Junior football, what is the future?

[Che Dail]

10 minutes ago, Goalie Hamish said:

Still plenty space then for Junior refugees

No limit...

[Robert James]

On 25/01/2018 at 17:12, Hillonearth said:

Few minor points from that:

Logically Fort William are destined for one of the North leagues in the event of relegation opening up from the SHFL rather than any putative West League surely?

Glasgow Uni appear to have little to no interest in doing anything more than using their current grandfather rights to enter the Scottish Cup. 

Threave have already had their fingers burned by two or three seasons of LL and chose to go back SoS - they're unlikely to want to jump back into the frying pan of a league they singularly failed to compete in.

 

Glasgow Uni won't consider the pyramid unless a West feeder is established.

[Cyclizine]

Glasgow Uni won't consider the pyramid unless a West feeder is established.

I suspect Fort William won't be around in the HFL next season, either.

[ShahktarYerMaw]

Glasgow Uni won't consider the pyramid unless a West feeder is established.

Who runs the Glasgow Uni team?

[LongTimeLurker]

On 2018/01/25 at 19:12, Hillonearth said:

Few minor points from that:

Logically Fort William are destined for one of the North leagues in the event of relegation opening up from the SHFL rather than any putative West League surely?

If the line of latitude for the boundary is defined by the mouth of the River North Esk they are still in the HL catchment by a few miles,  but Oban is now solidly in LL territory after being very close to the dividing line when it was the River Tay that was used.

[Hillonearth]

3 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

I suspect Fort William won't be around in the HFL next season, either.

They've been struggling for a good few years now on and off the field, but with their entire committee quitting at the end of this season, it might well be curtains for them.

Shame, 'cos Claggan Park's a must for everyone to see a game at at some point.

[HawHaw]

On 24/11/2017 at 15:19, non_sequitur said:

 

I think fowk ken whit the problem is here the boys in charge need tae get rid of this loony fur guid ruined the fife forum wi his pish

 

Cooper ruined the Fife Forum a KEN it, You KEN it , even Patsy KENsit. Hahaha

[Cyclizine]

They've been struggling for a good few years now on and off the field, but with their entire committee quitting at the end of this season, it might well be curtains for them.
Shame, 'cos Claggan Park's a must for everyone to see a game at at some point.

They could probably manage as a NCL team again, less fixtures, lower standard, local players. With the board leaving, unless there's a sudden surge of interest, I think it's the end of the road, sadly. Shame as, you're right, Claggan is a fantastic ground.

[Goalie Hamish]

On 1/29/2018 at 15:47, Hillonearth said:

They've been struggling for a good few years now on and off the field, but with their entire committee quitting at the end of this season, it might well be curtains for them.

Shame, 'cos Claggan Park's a must for everyone to see a game at at some point.

Why are they quitting?

[Hillonearth]

30 minutes ago, Goalie Hamish said:

Why are they quitting?

Think it's been the same small group of people keeping the club running and dipping into their own pockets to subsidise it for a few years now.

A couple of them are retiring, and I get the impression that what's going to be left realise they're not going to be enough to carry on, so they're resigning en masse effective the end of the season in the hope a new group come forward to take on the running of the club.

They're not well supported by the town, so although I hope it's not the case, things don't look good for them.

If you've got the groundhopper gene, I suggest you get up there before the end of April - you'll thank me for it.

 

[Unknown Fan]

On 1/29/2018 at 13:25, ShahktarYerMaw said:

 

Who runs the Glasgow Uni team?

 

Donnie Ferguson he was a past Graduate and 1st team manager of years, decades.  Think he is now the President of the Club, whatever roll that entails.  He was the one drawing the teams out of the hat for this years first round of Scottish Cup.

So he would be a good man to ask and chat to about possible WOS and thought of the structure and plans for upgrading Garscube if any.

Regarding Fort William would be good if they could keep going in the NCL and keep their membership to the SFA and so entering in the Preliminary Rounds with Golspie.  

Like Goalie Hamish, anything official regarding this and secondly this is a Junior thread.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Unknown Fan

[stanley]

On 1/29/2018 at 03:39, Robert James said:

Glasgow Uni won't consider the pyramid unless a West feeder is established.

Source?

[Jambo'ness]

On ‎29‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 15:47, Hillonearth said:

They've been struggling for a good few years now on and off the field, but with their entire committee quitting at the end of this season, it might well be curtains for them.

Shame, 'cos Claggan Park's a must for everyone to see a game at at some point.

Bo'ness played them there a few years ago in the big Scottish and playing in the shadow of Ben Nevis and with the giant yellow rescue 'copter beside the ground it was some experience.  BUT it was a bugger to reach and that seems to be the problem in Scotland.  There are a lot of remote areas and it seems to bring down plans when people try to work things out.

That can't be allowed to happen and regionalisation may need to be invoked to a further degree, creating further leagues.  Just look at England, Germany, Spain etc.  They all have a multitude of feeder leagues.  The last thing anyone wants is to increase travel times, not just for fans but players too.

[Jason King]

Having been to Fort William many moons ago, I seem to recall that the ground is the wrong side of town for the majority of the population- it was past the end of the West Highland Way, turn right, past some garages and carry on for a bit. Recall it as being industrial down that end of town.

I wouldn't be shocked if there was no public transport to the ground and that's going to impact on who goes to games.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Jason King

[Cyclizine]

Having been to Fort William many moons ago, I seem to recall that the ground is the wrong side of town for the majority of the population- it was past the end of the West Highland Way, turn right, past some garages and carry on for a bit. Recall it as being industrial down that end of town.
I wouldn't be shocked if there was no public transport to the ground and that's going to impact on who goes to games.

The opportunity was an artificial pitch either at Claggan or the Black Parks. It was built in a cage at the high school. Fixture backlogs, player shortage, local apathy, board leaving. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place. There's nothing official, but if you check out the chat on FitbaNorth the feeling is continuing in the HFL next season is highly unlikely, sadly.

[The Mantis]

11 hours ago, Jason King said:

Having been to Fort William many moons ago, I seem to recall that the ground is the wrong side of town for the majority of the population- it was past the end of the West Highland Way, turn right, past some garages and carry on for a bit. Recall it as being industrial down that end of town.

I wouldn't be shocked if there was no public transport to the ground and that's going to impact on who goes to games.

Saw Caley play there back in the old days. Went looking for it last year on the way to Mallaig. Took ages to find it.

[Robert James]

On 30/01/2018 at 21:53, stanley said:

Source?

not disclosable but nice try

[RabidAl]

On 1/31/2018 at 09:07, Jambo'ness said:

Bo'ness played them there a few years ago in the big Scottish and playing in the shadow of Ben Nevis and with the giant yellow rescue 'copter beside the ground it was some experience.  BUT it was a bugger to reach and that seems to be the problem in Scotland.  There are a lot of remote areas and it seems to bring down plans when people try to work things out.

That can't be allowed to happen and regionalisation may need to be invoked to a further degree, creating further leagues.  Just look at England, Germany, Spain etc.  They all have a multitude of feeder leagues.  The last thing anyone wants is to increase travel times, not just for fans but players too.

Yep.  I don't really see the rationale behind semi-pro teams, where money is (by definition) short, traipsing around the country playing in national leagues; in cups, however, something more exotic with a bit of travel and visiting new grounds is enjoyable and can add more excitement.

I'm a little surprised that the SPFL and LL semi-pro clubs haven't looked at dividing into West and East of Scotland Leagues at tier 3, which could be lucrative at that level and being champions of which would have more prestige than winning SPFL League One. 

Assuming that Ayr and Raith would be promoted if the SPFL have another go at voting for a top two divisions of 12, that would leave: 12 SPFL and LL clubs for a West of Scotland League; 20 SPFL and LL clubs, plus EoSFL clubs, for the East; and Peterhead and Elgin could play in a HL top division.  The juniors could then slot in below, retaining their current structure.  They wouldn't need to have any relegation from these tier 3 West, East and Highland leagues but, rather, continually expand them as more licenced clubs from the juniors were promoted, each regional League forming into divisions when numbers were sufficient.      

This would provide a pathway for the bigger junior clubs to come through without being an existential threat to current SPFL clubs, and would surely enrich them through the larger, more local travelling supports, more interest therefore more sponsorship revenues, and money saved through less unnecessary travelling around the country.

Edited February 1, 2018 by RabidAl
Words added for clarity.

[energyzone]

Yep.  I don't really see the rationale behind semi-pro teams, where money is (by definition) short, traipsing around the country playing in national leagues; in cups, however, something more exotic with a bit of travel and visiting new grounds is enjoyable and can add more excitement.
I'm a little surprised that the SPFL and LL semi-pro clubs haven't looked at dividing into West and East of Scotland Leagues at tier 3, which could be lucrative at that level and being champions of which would have more prestige than winning SPFL League One. 
Assuming that Ayr and Raith would be promoted if the SPFL have another go at voting for a top two divisions of 12, that would leave: 12 SPFL and LL clubs for a West of Scotland League; 20 SPFL and LL clubs, plus EoSFL clubs, for the East; and Peterhead and Elgin could play in a HL top division.  The juniors could then slot in below, retaining their current structure.  They wouldn't need to have any relegation from these tier 3 West, East and Highland leagues but, rather, continually expand them as more licenced clubs from the juniors were promoted, each regional League forming into divisions when numbers were sufficient.      
This would provide a pathway for the bigger junior clubs to come through without being an existential threat to current SPFL clubs, and would surely enrich them through the larger, more local travelling supports, more interest therefore more sponsorship revenues, and money saved through less unnecessary travelling around the country.

Fans of League 1 and 2 clubs who post on this section seem to love playing in a national league. Judging by previous contributions I doubt you'd get many of them wanting to play in a regionalised league.

[HTG]

There is zero chance of tier 3 going regional. They didn't want tier 5 going regional. That's the whole problem with splitting the lowlands into east and west. It's also why the current position is a crock of shite in terms of ignoring the most populated part of the country and having no feeder leagues. Only a moron would think the current pyramid is the most effective model but it was implemented to meet the needs of 10 teams. And anyone implementing something to deal with such a narrow group and not challenging it fits the description just fine.