Is it worth to look at changing a Rule ?

[auld yin wae knowledge]

We all know Saturday afternoon football is really on a downward slide ....with another 2 clubs folding from the Central who I think have lost about 8 clubs since the start of the season

the SAFL have lost 4, The Caledonian have lost 3, The folding of the P&D League this season, many people have gave their opinions for the loss of clubs on this forum, but should we go back to 8 years ago and allow players to play for more than one club on a Saturday.

Granted it may not solve the problem but it may give a few clubs more choice of players to sign

Now I fully understand its not easy to admin but worth looking at if you ask me................

[tynie1874]

Do you mean both Saturday morning and the afternoon? There are 2 clubs I know in Leafa Sundays folded. And 2 being thrown out for breach of rules I believe. My team are about to follow suit in folding as the quality of players available or wanting to play is shocking.

Not too sure how the Saturday section is however, seems alot of teams are interested and doing well.

[Bawsoot]

What 2 team from central have folded now ?

[Redondo]

Rumour has it Dunblane and Gourock allthough not sure if been confirmed?

[Redondo]

3 hours ago, auld yin wae knowledge said:

We all know Saturday afternoon football is really on a downward slide ....with another 2 clubs folding from the Central who I think have lost about 8 clubs since the start of the season

the SAFL have lost 4, The Caledonian have lost 3, The folding of the P&D League this season, many people have gave their opinions for the loss of clubs on this forum, but should we go back to 8 years ago and allow players to play for more than one club on a Saturday.

Granted it may not solve the problem but it may give a few clubs more choice of players to sign

Now I fully understand its not easy to admin but worth looking at if you ask me................

Can you clarify what u mean by this , coz i dont remember this ever being allowed , able to be signed wae 2 different teams on a sat? So you could play with one one week then the other the next ?? Or play sat morn then sat afternoon?? Hows that going to work??

Having said that there are issues that need to be looked at. Some of the standard of amateur teams going about are shocking. Watched a game from the Caley league on sat and 1 of the teams was that bad i was actually laughing to myself at 1 point. With all due respect half the lads in that team shouldnt be playing football. It was obvious they dont train and they were just embarrassing thereself. 

Associations maybe need to look at the leagues and weed out the teams that r basically just making up the numbers. 

Leagues may end up with fewer teams but better competition.  Every week now on twitter ur seeing teams tanked 6 7 8 nil or teams no turning up due to no numbers. 

I get that boys want to play and get out the house or shopping centres on a sat but for the good of the amateur game something has to change and quick.

[Ginger Genius]

7 hours ago, Redondo said:

Can you clarify what u mean by this , coz i dont remember this ever being allowed , able to be signed wae 2 different teams on a sat? So you could play with one one week then the other the next ?? Or play sat morn then sat afternoon?? Hows that going to work??

Having said that there are issues that need to be looked at. Some of the standard of amateur teams going about are shocking. Watched a game from the Caley league on sat and 1 of the teams was that bad i was actually laughing to myself at 1 point. With all due respect half the lads in that team shouldnt be playing football. It was obvious they dont train and they were just embarrassing thereself. 

Associations maybe need to look at the leagues and weed out the teams that r basically just making up the numbers. 

Leagues may end up with fewer teams but better competition.  Every week now on twitter ur seeing teams tanked 6 7 8 nil or teams no turning up due to no numbers. 

I get that boys want to play and get out the house or shopping centres on a sat but for the good of the amateur game something has to change and quick.

Is that meant to be a serious suggestion?  If a team’s not up to standard then force them to fold and then even less people playing the game?

It’s amateur football, naturally some teams are going to be at a higher standard but at its core it’s about guys getting the opportunity to play a game they love regardless of standard. 

Maybe the problem is there are too many leagues with shallow divisions and that makes it difficult for teams to ‘find their level’ whether that be in a top or a 3rd division. 

Im not sure the idea of allowing players to sign with a sat morning and afternoon team would make much diffference as I think players who would actually be able to do both (and would want to) would be few and far between. I played Sat and Sun back to back for about 8 years and  that was a struggle to walk on the Monday.

[Northboy]

2 hours ago, Ginger Genius said:

Im not sure the idea of allowing players to sign with a sat morning and afternoon team would make much diffference as I think players who would actually be able to do both (and would want to) would be few and far between. I played Sat and Sun back to back for about 8 years and  that was a struggle to walk on the Monday.

I agree, and I'd expect players who play for more than one team are more likely to drop out of one of those teams at some point.

I'd be interested in any statistics whether the number of teams dropping out of leagues is any higher than in the past. I sense some youth and amateur teams fall by the wayside every year but at the same time there are usually new clubs joining the leagues at the same time.

[Ginger Genius]

1 hour ago, Northboy said:

I agree, and I'd expect players who play for more than one team are more likely to drop out of one of those teams at some point.

I'd be interested in any statistics whether the number of teams dropping out of leagues is any higher than in the past. I sense some youth and amateur teams fall by the wayside every year but at the same time there are usually new clubs joining the leagues at the same time.

I think there are 2 sides to it.

1. There are fewer guys looking to play for teams and fewer people who play support roles such as coach/committee and there are a variety of reasons.

2. Of the players who are interested, the commitment to be available every week (even for games let alone training) is lower. Again a variety of reasons... shift patterns, alternative activity options. 

I don’t necessarily have the answers... but the strongest teams create a community around them that makes it a place people go the extra yard to play for. That doesn’t gaurantee a high standard... but it keeps a team going. 

[eyeswideopen15]

I think there are 2 sides to it.
1. There are fewer guys looking to play for teams and fewer people who play support roles such as coach/committee and there are a variety of reasons.
2. Of the players who are interested, the commitment to be available every week (even for games let alone training) is lower. Again a variety of reasons... shift patterns, alternative activity options. 
I don’t necessarily have the answers... but the strongest teams create a community around them that makes it a place people go the extra yard to play for. That doesn’t gaurantee a high standard... but it keeps a team going. 

Spot on!!!

Some of the suggestions here are laughable. I know it's an open forum for opinions but to say the leagues should weed out weaker non competitive teams is shocking imo. I know ayeshire most so will use some Ayrshire teams as examples, no disrespect to mentioned clubs .

If suggestions were to be listened to then possibly a club like auchinleck Boswell, minishant or lochan, who are excellently run with a long history could be asked to fold, because they aren't up to a certain on pitch standard, yet past " flash in the pan " clubs like netherthird who I think existed for 4 seasons and won a league / promoted 4 seasons, would be allowed to keep going even tho they had no history, not enough off field committee/backbone so sustain a 5th season in the premier league.

For me the clubs that do struggle season after season for results on the pitch yet keep picking themselves up summer after summer to get back out seeking sponsors, fundraising TRY improve the playing squad, should be commended. They are the backbone of Amateur football ! It's easy to get a buzz to do the donkey work when ur part of a successful on pitch club.

[Redondo]

I never said anything about forcing teams to fold. The sad fact is that far too many teams are falling away unfortunately. 

Can associations not look at this and work together to come up with an answer. 

Teams that are struggling year to year need help to make the game more enjoyable and competitive for them. If ur teams getting beaten heavily every week ur never going to get out the bit.

Over the last couple of years some big names have went aswell. 

Too many teams , too many leagues , less interest from players??? Im not sure what the answer is myself but between sat morning,  sat afternoon, sunday leagues and now the 35s there should be enough football to go round for everyone who wants a game? 

Its just about finding the right level so teams can compete and make the amateur game strong and interesting for everyone concerned.

 

[List_of_Jericho]

Its always a shame to see teams folding and its not just limited to the "wee teams" at the bottom of the set up.

This year in the SAFL we've had Drumchapel Colts, Rosehill Star, EKYM (took a fixture break but might return next season) and according to some Twitter posts East Kilbride FC Ams (although I haven't seen this officially?)

Haldane United were another well respected side who folded not long ago.

Amateur football is expensive for players and clubs now, the astro we use in Lochgilphead costs £110 per game before we've paid a referee.

[Ginger Genius]

Can’t speak for all areas but I’ve always thought that Glasgow and surrounding area has too many league associations and they are oddly split. 

I’m not saying it’ll ever happen but if all teams in GGPL, Central, Caley and SAFL combined then teams would get the opportunity to regularly face more teams of similar standard and be competitive within their own level. 

Most teams know they aren’t world beaters but if they win more than they lose then most weeks they enjoy their game. 

For those looking to build real challengers then they can build their way up 

Associations lately have favoured a setup that has a Prem and 2 feeder 1st divisions (Because of the opportunity to progress to top quickly) but often that means there are 5/6 teams near the bottom of the 2 feeders who would have been better all playing each other in a 2nd division. Nothing kills a team faster than getting cuffed week in week out 

[54_and_counting]

Allowing players to sign for morning and afternoon teams leads to unfair situations, two teams could link up through various players signing for both over and above their core squad, then if one teams season dies a death while the others is cup semis and title challenge they simply take the best players from the other team, who haven't played a single game all season for them

Imagine you and a group of 16 others worked your arse off all season only to be put out the cup in the semis or lose the league because your rival suddenly got 5 or 6 extra bodies in April from the morning team whose season is finished 

[Area 51]

I believe that one of the main problems affecting amateur football, and clubs not being able to find enough players to field a team, stems from the practice of allowing teams to register as many players as they can. From what I can see, and from our own clubs experience, it isn't unusual for teams to register in excess of 30 players, all you have to do is look at your opponents team lines and you can see what I mean.

A solution may be, to limit the number of real time registrations, to say, a maximum of 22, and this would free up an average of 8 players per team. This would surely assist in filling the vacancies. Some players who are not getting a game, cant be arsed reregistering for another team, some aren't allowed to , due to local league rules, and fall away from the game. There has to be a structure in place to encourage players to get involved again.

[jimmycouch]

I believe that one of the main problems affecting amateur football, and clubs not being able to find enough players to field a team, stems from the practice of allowing teams to register as many players as they can. From what I can see, and from our own clubs experience, it isn't unusual for teams to register in excess of 30 players, all you have to do is look at your opponents team lines and you can see what I mean.
A solution may be, to limit the number of real time registrations, to say, a maximum of 22, and this would free up an average of 8 players per team. This would surely assist in filling the vacancies. Some players who are not getting a game, cant be arsed reregistering for another team, some aren't allowed to , due to local league rules, and fall away from the game. There has to be a structure in place to encourage players to get involved again.

In Ayrshire you can only register 25, this was raised a few seasons ago from 20 or 22.

[Ginger Genius]

6 hours ago, jimmycouch said:

 

In Ayrshire you can only register 25, this was raised a few seasons ago from 20 or 22.

 

Difficulty with limiting registrations is your always liable to have a fair  % of your squad who are what I’d term as  ‘semi regular’. They’ll be there when it suits but won’t miss other things to play. Every team has a core of guys who are ever present and then others float in and out week to week. In my experience we’ve had squads of 30 signed and still had weeks where we’d be struggling to find 11 

[Gazzah]

Teams chucking it all over the place our association is looking like losing near on half the teams that started 17/18 season some are leaving a lot have folded. There is loads of different reasons imo why this happens. Social aspect is one people just can’t be bothered,lack of young players coming through will find a lot of the boys in teams will be mid twenty’s another ten year and be hardly any clubs about. Cost and sub standard facilities being another along with commitment ie training etc. For me I would love a stab at summer football playing and training in better weather/pitches is enough of a reason for trying it. Much more enjoyable going out to
Your game at this time of the year than when it’s Baltic.

[54_and_counting]

4 hours ago, Gazzah said:

Teams chucking it all over the place our association is looking like losing near on half the teams that started 17/18 season some are leaving a lot have folded. There is loads of different reasons imo why this happens. Social aspect is one people just can’t be bothered,lack of young players coming through will find a lot of the boys in teams will be mid twenty’s another ten year and be hardly any clubs about. Cost and sub standard facilities being another along with commitment ie training etc. For me I would love a stab at summer football playing and training in better weather/pitches is enough of a reason for trying it. Much more enjoyable going out to
Your game at this time of the year than when it’s Baltic.

Sub standard facilities? Facilities have never been better if teams wish to use them, changing rooms, showers and 3g pitches are a plenty, toryglen football centre is 88 quid for a 2hr let on an outside pitch, thats very decent for an 11's game