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Dude, the Colt teams (we call them Young Ajax/PSV/and so on) have ruined our lower leagues and anyone from the SFA trying to butter fans up to their inclusion is lying through their teeth as to the reasons for their inclusion; these officials can and should be considered snake oil merchants as far as I'm concerned. We had Young Ajax win our Championship in 2017/2018, partly because their side was stacked with first team members who needed some game time and a fair few players like Carel Eiting and Noussair Mazraoui who will be playing Spurs tomorrow. All Young/Colt teams play in front of empty stands, bring zero away fans, and cause a dip in attendances whenever they visit a real club because, frankly, no one can get excited about playing them. The Scottish pyramid has enough problems on its own without Colts running around shitting up the place.

How many fucking times are they going to try this, they've already had about four votes on it laughed out by the lower league clubs so are now trying another different approach Why are they even getting these opportunities to vote on it? It looks fucking decades to get a pyramid set up, yet as soon as Rangers and Celtic want something, theres a vote every month.

Blackburn United's licence has been formally approved by the SFA Board today, so excellent news for us. I don't know anymore than that ie what other clubs have also been approved.

That's quite the legacy that Paul Hartley is leaving around Scotland at the moment. There are folk who might think it's harsh to blame him for both Dundee and Falkirk's relegations, but I'm going to. He's lined them up like a trick-shot of managerial mediocrity. The smug, fat fucker. I'd like to think this will be enough to make sure he never works again, except maybe at Morton.

Falkirk will do anything to stay up, won't they?

This is the sort of self-preservationist streak that enables shite like this to get voted through. Colt teams are a bad idea full stop. It doesn't matter if it's a Rangers colt team, a Celtic colt team, a Hibs colt team, a Guards from Escape to Victory colt team, they are all bad for the game and the league. It is an insult to the clubs at the bottom of the pyramid and it should never happen. If Hibs were to introduce a colt team into the SPFL system, my season ticket would be in the bin and they wouldn't be getting another penny from me.

I’ve just been told that Penicuik have been granted their licence

James Collins. Replacement for Leigh '28 goals' Griffiths. £210,000 bid accepted. Utter goal virgin. Contributes to our relegation. Goes back down south and starts scoring for fun again. Playing in the English Championship next season with Luton.

Hopefully brandishing a copy of the sun aswell

Why on Earth are we seemingly so insistent on changing the current league structure? The Championship has had it's most bonkers season in ages, League 1 saw most clubs with something to play for up until the last few weeks and League 2 saw the title decided on the final day while Berwick were only confirmed in 10th with a game to go. It isn't broken so stop trying to fix it. The Old Firm Colts can piss off as well. The governing bodies actually need to take a long hard look at themselves and understand that they are looking out for Scottish Football and not 2 sides who would sooner be playing abroad than here. It's utterly pathetic quite how badly ran Scottish football is. For once can they focus their efforts on actually promoting the game up here? There is so many great stories to focus on in Scotland but just days after the season is finished they're trying to push through a change that suits the Old Firm. It's disgusting behaviour and I'm amazed that they have the cheek to actually try a different way to get to the same shitty result that was laughed at last time.

How about a 2-10-10-10-10 set up. The top 2 can play each other 36 times a season with no relegation and the rest of us can ignore them and get on with it.

The ‘two Premiership clubs’ thing is laughable as if we don’t know who they will be. Why should we bend over backwards to help and develop the old firms youngsters? If playing in League Two is suddenly going to help the Old Firm and produce great young players for Scotland then why didn’t Rangers take that approach when they were down there? Nope, instead they decided to chuck money at diddies like Kevin Kyle, Fran Sandaza, Faure and Cribari. It shows how backwards the people in charge are that they think colt teams are the solution because they do it in Spain, Netherlands, Germany etc. There are a hundred other things these countries have in place which aid the production of youngsters. The number of pitches, coaches and the set up of even local sides in the Netherlands is light years away from what we have. I’d rather we set those things up first and gave them a chance before going straight in with colt teams which is putting the cart before the horse.

I’d rather be relegated than see Colt teams in the league

Is it true Game of Thrones was based on Dingwall, The Black Isle and Ross-shire? If you mean folk shagging their siblings, then yes.

Unlike many, I’m not against Colt teams in principle I like the idea of young players playing games that would be a hell of a lot more competitive than what they’re currently playing However, because this so is clearly in the pipeline to benefit two clubs and two clubs only it should be met with the cynicism it so richly deserves GTF

People who get excited about the birth of a royal baby or indeed anything remotely related to The Royal Family are total c***s

Don’t think anyone is raging at LL or the clubs - just the SFA. Really feel for the management, players and fans of Bonnyrigg. They gave us a real kick in the gonads on Saturday but at least that was fair and square. They have just received that and much more today for an unjustified reason

Champagne moment for all invloved. The product of years of unrewarded work and sacrfice, a well-earned pat on the back for those who've got one of West Lothian's traditionally smaller clubs to the point where they're only the third licenced club in the county (hopefully with Broxburn to follow quickly). Hope this means we'll be hearing more good news from around the country, especially at New Dundas Park.

A hideous idea. Not just the 'colts' pish, but all of it. Get the extended leagues to f**k. It's not perfect as it is now, but it works pretty well, and until something better is proposed, we should stick with it. What is being proposed is not better. It would massively ramp up meaningless games, when at the moment things can be quite exciting given the playoffs at both ends of the table. More clubs in the leagues means less will be involved in the race for the playoffs. Simply increasing the league won't suddenly make more full time teams. Not sure why anyone thinks there is any issue with a team being part time anyway. The third tier would see some hidings, given the top second tier teams just now would regularly dick dross like Albion, Berwick and Cowdenbeath. You'll also see teams playing each other more, given how seedings work the cups, meaning that teams from this proposed third tier will regularly be drawn together, resulting in them just playing the same games over and over. 44 games in the second tier is staggeringly stupid. The amount of midweek games will increase, and fixture pile ups will be much more likely, especially given the commitments to the cup competitions. That won't help player development. It's not really going to see much, if any, of an increase in revenue for clubs, given that they will have to play a midweek fixture with lower crowds, with the costs that come with doing so (stewards, police, catering etc). Some clubs might make more money this way, but others won't. Will it increase the season (how long it runs)? If so then clubs will be having to outlay more cash for contracts, quickly eating in to any perceived extra profits. It might also drive down wages, which doesn't strengthen anyone and may result in more dross across the leagues. If this is supposed to be about player development (it's not, but lets look at that argument) then it seems like it will do the opposite of helping players. It will give them a longer season potentially, risking injury to the players and burning them out. It will have them playing the same teams over and over, which will not help them get new experiences and won't help them learn and progress. Teams will have less chance of promotion, so a player will have less chance to move up and play against better teams. The number of meaningless games will increase hugely, which again will not be beneficial to player development (do you need this one explained?). However, this is all just about two teams, as it always is. The transparent bribe of 'no relegation' next season is laughable, and surely no one will fall for it. The top two teams in League 1 getting automatic promotion means doing away with the playoffs, with no mention of it there will then be playoffs in the proposed new structure. If not then my point about meaningless game, and all the associated points, is even more in focus and even more relevant. Just get this so far to fucking f**k.

Absolutely no person in this world would turn their nose up at Arbroath vs Dundee Utd on TV, for example, but suddenly if it was Falkirk vs Dundee Utd.... "cancel the plans, phone dominoes, get the beers in and the boys round... this is going to be fucking epic". The fact that you seem to think they might makes me feel a bit sorry for you.

Yes because they would deserve to be in the Championship. Falkirk have been utter shite and do not.

BREAKING NEWS Penicuik Athletic Football Club are delighted to announce that the SFA have confirmed that following consideration by the Board, our application for membership of the Scottish Football Association has been approved. Our Membership will be effective from the commencement of the Scottish FA Annual General Meeting, which is being held on Wednesday 12th June 2019, at which the club will be represented. Everyone at the club is delighted at this news and having achieved SFA Quality Mark status during the season the full SFA membership is an achievement that was set out when we made our move to join the SFA pyramid last June as new members of the East of Scotland Football Association. The club now heads to the next chapter in its history with a place in next seasons Scottish Cup to look forward to and further ground improvements taking place at Penicuik Park over the close season. The club would like to thank everyone who has made this achievement possible .

Probably means that the talks have taken place between Neil Doncaster and reps from Sevco and Celtic the two unnamed clubs

The worst thing about the pyramid debate is the involvement of spreadsheet anoraks who see it as a completely emotionless game of "sort the teams". There's no actual interest in the clubs involved, no respect for history or sentiment, just a desperate desire to draw a bunch of lines on a map and then proclaim their way as the only way. As soon as the people who actually care about the clubs involved chip in, they start to get defensive and chuck out meaningless comparisons around attendances and other leagues and whatnot. Fortunately most of them get fed up fairly quickly and the threads stop getting polluted.

Broxburn accepted. Well Done guys

Blackburn United are thrilled to announce that the Club have been accepted as full members of the Scottish Football Association after an application for membership was approved by the board of the SFA and confirmed today by Chief Executive Ian Maxwell. At the conclusion of a long and at times complex process, the Club were audited at the beginning of the year on all applicable licensing criteria contained in the SFA Licensing Manual (a document encompassing both a National and European regulatory system - see https://bit.ly/2tojDGZ) and were assessed to have met entry level criteria on all pertinent points involving first team football, stadia, codes of practice, legal, financial and administrative requirements. The Club’s license to compete in the Scottish Cup from next season onwards is now assured and marks another step in our continuing drive to advance every aspect of football in the community of Blackburn. The Club would like to thank everyone who has helped make this achievement possible. The draw for the preliminary rounds of the William Hill Scottish Cup is expected to take place in mid-July.

The chat of our fans relegating us down at queens is utter shite btw Giving every other team a 3 month head start by having the worst team in living memory relegated us.

Will be interesting to see which two teams are lucky enough to get colt teams entered in to the league. I'm guessing it will be a random draw to maintain sporting integrity.

It's a complete and utter farce, but I'm sure Bonnyrigg will have a good case. They've probably already worked on the next steps as they will have realised this was a likely possibility. On a more positive note, well done to all clubs who did get a license. I've visited 2 of them in the past year: Blackburn & Hill of Beath. Both impressed me as very well run community clubs with some fantastic volunteers who do a lot for the club, both have a great set-up. They have rightfully been rewarded for their hard work.

Switching back to the positives, a tremendous achievement for Blackburn United. What a boost for the village. If ever there was a reward for investing in your community, your facilities and showing ambition above what most would have thought possible a few years ago, then this it. Congratulations to all involved.

The bigger issue that got us relegated was having diddies like Mitchel and Fasan for 6 months between the sticks.

The championship is the most exciting eague in the country, so it does not surprise me that those in charge want to do something to rip that blueprint up.

My theory on Hartley is that he did well when he come to Dundee because he was able to recruit players who he generally knew quite well through his spell with Alloa before. He obviously knew Greg Stewart was a talent watching him come through the leagues as an opposition player and a lot of the senior players were guys who were closer to his era (played with Gowser at Celtic, Thomson with Scotland, the likes of McPake and Clarkson were regular opponents for years and most likely had a relationship with him). Apart from Tam Konrad, I don't think he managed to recruit anyone outwith that profile who had any success. When those sorts of links were used up in his first couple of seasons with more of his era retiring and the talent he knew down the leagues drying up, he really started to struggle. It may have not been all of his fault at Falkirk but for a manager to sign 17 players and all of them to be shite is a remarkable achievement and makes me worry. If he was a master tactician, I could overlook if we could do something with that but I don't really think he was particularly good in that regard (we often went to Ibrox and Celtic Park with 4 attackers on the pitch and were surprised when Holt got ripped apart by two on one, the Scottish Cup tie was unforgivable in how amateurish the setup was with Loy defending against Tavernier). I went through the pay offs of the last few years and compared it to other teams in the league and in our years up, we've had to settle 30 years worth of contracts with pay offs while St Johnstone have had like 3. That's a ridiculous stat and it really can't go on, we've been throwing money down the drain for years and both Hartley and McCann contributed hugely to that.

For probably the first time in my life, I genuinely hope we get pumped this weekend -absolutely fucking hammered. Anything that accelerates the departure of that dab goon. The fact that it's the Tuesday after relegation and #10IAR and he's not gone yet, fills me with fear. Surviving the fans singing 10 IN A ROW, YOU'VE GOT TO GO; YOU DIRTY ARAB b*****d and the timeless classic f**k YOU makes me think the c**t is staying. I'm beginning to think I've misread last weeks statement and it was justifying why he'll be staying rather than outlining why he'll be going. Hopefully the delay in getting rid is Nelms is just waiting on the delivery of a couple of lions so he can give the thumbs down at full-time against St Mirren and have them released to maul the useless dick on the pitch.

Never in doubt.

Sell your park for houses and hire a park like some of the pretend football teams within the LL. Quite clear teams with ambitions on and off the park like Bonnyrigg don't hold as much value to the SFA

Last summer: During the season: End of season:

12 teams OK 44 games probably too much - would need a split similar to Premiership Colts - Doncaster go f**k yourself

I write this post just to let you all know my experiences of the SFA Club Licensing process and why, (without knowing all the details) it may not be the end of the road for Bonnyrigg just yet. (Unless of course they have officially been told different???) When either applying to get a license for the first time, or in renewing an existing one, there are virtually no grey areas in the process at all. It is very black and white. If , at the time of your SFA visit, a club has not complied with one of the stipulations within a set timescale, then it is very unlikely that any club would be granted a license in the first instance. However, you may be granted one later if you can prove that the work is complete and compliant. As an example, say a club needed to install toilets and plumbing works into dressing rooms. On the day of your visit, if the required work is not complete then the SFA are not interested if the plumbing company has been delayed, or if you are waiting on a part arriving in the post, or that it will be finished in the next few weeks or whatever. At the time of the visit if the club is not compliant then a license would not granted. (Unless the works were literally completed within a few days.) However, the club may be given a set timescale to complete the work and the licensing committee may confirm the award at a later date. I cannot imagine a circumstance where the SFA would have awarded Bonnyrigg a license today if they stipulated in advance that floodlights were a requirement for new applicants and the lights were not fully installed and signed off as being compliant. So today they fail their application because they are not compliant as the floodlights are not operational on the day the committee makes its decision. However the bigger question I suppose is have the club been told that they have a deadline to complete the works and the licensing committee will revisit the application? Or have they been told that the process is now complete and they cannot be granted a license prior to the commencement of the new season?

This chat needs to get cut ASAP. 1, We scored our goal in added time. Its not like it was 80th minute when it would mean that any delay would increase the added time. 2. There was about 4 boiz on the park. If no one went on the park, the celebrations would have lasted just as long with the #scenes from players coming in to the crowd. 3. Wasn't a pen. 4. They scored about a minute after we did. Not like 6. There was always going to be another attack after we scored given the pen was 90+1. When does any game any 91? 5. DKD got sent off for taking his shirt off and he trudged off the park - there was probably more time added on for that than any of the "pitch invasion" So aye, away and fvck off with that.

You sound just like an old firm fan.

We waited until there were three days left of a two-week international break to sack McCann. McIntyre will probably be handed his jotters after a pre-season defeat at Glebe Park.

Just promote one from the lowland and one for the Highland league.

To people who are increasingly concerned about the continued institutional dominance of half a dozen European clubs at the expense of all others it's absolutely fucking wonderful.

I'd be sorry to see him activate it, he's been a great servant.

The dismantling of Ajax following their succesful run to the Europa League final (where Man Utd had to spoil the fun) was much less bad than expected; Davinson Sánchez was the first to leave as one of the standout performers (42 million Pounds), followed by Amin Younes (who started faking injuries when he realized he couldn't leave during 17/18), Kenny Tete (to Lyon), Jaïro Riedewald (Crystal Palace), and Justin Kluivert (Roma, a season later). Key players like goalie Onana, defender de Ligt, creative midfielder Ziyech, and Dolberg were slept on - and the further two seasons they spent in Amsterdam have allowed them to mature to the point where they are on the verge of the Champions League final - albeit supplanted by bought experience (Blind and Tadic) and the young talent that was just outside of the starting eleven back during 2016/2017 (van de Beek, Neres, and Frenkie de Jong came on as substitutes that evening). I hate to say it, but the awful tagedy that befell Abdelhak Nouri may have also a large part in how tight-knit the team is now (Nouri was notably close to van de Beek, the two were roomies in the academy and when on the road with the first team). Ajax was well-beaten back in the 2017 final, yes, but that was the Europa League (Ajax had a relatively easy journey to the final, including a group with Celta de Vigo, Standard Luik/Liège, and Panathinaikos, and Legia Warsaw and Copenhagen in the first two knock-out rounds) - which may have played a part in the first team not being stripped bare. Now though, Ajax kept Bayern Munich to a draw twice, then beat reigning champions Real (admittedly without Ronaldo) and Juventus (admittedly with Ronaldo). You don't fluke results like those, especially not when Ajax were the better team for much of those games. Frenkie de Jong is already gone, whispers speak of a transfer sum for de Ligt that may get awfully close to the amount Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk, and van de Beek, Neres, Ziyech, and Onana are eyed by scouts in the Johan Cruijff Arena every two weeks - deservedly so. Whether Ajax reaches the final or not (but especially so if they do manage it), I fully expect this summer to bring forth an asset-stripping of never-before-seen proportions - for one because these players will be 'relatively' cheap (16 mil for Tadic is, despite his age, a steal), and for two because Ajax cannot refuse tens of millions as easily as the big, big teams. Even then, you might get another Younes or two on your hands if you try and hold onto certain players for an extra season - and there are a fair few potential candidates for that considering that out of the current starting eleven, only Tagliafico has strongly spoken about remaining with Ajax for 2019/2020. But hey, I am buzzing and will be wearing my shirt tomorrow when I watch the game with my English colleagues - Ajax is showing everyone in Europe that you can achieve miracles against all (financial) odds with the right mindset and on- and off-field philosophies. Sure, it may well be the last time a team from a small country like us reaches the final this side of 2040 (especially with the proposed European promotion/relegation), but I've no doubt Spurs will get a run for their television money.

Thnx for clearing that up