Difference from top Amateur & low league Junior

[Footiedaft]

I've seen a lot of football this season and without naming teams in either Junior or Amateur ranks there are definitely teams out there in the amateur leagues who would at the very least cause problems for their junior counterparts. Do top amateur players not strive to get into the Juniors or is there no longer the prestige associated with being at a "higher level"?

Speaking to a work colleague recently he was telling me his son has been offered a greater incentive to play amateur next season than he would get from his junior side and he was making the move as nothing was really happening for him at Junior level in terms of getting a perceived bigger club.

I think there is a case to be made for some Junior clubs appearing to lose their perceived higher status. What would be more appealing for a lad leaving Under 21s for example?  In days gone by the offer of a Junior team would have been enough to leave amateur football behind but these days some of the magic seems to have disappeared and it cant all be because some amateur teams are offering greater incentives.

The standards seem to be merging at that lower league level and some junior clubs seem to exist more in name than in quality. At the top of the game there is a real gulf in ability and the top junior sides will continue to thrive and attract players but will there come a day when the less successful sides, all fighting to stay afloat will drift away and become memories rather than stalwarts of their leagues? Is it really worth retaining a team in some towns when success or even infrequent victories, a sugar daddy notwithstanding, is unlikely to happen.

Maybe there is a way of regenerating the smaller sides with community projects or youth initiatives as discussed before, I hope so because Junior football is an important part of Scottish Football but with time moving on I fear it might be too late for some to grow organically and serious sponsors are not easy to come by.

Been a highly enjoyable season and hopefully end positively for many.

 

 

 

[ScottMcCorry]

Spoiler

 

To give my pedigree as someone who is relatively new to Junior football, i was involved at amateur level for around 12 years...mostly Saturday morning, a wee bit of Saturday afternoon and latterly in the Sunday league.

First off, it scunnered me then and scunners me now, that folk are cheating in amateur football. I mind Windlaw afternoons coming up against an outstanding Hurlford side, with the big striker laughing about how he gets £50 a goal...the fact is, the men at the top knows it happens and don't, wont and ultimately cant do anything to stop it. I am led to believe the whole Central league pay folk in some way or form.

On the flipside, i lost a player to Lanark United a few years back (he subsequently went on up the leagues and maybe a Super prem player) and i went to watch him...there was this fantastically gifted centre mid, basically playing in the mud, in front of 40 folk...grinding out a win. Outwith a couple of nicker, i couldn't see how he could enjoy this 'higher level' over my team, who at that point had been playing some great on the deck football. However, unlike your son, he was noticed and stepped up soon after, an i hope he continue to climb.

Ultimately imo, playerwise its really a personal thing...are you in it for money, are you in for the adulation, are you in for personal pride...clubwise, i have seen the good a Junior club can make in a community, and i myself have been part of a generation who totally ignored it.

I look at Greenock and do question what is going on there. Shirley there is a club who should be backed by the whole area....but i read they are struggling badly. Hopefully a few enthusiastic guys get a hold of it and reach their potential.

[Mr.Albert]

The top amateur teams would more than hold their own especially in the second division and the bottom  end of the first.

The structure and the organisation is just as good if not better. As was said earlier the financial rewards can be better as well.  There is not the same pull to play junior as there used to be and I think that shows in the standard of junior football now compared to say 5 or maybe 10 years ago..

A lot of players want to play with their pals on a Saturday morning and then go to the pub in the afternoon, also the commitment of training two nights a week with some players is just not there.

I agree that if a junior club gets involved the local community likes of St. Rochs,  Rossvale,  Beith, Auchilnleck, and others then the rewards can be great.

[ScottMcCorry]

...but is it fair to call the top amateur teams, "amateur"? The top amateur pay more than most Central First.

I tend to think, one or 2 games...a well run amateur team could win games...over a season, i'd like to think that your Junior teams would last the distance.

[tommyboy]

54 minutes ago, ScottMcCorry said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

To give my pedigree as someone who is relatively new to Junior football, i was involved at amateur level for around 12 years...mostly Saturday morning, a wee bit of Saturday afternoon and latterly in the Sunday league.

First off, it scunnered me then and scunners me now, that folk are cheating in amateur football. I mind Windlaw afternoons coming up against an outstanding Hurlford side, with the big striker laughing about how he gets £50 a goal...the fact is, the men at the top knows it happens and don't, wont and ultimately cant do anything to stop it. I am led to believe the whole Central league pay folk in some way or form.

On the flipside, i lost a player to Lanark United a few years back (he subsequently went on up the leagues and maybe a Super prem player) and i went to watch him...there was this fantastically gifted centre mid, basically playing in the mud, in front of 40 folk...grinding out a win. Outwith a couple of nicker, i couldn't see how he could enjoy this 'higher level' over my team, who at that point had been playing some great on the deck football. However, unlike your son, he was noticed and stepped up soon after, an i hope he continue to climb.

Ultimately imo, playerwise its really a personal thing...are you in it for money, are you in for the adulation, are you in for personal pride...clubwise, i have seen the good a Junior club can make in a community, and i myself have been part of a generation who totally ignored it.

I look at Greenock and do question what is going on there. Shirley there is a club who should be backed by the whole area....but i read they are struggling badly. Hopefully a few enthusiastic guys get a hold of it and reach their potential.

That would have been Michael Mullen,probably one of the best players that I've seen in the Ammies,and whose performance against Colville Park in a Scottish Cup final,lit up Rugby Park.

[ScottMcCorry]

14 minutes ago, tommyboy said:

That would have been Michael Mullen,probably one of the best players that I've seen in the Ammies,and whose performance against Colville Park in a Scottish Cup final,lit up Rugby Park.

The very man....Hurlford were a shower of cocks that day as well i note.

[tommyboy]

1 minute ago, ScottMcCorry said:

The very man....Hurlford were a shower of cocks that day as well i note.

Well,however we may label them,there's no denying that at that time they were an excellent fitba team and,as Colville were also in that category,it made for a good watch as the game went to extra time and pens.

[Wild Winton Rover]

Im sure everyone is aware that 'expenses' are being paid by a number of amateur teams. I wonder if these are held up to the same scrutiny that SJFA expects its clubs to comply with HMRC rules. Therefore this is one of the reasons that junior clubs are unable to attract players from amateur ranks. Would amateur clubs be able to operate the weekly reporting of and monthly payments to HMRC of tax. Blind eye being turned by SAFA over a number of years.

[pie n beans]

Of course they wouldn't and teams who do pay amateur players have no interest in going down that route and these amateur teams always fade away. A good amateur team , I mean the top teams could cope on a game to game basis but over a season a good junior team would be a better bet.

[quickoverayard]

When I left ammie to play junior I was the first player in 20 years to go from the local amateur team to the juniors, I done this under the impression that it was a better standard of football and I would enjoy myself playing with better players. Truth was I ended up hating it, I got paid £2000 signing on fee which was split over 4 payments and for that little amount of cash it felt as if you were owned, attitude of more senior players made me feel like an outsider because I came from amateur football even tho 2 years prior to playing ammie I was playing pro and for reasons only a few people knew about it never worked out, yes facilities, training etc was of a better standard and players were better but for what you had to put in against what you got back was not worth it by any means. I totally understand why players want to play with their pals as an amateur and if they get expenses then so be it..... I myself went back to play amateur and had boots etc bought for me. As long as we keep people playing football at any level I'm all for that and who are we to question why they are where they are and playing at the level the are....... could name a few senior players who are stealing a living or a few boys who are happy to sit on the bench at a super league club just for the cash!!!!

[Hillonearth]

At the very top level of the amateur game there are a lot of players who could easily step up, but are making better "expenses" than most junior clubs would be able to "reimburse" them for - it's an open secret, and fair play to them if they'd rather trouser the cash than test themselves.

There are also a lot of standout players at amateur level who stay there purely for the cameraderie - I reckon most clubs can remember at least one player who came from the amateur ranks only to leave two or three weeks later stating "I'd rather play wi' ma mates..." We had one like that several years ago - again fair play to him, as he and his mates went on to lift the Scottish Amateur Cup a few years ago...

[allabootgoals]

5 hours ago, ScottMcCorry said:

  Hide contents

 

To give my pedigree as someone who is relatively new to Junior football, i was involved at amateur level for around 12 years...mostly Saturday morning, a wee bit of Saturday afternoon and latterly in the Sunday league.

First off, it scunnered me then and scunners me now, that folk are cheating in amateur football. I mind Windlaw afternoons coming up against an outstanding Hurlford side, with the big striker laughing about how he gets £50 a goal...the fact is, the men at the top knows it happens and don't, wont and ultimately cant do anything to stop it. I am led to believe the whole Central league pay folk in some way or form.

On the flipside, i lost a player to Lanark United a few years back (he subsequently went on up the leagues and maybe a Super prem player) and i went to watch him...there was this fantastically gifted centre mid, basically playing in the mud, in front of 40 folk...grinding out a win. Outwith a couple of nicker, i couldn't see how he could enjoy this 'higher level' over my team, who at that point had been playing some great on the deck football. However, unlike your son, he was noticed and stepped up soon after, an i hope he continue to climb.

Ultimately imo, playerwise its really a personal thing...are you in it for money, are you in for the adulation, are you in for personal pride...clubwise, i have seen the good a Junior club can make in a community, and i myself have been part of a generation who totally ignored it.

I look at Greenock and do question what is going on there. Shirley there is a club who should be backed by the whole area....but i read they are struggling badly. Hopefully a few enthusiastic guys get a hold of it and reach their potential.

The part in Bold about the Whole of the Central league is a sweeping statement. Or as I'd like to call it alot of Bullshit. Sticking 30+ clubs under the same banner because of a few rumours regarding 2 or 3 teams.