'll know the real thing soon enough.

He's got nothing better to do.

[Born To Run]

2 hours ago, Slaverysam said:

Most likely, though another West Lothian club have made a pre AGM enquirey

Hmm. If I were part of the EoS, it’d be a case of saying “sorry, we already extended the deadline”...unless 2 others come forward as well to keep the 3 divisions equal.

[LongTimeLurker]

Beyond the 42 thing, I suspect a club like Bathgate might be listened to with a bit more interest than a club like Stoneyburn. Time will tell.