LongTimeLurker

Elsewhere:

Think you'll find that hasn't happened with any of the clubs that have been relegated out of the SPFL so far.

Fingers crossed the Highland League types with that mentality will be travelling to Lochee next season. Should be a good laugh to see what they have to post about that on Fitba North. One good thing about the Lowland League catchment is that there is pretty much guaranteed to be a new entrant from below every season unlike the Highland League scenario. If a licensed club from the West isn't champion again there will still be Broxburn to add further to the West Lothian contingent. More of the top West clubs will get there on licensing. That means that eventually this issue is going to get sorted out. Just a pity the pyramid couldn't have been done properly straight away a decade or so back rather than winding up being a work in progress that will take 20 years or so to unfold.

GLSDB finally arriving is likely to bad news for the Russians because it extends the range of HIMARS to 150 km:

The pyramid should belong equally to all clubs that participate in it. The goal should be to have all clubs playing at the appropriate level for their playing standards as rapidly as possible and not to have selfish self-preservation policies in place to protect the clubs who found it easiest to apply for the Lowland League ten years ago.

From the little I have read SF appear happy that Stormont looks highly likely to be back soon. Worth bearing in mind who gets to be First Minister.

No obvious tribalistic windup angle is possible so I guess that explains why there are no posts in response to the latest news from TFS that the DUP will almost certainly be returning to Stormont if the Tories can deliver new Brexit-related legislation. Looks like it has finally dawned on the DUP that a softer Brexit through "unilateral alignment" is better than listening to Little Englander clowns like Nigel Farage who would have happily ditched NI in a second if it got them a hard Brexit for the Home Counties. What's pleasantly surprising is the Tories seem to be on board with a softer Brexit also. The irony to all this of course is that No Brexit at all would have kept the Union safe for the foreseeable future because a United Ireland any time soon wasn't even on SF's radar screen before the referendum went the wrong way.

What the SPFL does is not directly linked to what the LL does so that's a completely disingenuous argument. Three up three down is the norm throughout the rest of the southern pyramid. There's no obvious reason why it should not also apply between tiers 5 and 6. There's also no obvious reason why it only has to be the WoS, EoS or SoS champion that is eligible for promotion. Why not include the runner-up in the playoff format if the champion has no licence? The goal should be to create the strongest possible Lowland League rather than protect "longstanding members" in an it's ma baw an you're no playin sort of way.

Both Gretna and Edinburgh Uni could stay up this season if, for example, EK are promoted and Elgin or Forfar are relegated so batshit crazy scenarios could already happen.

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If it's going to be for multiple seasons, they definitely need to tweak the rules because it's only a year at a time right now.

If you could find archives for the Falkirk Herald it would probably be your best bet. One of the few times TV cameras would have visited in the 80s: found this away game from the late 80s, same keeper Charlie Kelly, as the first game:

Think the current bronze level pitch dimensions requirement was deliberately designed to make it possible for your club and Brechin City to be able to do it. Brechin's hedge and the threat that it may have to be chopped down to widen the pitch became a cause celebre in the media at one point. I think there was also speculation that you would have to leave Central Park. If they ever tightened those requirements up to what they were originally planning a lot of former junior clubs would be completely screwed where progression is concerned.

There is but that's not mission impossible if clubs like Annan Athletic can do it. The pdf I linked is worth a read to see what all the differences are. The tricky one for some clubs like Pollok with relatively small pitches could be the pitch dimensions needing to be 95m by 60m. Not sure whether it would be an issue for Tranent but their park is also on the small side. No idea how easy it would be to rebuild but worth bearing in mind that Newtown Park still has the foundations in place of the main stand that was used in the old first division in the 1920s as well as a relatively large covered enclosure. If there's going to be a grace period to bring things up to bronze level after achieving promotion before the next season starts, I suspect it all becomes a lot less daunting than it could have been but have no inside knowledge on this.

Some posters on here have been concerned about it. Doubt it was ever on the agenda at SFA board level but some League One and Two clubs like Stenhousemuir that have been vocal about limiting relegation out of the SPFL may have been hoping for something more stringent.

Well aware of that but there's nothing in those that look like mission impossible for most clubs that want to build for promotion any more than installing a set of floodlights was a few years back. If they had been trying to end the Club 42 playoff as an annual event they could have upped the ante to 500 covered seats and adjusted the field dimensions to 100m by 64m. The latter would be difficult to fit inside the stock car track at Central Park, so it's not just former junior clubs that have reasons to worry about what they might do on this in future.

Saw these details tucked away in the new club licensing guidelines from the SFA: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11172/sfa-club-licensing-manual-2024.pdf For bronze level: SEATS OR STANDING PLACES There may be seats and standing. There shall be provision for wheelchairs. LEVEL OF COVER There shall be an adequate level of cover available for both home and away spectators. Minimum level of capacity is 500 covered places. DOCUMENTED CAPACITY The ground will have a capacity calculated by a competent person in accordance with the Green Guide. FROM 2025 The minimum level of capacity is 500 covered places, at least 100 of these must be seated AVAILABLE AREAS Spectators will be capable of being accommodated in all areas within the ground which were ever constructed or used for one season or more as spectator areas. It is acceptable however for the club to leave a maximum of one area outwith the terms of the Safety Certificate and therefore unavailable for use. FACILITIES • A designated accessible WC. The accessible WC must have grab rails and an emergency alarm as a minimum. • Accessible parking. • Access to catering or an ordering service in place • Area available for wheelchair users under cover and with no obstructions to sightlines. • Personal Assistant seating adjacent to wheelchair user spaces. It is best practice that this seating it beside the wheelchair user. FROM 2025 A covered area with space for at least 4 wheelchairs and Personal Assistants will be required If that's all that came out of the review of the licensing criteria, it's difficult to sustain a narrative that the SFA and SPFL are pulling up the drawbridge where progression is concerned.

Not very often I see playing against Accies described as a "big pay day" or am I missing something?

That is arguably already in place. It's important not to underestimate the willingness of the Democrats to leave Ukraine dangling to a certain extent if it helps Biden win by making the Republicans look bad to moderate swing voters. Lend lease is now off their agenda when it could have been the answer to the current impasse.

According to transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.com/kieran-mitchell/detaillierteleistungsdaten/spieler/903252 Bo'ness United Lowland League League level: Fifth Tier Joined: Jan 19, 2024 Contract expires: May 31, 2025

Suprised he didn't make the grade in the SPFL but guess he is young enough that it can still happen and he probably wants to play regularly more than anything else at this point.

Something something black helicopters something something FEMA camps, if Alex Jones has anything to say about it. Been ages since I listened to that kind of stuff for light entertainment purposes but would be interesting to hear how they are spinning Donald being revealed as Doe 174.

There's only a 4 minute drive time difference to Wick compared to what Lochee United would be expected to do according to Google Maps. You could try to do it in other words but there would no doubt be plenty of turbulence experienced by whoever tried to get that through the meetings where it needed to be agreed just as there was when trying to convince Dundee area clubs that they should be in an HL rather than LL feeder. What we have now is what we are likely stuck with for the foreseeable future bar a few minor tweeks on pro/rel issues and the occasional flit between leagues by clubs close to the existing boundaries.