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We can, quite rightly, discuss the East. West and South leagues till the cows come home but having been involved and followed area football for over 50 years the facts, for various reasons, have changed dramatically and will no doubt continue to do so. the South never had Junior football but at one time there was Stranraer and District Sunday League, Stewartry Amateur League and Dumfries Sunday League all running at the same time as the South of Scotland League. Indeed some players played Sat and Sun when the seasons overlapped. They must have been hardier then! I don't think the population of football-playing men was any bigger there were just fewer distractions available then. Also, I don't think you would get retired pro footballers travelling from Ayr Kilmarnock and even Glasgow to play in the South League for £2 and some new-laid eggs! Reminiscing aside the South of Scotland League in its present form is still fulfilling the function of keeping football alive in this sometimes forgotten area. Keep the ideas coming but remember the grass is not always greener.

Ask the SOS Committee!! Seem to be the only ones in favour of it.

As far as I am aware Balgreen Park is owned by Craiglaw Estate and Tarff Rovers were allowed to use it rent free .

Not noted yet!!

Newton Stewart has been bringing on local talent helped by the hard work of Galloway Thistle Youth over the past years. They have been letting young players have their chance and sometimes paying the price by losing games but keeping the faith.I will not say they are the finished article but I hope they are getting some reward now for sticking to their affordable and sustainable plan and their young manager.

Creetown does not have a functioning hotel. It has two possibly three caravan sites. One with a bar. Doubt if you would get a one or two night stopover.Newton Stewart 10 minute's drive away has 3 hotels and 2 pubs,3 or4 B&Bs and 6 takeaways.Beware of false info!

The point is not to attract a bigger crowd. How are players expected to finish work at say 4-30 at the earliest .change and get from say Newton Stewart to Nithsdale or vice-versa? to warm up properly and kick off at 7-45 when there are obvious alternatives available?

Surely a bit of common sense is required! Nithsdale travels nearly 2hrs to Newton Stewart on a Wed night While Wigtown 10 minutes from Newton is sent to Lochmaben the same night. Where is the logic in this?

One wee improvement ! Learn how to pronounce Club names. Loch May Ben, not Loch Ma Ben. Still good to hear outside opinions>

Based on what evidence? Name names!!

The South of Scotland have,by a series of what looks like unrelated happenings, been thrown a chance to have a competitive and financially viable 12-team league next season. I hope they can take advantage of this and give us a league which can be a showpiece for a mix of up-and-coming young players and older players who just want to play for the love of the game. At this level, it should be about enjoyment for players and committees and not a chore!

Congratulations to ANNAN ATHLETIC! Gave South fans quite a few anxious moments during the season but timed their run to perfection. Any chance of a reserve team in the SOSL?

I think the most important criteria to place on reserves or second teams coming into SOS leagues they have players registered with the South League. The reason is in the past clubs like Cally Braves have 50 to 60 reg players and you either get a strong or a weak team in opposition. Hardly a level playing field if you are competing for the top spot. A provision could be made for the odd 1st team player coming back from injury or limited trialists to play. A wee bit of constructive thinking is all that is needed.

Quite agree. Possil YM,s posting is out of order and obviously out of touch with the south. I find it difficult to see any merit in the South fixture scheduling. Sending teams 60 miles in April to play at pitches without lights means no time for warmup therefore more injuries and key players unable to make games. If you are lucky it works out for you! I know scheduling games is difficult, but computer scheduling at our level is not the definitive answer. Well done Vale and hard luck Creetown

Congratulations to Abbey Vale ( the village team!) on clinching the Soth of Scotland league tonight. Enjoy . The league has been excellent this season with a great finish. There is life in the old SOS yet!!!

if you wrote this to stir up a debate fair enough but, Abbey Vale plays their home games in New Abbey, probably due to the lack of suitable pitches in Dumfries, hence the club name! As far as I know, their players are drawn from nearby Dumfries and the surrounding areas. Probably the last real village team to win the South league was Tarff Rovers in the early 1960s pre easy access to Rangers and Celtic games on a Saturday! The next generation in the village was 95% female so how can you cope with that? Newton Stewart has probably the most home-based players this season in the league due to the excellent youth policy of the Galloway Thistle and long may that continue.( Feel free to correct me if I am wrong)

I know these are guesses, but I would be very surprised (and disappointed) if Newton Stewart voted yes. Saints if they do vote yes will have sullied the achievements of Bill Kirk and Willie McKenzie and Caley Braves will do anything to further their own agenda as proven in the past! As a lifelong South fan, I would urge clubs to give the clubs down here a chance to keep providing a decent standard of football for youngsters in this area . Don't let yourselves be used by every opportunist that comes along!

Creetown I don't think were ever, in living memory, full members of the SFA. Good on them getting licensed.

Cally Braves and their previous aliases should be a warning to the southern counties members on clubs jumping on the bandwagon of an easier?? pathway to the Lowland League. By and large the teams in the South have kept going thro thick and thin for the last 50 odd years. The standards they have reached ,on low budgets, during that time are remarkable when you look back to the old tin baths(if you were lucky) and no dugouts! Regionalisation is not the worst option by any means.Think very carefully before you vote for Christmas .

Seems like some of the keyboard warriors are pontificating on something they know very little about!

Re any other ideas----- The South League have for the past 50 odd years , managed to successfully provide competitive football in Dumfries and Galloway. I know its clubs do not fare to well in the Scottish and regional cups but the same clubs will dominate these anyway. Why would South Clubs spend money travelling to Glasgow and north Ayrshire just to play in a branch of the West which would contain clubs of the same ability as they are already playing! One thing that would improve the South League would be to scrap the ridiculous computer fixture selection, Teams not having a game for 2 or three weeks out of four is total nonsense. What are the South Committee thinking of?

Was there on 10th August 2021 and that's what it looks like! Honest!

August 2nd post says it all

For Tarff Rover to start playing serious football again quite a few improbable things would have to happen. A/ Someone with quite a bit of LONG TERM cash to spare would have to take over. B/They would have to find a working committee which in a small villages like Kirkcowan would be nigh on impossible. C/One of three clubs in a ten mile radius (Newton Stewart Wigtown Creetown) would have to pack in. D/They would resurrect a pitch which was , by today's standards, was poor. So it does not seem doable.