Redondo

You have hit the nail on the head there and any who wanted to would likely opt for the Caley now for obvious reasons.

There flogging a dead horse with that 1, the Stirling and district league has only been keeping its head above water for years now and I cant see the teams in that league keen on a move or are they going to raise the standard. Its a real shame the Central and Caley couldnt come together and settle there differences to merge last year, its now become a case of the teams doing it off there own back and it seems the Caley league will be the main beneficiaries of this in the long run. Unfortunately the SPAFA merge hasnt really worked and itll be interesting if anymore teams make roads to move leagues as im not too sure theyll be overly excited by the possibilty of a S&D influx.

With the development leagues and over 35s on friday nights im not sure there would be enough astro pitches to cover under 21s to play on friday nights. It would make sense for them to play friday nights tho for the reasons u mention.

I personally dont see the benefit or how having a 21s team/league benefits the Amateur game. The under 20s development league has hurt the Amateur game so why would Amateur associations think starting these leagues is going to help? After under 19s lads are old enough to go into the Amateur game in my opinion.

I dont think the SFA are interested in Amateur football, its not on the pyramid so is it really a big loss to them if it falls by the way side. Not sure anyone has the answer to salvaging the game from where it is now. The drop in teams will continue sadly.

Dire straits now! Seems like the masses have given up on the Amateur game. Sadly I feel it is close if not already past the point of no return, change was needed years ago and now its too late.

Why would Lesmahagow chuck it?

To my knowledge players need to be released by senior clubs to go play with amateur clubs which opens the door for other senior clubs to move for these players so something to stop that happening would allow an actual loan agreement to be feesable without senior clubs potentially losing players unwittingly for nothing. That would be a big positive and progressive move for both levels imo.

Its a positive move. Need to get something in place to stop 'senior' teams from coming in and snapping up players to fill squads tho and also something for players sitting on benches or not even getting out there tracksuits on a sat at these senior teams to go out on loan to ammie level before we see real progress tho!

Has there been any interest in the role?

Really worrying times ahead even with this merger between the 2 leagues. With teams leaving the Central to join other leagues its going to be interesting to see the set up of the Premier and 1st division. Theres a couple of teams already in the Central Premier who appear to be struggling this season. Wishaw looking for a manager on here last week and going by the post that manager is going to bring in a few players. Hopefully they get someone in place who can take them forward. Harestanes havent really recovered from there management team leaving last year and the loss of several players going with them. 2 big names within that Central Premier who in previous years have challeged for the big trophies. Add to that speculation regarding St Pats and what there intentions may be in the coming years, will they stay Amateur? The new merger is a positive but there are still concerns and still teams struggling. The new league name and how they came to the decision to call it that doesnt fill me with confidence that it will be a lasting success!

Dont think Lesmahagow have any intention to move.

Read that last night and it would appear there may be some truth in the rumours. Also heard they have a pitch lined up that could be developed to enter the WOS.

Surely u try get all the Clubs together and singing of the same page 1st then explore making kick off times more flexible to make the league appealing to the masses, im assuming the committees would have discussed this when the propsals were initially discussed??? People keep saying leagues joining is not the answer, I never said it was a bulletproof way of solving the ammie games problems, just like teams jumping leagues is probably not the answer either , just another league with the same problems. Be interesting to see how the Drum get on in the Caley , there going to have a hell of alot of journeys through Stirling way in that 1st division!

All these teams could have existed together in a association like the 1 I previously touched on. The unfortunate thing with teams like the ones you mentioned at the end of your post will always hapen in the Amateur game, dont think we will ever get through a season where teams dont fold. The question is how do we get interest back in the game to keep/ attract Clubs and players? Its a bit embarrassing that the powers that be couldnt agree to move forward together for the greater good of the game imo.

Is that a factual comment or speculation. If the case where are they going to play out of?

The Caley does have some of the longest standing amateur clubs with great history, thats a fact. What do the Caley league do differently? I dont know , from the outside looking in it doesnt look like too much but maybe someone can enlighten me.

Time will tell i suppose. Can I ask what the Caley do differently that makes them a better run league? I would always have thought teams would have wanted to challenge there self against the best teams and as you said the Central have the top teams. Facilities...well for a large part of the season teams are using schools/sports centres for astros not there own facilities so thats not a massive pull. Are these teams joining the Caley because they think they have a better chance of progressing up the leagues and challenging for trophies, maybe thats a more realistic reason for choosing the Caley? The 4 teams you mention and I'd say Castlemilk OBC are really strong and there all in the Central so for me its still the strongest league.

I'll elaborate on that point Gaf, This whole episode has began with Central & Caley officials having talks of a merger which to my knowledge was initially all positive and was followed up by further meetings. A vote between member Clubs then quashed the idea, again to my knowledge this was more from the Caley Clubs who were against the idea of the merger and possibly a few committee guys who couldnt agree on who would get what title!? Since then its seems to have developed into a tit for tat rivalry between 2 of the biggest Associations in Amateur football, teams jumping ship left, right and centre along with the wee snidey comment here and there on social media (nothing sinister i may add). My point being is the Caley have since added teams and may see that as getting 1 over on the Central especially with the Drum moving back there but these teams are not stronger than what the Central will be bringing in from the SAFL imo. So , itll be more or less a status quo for Amateur football in the central belt, the Central will still reign supreme over there Caley counterparts for the forseeable future but the Caley can put claim to being the best run league whos teams have the best facilities etc etc. Nothing much else will change until another big batch of teams fall by the way side and a merge is forced, by then itll probably be too late and all interest/hope will be gone!

Its inevitable that teams will continue to fall but having a Central league reconstructure like the 1 suggested could possibly slow the bleeding and if successful could be the way forward to re energize and grow the ammie game again. If the Caley league think the addition of a handfull of teams who with the exception of 1 havent done anything of any note in the ammie game recently makes them a stronger more appealing league there up a gum tree!!

Be aswell chucking it the now then! #buzzkill

Central Caledonian Scottish Amateur football could have had the potential for a Premier, Championship and 3 conferences which would have been interesting. 60 teams, 5 leagues of 12, 3 up 3 down with the winner of each conference getting promotion to the Championship. The 3 conferences getting drawn before each season to give an opportunity for teams to be competitive and a freshness of opponents. The Premier and Championship would be competitve and a couple of added Cup competitions , one solely for Conference teams a league cup for all. Just a pity some cant see the wood for the trees!!!

Highly doubt that to be true mate but you crack on with your protest and mind not to leave out that you's didnt have any corner flags again!

No.

Nothing last's forever mate, and my ego is absoloutely fine. Back to back East wins and a Scottish Cup Final not a bad return from 6 years I think. Was time to move on for reasons I dont have to share with you. I only commented as I found it strange that you would single out the ref as the reason you lost the game on Sat when in fact the better team won the game. No shame in that, ur aware Bannockburn have a few ex Fallin boys so to be expected they would/should beat Sandys. With Fallin out the way I fully expect Sandys will have a good run at the East along with Tollcross so another chance to prove you are in fact the best team in Leafa. All the best!!