Northern interest in a Non-League Scottish Cup/SFA Trophy?

[LongTimeLurker]

On 26/05/2018 at 16:44, Cowden Cowboy said:

Surely the future of all this is that the juniors effectively all become senior in a pyramid system and then the Scottish Junior Cup is used for national Cup competition for all non-SPFL clubs

That's way too much like common sense for Scottish football.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 19/05/2018 at 09:32, Jimmy Shaker said:

We really don’t got the time for this.

49 clubs in the northern pyramid are part of the SJFA. 28 clubs once the two NCL reserve teams and BoD are factored out are not. Where am I going with that? Let's bear in mind that the majority of the north pyramid especially at tier 6 have always had a national cup as part of their season so it isn't some alien imposition from the central belt. Even in the HL it's worth bearing in mind that Strathspey Thistle, Inverurie Locos, Turriff United and Formartine United used to be junior clubs in reasonably recent times in addition to BoD.

Think there's a case to be made that a national cup should be for tier 6 down given the HL and LL are at the professional game board level and potentially have Challenge Cup and League Cup involvements as well as direct first round entry in the main Scottish Cup. At that point it's only the NCL that need to be persuaded possibly through regionalised early rounds and having travel expenses covered after that. Getting this all sorted shouldn't be mission impossible.

[Donathan]

The junior cup should be merged into a single non-league Scottish cup equivalent to the FA trophy down south. In general I’d like to see fewer league games across the board in Scotland but more cups 

[FairWeatherFan]

48 minutes ago, Donathan said:

The junior cup should be merged into a single non-league Scottish cup equivalent to the FA trophy down south. In general I’d like to see fewer league games across the board in Scotland but more cups 

Definitely not getting fewer league games anytime soon. Highland's at 34, North Premiership will go to 30 next season, Midlands look stuck at 36 unless their membership changes. All targeting a mid/late April finish. NCL is pretty busy by its standards as well since it can often not start until the end of August.

FA Trophy also benefits from being the "FA" Trophy and all the funding that comes with it. The SFA won't touch a non-league trophy.

[newcastle broon]

15 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

FA Trophy also benefits from being the "FA" Trophy and all the funding that comes with it. The SFA won't touch a non-league trophy.

Really wish folk would stop comparing the Scottish non league system to the English one. Financial  differences are huge. 

[Donathan]

33 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Definitely not getting fewer league games anytime soon. Highland's at 34, North Premiership will go to 30 next season, Midlands look stuck at 36 unless their membership changes. All targeting a mid/late April finish. NCL is pretty busy by its standards as well since it can often not start until the end of August.

FA Trophy also benefits from being the "FA" Trophy and all the funding that comes with it. The SFA won't touch a non-league trophy.

That’s the problem. The leagues across Scotland are inappropriately sized. The SPFL leagues are too small and the non-leagues are massive.

 

If you keep the SPFL at 42 (IMO it should be cut to 2x16, but would accept 3x14) and merge the SJFA would senior non-leagues, you’d have a North region of 80 clubs, an East region of 73 clubs and a West region of 92 clubs. You could then have 5-6 tiers within each region, all leagues containing 14-16 clubs.

 

You’re then playing 26-30 league games rather than the ridiculous number we have at the moment. Replace the league games with more cups. In the first half of the season, the non-league clubs play a massive qualifying tournament for 24 places in the Scottish cup first round proper, which should be a 64 team affair starting in January. The league cup should be a full blown champions league style affair with 4 team H+A group stages. There should also be a full blown non-league cup and full blown regional tournaments. 

[Hampden Diehard]

On 03/11/2022 at 09:42, Donathan said:

That’s the problem. The leagues across Scotland are inappropriately sized. The SPFL leagues are too small and the non-leagues are massive.

 

If you keep the SPFL at 42 (IMO it should be cut to 2x16, but would accept 3x14) and merge the SJFA would senior non-leagues, you’d have a North region of 80 clubs, an East region of 73 clubs and a West region of 92 clubs. You could then have 5-6 tiers within each region, all leagues containing 14-16 clubs.

 

You’re then playing 26-30 league games rather than the ridiculous number we have at the moment. Replace the league games with more cups. In the first half of the season, the non-league clubs play a massive qualifying tournament for 24 places in the Scottish cup first round proper, which should be a 64 team affair starting in January. The league cup should be a full blown champions league style affair with 4 team H+A group stages. There should also be a full blown non-league cup and full blown regional tournaments. 

Clubs get most of their cash from Saturday league games, a set number guaranteed to be at home. You could be in 5 cups and get five away ties, with the later rounds forcing Saturday games to be played midweek.