Kennie

I don't think a postponement will be in Darvel's best interests either. Both teams are already packed out with fixtures till the end of the season.

So, no midweek games for Talbot, is it? I think you might need to check the fixture list again.

No the exit money is new. What was provided before was a gate guarantee. The SJFA would top up the gate income to £5,000 if the share of the gate was less than £5,000. If the gate split was £4,950 the SJFA added £50. If the split was £2,500 the SJFA added £2,500.

Darvel made that decision, it's their ground and they can decide how fans can access the game.

How about this then. I can't justify postponing a game that is already scheduled on a Saturday and bring it forward to be played midweek on the basis that something 'MIGHT' happen. What happens if they don't get to the final? They'd then be idle on the Saturday. I can imagine the stick I'd get for that.

The battery in my crystal ball is flat.

Because the league ends on 11th May. Maybe ask Darvel why they asked to bring last weeks game forward from when it was scheduled. I bet you will also find dates when Talbot are playing and Darvel aren't.

Just for a bit of context, the last time Talbot were in the Semi Final of the SJC was in 2022. They played Rob Roy. The gate profit from that game was £4416. There was a 3 way split with each getting £1472. The SJFA then paid each club £3,528 to bring it up to the agreed £5000. That was a single leg tie back then. If we had 2 legs with a similar gate profit of £4416 in both games. (it would be more as there would be less expenditure to go to the host club) so let's add a further £1000 making a profit of £5416. Ach, lets round it up to £6,000 gate profit in each leg. Talbot would have got £2,400, The SJFA £3,600. in game 1 Rob Roy would have got £2400, The SJFA £3,600 in game 2. Whoever got beat would then pick up another £5000 from the SJFA making their exit fee £7,400. Whoever won would then be on a minimum of £2,400 + £10,000 (£12,400) or a maximum of £2,400 + £20,000 (£22,400) Being a 2 leg semi, all other income steams go to the Home club in each leg such as programmes, raffles, food and drink sales etc. I think my sums are right. Maths wasn't my strongest subject at school.

Or the "Luck of the Draw"

Good enough point. The reverse might also be the case though. What if the tie is finely balanced? The second leg home team might be the beneficiary. Which I suppose also makes your case for both teams to be included in the split.

I believe it is because we thought that was the best way forward for a couple of reasons. The Home club gains through their own support turning out for the game and also to let the Away committee concentrate on enjoying the game and occasion rather than worrying about fulfilling any duties other than those they would be doing for a normal league game.

There was no objections raised, therefore it was voted through unanimously.

The 40/60 split was accepted unanimously by the member clubs at the AGM. What we had before then was a gate guarantee of £5,000 for the 4 clubs in the semis. That doesn't mean we spent £20,000, it was always considerably less than that. It didn't matter if it was over 1 leg or 2. All you got was your share of the gate plus a sum from the SJFA to make it up to £5,000 if that gate share came under £5,000. If your club's share of the gate was £4,500 you got £500 from the SJFA. If your club's share of the gate was £5,000 or more you got nothing. Now what you get is your 40% share of the gate plus £5,000 if you lose your semi-final, or 40% share of the gate and entry to the Final where you get a minimum sum of £10,000 if you lose and £20,000 if you win.

I sent out the emails to all 4 semi-finalists on behalf of the SJFA. There is no mention nor instruction from the SJFA that any of the games are to be ALL-TICKET.

How many would you save?

I'm talking about the WoSFL clubs, but I think you know that.

So, they'll all need entry to the Strathclyde Cup. Nothing would change.

What one?

What ones would that be?

The problem then is what to do with the teams that are not in the cup. Leave them idle? Bring forward a game that might already be listed and have hospitality sold out? What if........? What if..........?

Probably one of the pitfalls of having a full season fixture list. Less flexibility in the scheduling of fixtures to balance out those games that get postponed due to cup draws or weather. Home league games can easily become away cup games and whilst there is a shared gate it doesn't make up for the temporary loss of match day income from other sales. Home games can also fall victim to the weather one week and the away game is ok the next, but the next home game could be off.

The prize fund payments are on top of what a team earns at the gate.

I fully expect that if they beat Craigmark in the West of Scotland League Cup that they will get an away draw for the next round on 24th February to add to the problem.

It is an unfortunate side to having a full fixture list that can be disrupted by postponements. Especially if the home games are the ones that have to get changed leaving the away games intact.

No, that will also be part of the review.