Cornishman

The 'Outward Code' (The left hand letter/number combination) is an instruction to direct mail to reach the local-ish main sorting office. The 'Inward Code' (The right hand letter/number combination) is then an instruction to direct mail to reach the actual address from the MSO.

The Deal with the SPFL dictates that there will be no more than two divisions feeding into the national divisions.

Interesting. Particularly, the interview halfway through. https://21stcenturywire.com/2020/04/15/herd-immunity-expert-explains-why-covid-19-lockdown-social-distancing-doesnt-actually-work/

I was absolutely sure they did. Remember being impressed by the thoughtfulness.

Did you remember that the apportionment goes: - A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A, A, B, C, D, D...?

The 'fairest' solution under these extraordinary circumstances would be to cancel relegations, promote top-twos throughout & bolt-on the HFL/LFL top-placed sides ~ Brora Rangers/Kelty Hearts ~ to League Two. Personally, I'd rather like to see the three lesser divisions each raised to 12 teams at the same time - two teams promoted to Premiership; four teams promoted to Championship; six teams promoted to League One & eight teams promoted to League Two ~ four from HFL & four from LFL. The 12-team divisions would copy the Cymru Premier League split to play a 34-match season.

It is interesting that this says there'll be Conferences for only one season... with an expected four Conferences, that would mean end-season cut-offs between 4th. & 5th. places; 8th. & 9th. places and 12th. & 13th. places ~ in mid-table, where team-strengths and thus points won are much closer together, the differences between 4th. & 13th. places could be a matter of only three/four wins. It could well be cut-throat all season long in divisions like that! Mind, maybe with divisions largely constructed from sets of four teams from each of the four current WRJL divisions plus a few added sides from the SoSL & Amateurs, there might be some distinct strength differences at the cusps of each of the cut-off lines. If there are 72 teams entering (6 SoSL been previously mentioned + maybe 2 Amateurs), that'd make four Conferences of 18. Beneath the 12th. placed teams, that'd give the following season's fourth division a total of 24 teams ~ two 12-team regionals called for? Alternatively, under a 16-team Premier Division, that could leave four 14-team divisions - Div. 1N, 1S, 2N & 2S?

Being my usual Devil's Advocate self, I see no 'abuse' of the man in these comments whatsoever. Maybe there exist ad hominem comments elsewhere in wwwland, but all I see here are sensible, measured, negative reactions to the statement of the 18th. inst.

Reserves & Amateurs basically ~ same as in England (ish!).

Commenting again, from some distance away. I am truly neutral in this discussion. No axes to grind! When the English Amateur Cup ceased, it was replaced by the FA Trophy & FA Vase. Both reasonably successful competitions, now with ±50 years of tradition behind them. Similarly (but, obviously in reverse) the SC & Junior Cups should be 'retired' and most definitely replaced with a national Scottish FA Trophy. Early Rounds can definitely be contested in Regional Groups, becoming random draw at say, the 'Round of 32'. Create 8 Regions ~ Highland/Grampian; Tayside; Fife; West-Central; Mid-Central; East-Central; South-West & Borders. Four from each Region get into those random draw later Rounds. By all means allow ex-Juniors to retain membership in the SJFA if they wish, however, The Juniors, much like the British Commonwealth, is an anachronistic idea and should henceforth really be perceived as 'a club' like The Rotarian Society.

Indeed. When do the public get clarification? That is Paramount!

Is it true that L Ron Hubbard was largely inspired by the SJFA?

Oh look - "My dad's bigger than your dad " Is this Ron Manager?

I cannot see a great problem with forming a WJL-WoSL! As it would never be sanctioned to operate at Tier6, it would be considered as a feeder to the official Tier6/Tier7/Tier8 League in operation at any future moment, alongside established SAFA Leagues. In effect ~ It represents no change in rump WJL teams' position from their expected position as of 2020-21 season's beginning. Their official League notepaper might need new title-headers, mark you! The official WoSL seems to have the interest of ±35 WJL clubs, 6 SoSL clubs & 2 amateur Clubs already, so there immediately appears to be a potential market for three 14-club conferences to be formed. While some hitherto 'interested' clubs may yet be fooled into failing to actually apply by the shenaniganising going on, I'm reasonably sure this number will be matched by others not yet publicising their own expression of interest. Separately, if those SoS clubs are denied access, there would still likely be enough of a quorum for three conferences of 12 clubs. I expect three conferences, come what may, as I cannot see fewer than 36 clubs realistically in the mix. I suspect that the WoSL evolution would then follow EoSL lines exactly, just two seasons in arrears.

There's a certain school of thought with which I very much agree, which believes the ideal number of promotions plus relegations from/to any Division of any League is 27.5% of the total number of members within that competition. i.e. ~ 4.4 from 16 in SLFL. Obviously, you cannot promote or relegate fractions of a member club/team, so the range of 20% to 35% is usually accepted as being the norm. This figure is extrapolated from the balancing of 'divisional integrity & continuity', 'adequate promotional opportunity'; 'adequate post-promotional security of tenure' & 'reasonable avoidance of over-relegation' - which is a fine balance. The organisers of the majority of Leagues subconsciously tend toward this 'attractor'. An addendum to this is that the lower parts of the stated range seem to sensibly better suit smaller divisions and vice versa. Secondarily, of course, if two (or more) Divisions are feeders to a higher division, compromise must be encountenanced. This is where play-off/play-out systems have their natural place.

I'd like to counterpoint this, if I may? As my name implies, I'm a sassenach, but I am familially connected in the deep past with the Gordons [Clan] of Huntly. My first and foremost love in fitba is Yeovil Town FC (Somerset), presently plying trade in the English National League Premier. YTFC had been playing in the EFL since 2003, even managing one season in The Championship before returning from whence they came at the end of last season. The Glovers (their nickname, the club having long been associated with the local Petter's glovemakers - they used to be named 'Yeovil & Petter's United FC' - were; before 2003; best known as 'The Non-League Giantkillers' and despite having put themselves up for election to the FL 26 times between 1946 and 1976, had never succeeded in attaining acceptance into that august body. They had enjoyed decades of being acknowledged as the unofficial 'Kings of the Non-League game'... which all changed in May 2003. They won The Football Conference and thus direct promotion into the EFL. The point I'm making is that I see among many Talbot people the very same qualms and trepidation that we Glovers' supporters entertained back in 2003. Getting 'ripped out' of our safe-haven and comfort zone, our giantkilling epithet being sacrificed - and all for what? Well, looking at where we are this season 'nothing' might be a tempting answer! However, in sixteen years we've been given one helluva roller-coaster ride... would I swap it for the auld status quo? Never in a million years! Even if it continues downhill from here, no-one can take away the awful lows and fantastic highs of our journey. It's recommended!

Cannot see why not. As entry to a new WoSL is necessarily by accepted application for those clubs outwith the WRJFL, even if the latter join en bloc, there shouldn't be disparate entryship rules for clubs from 'other sources' - meaning that all-47 lower division WRJFL clubs should retain the right to apply for tier6 alongside everyone else. Every applicant would thus be applying for tier6, ergo conferences may well be necessary and maybe; as in the EoSFL; for longer than one season.

As I have mentioned here on at least a couple of previous occasions, without the comments seemingly able to garner much traction... The SFA and the LL cannot possibly have "both backed Option Z", because the SPFL refuse to sanction more than two regional Level5 feeder Leagues if the 'Team42' promotion/relegation playoff opportunity was to remain in force.

Make your original conferences regional ones, splitting latitudinally at say, Ayr or Kilmarnock and you'd probably have a goer that current SoSFL clubs will palate - especially if end-season access to next-season's region-wide 'Premier Division' is made optional.

IF a handful of the westmost EoSFL clubs were persuadable and recruited for the purpose of kicking off this new WoSFL - say, those West of the Queensferries, then add in Ressies. from Stranny, BSCG & Caley Braves, plus some progressive SoSFL clubs, like Bonnyton and maybe a couple others (whom I can't name, but who are committing to licencing) - then Kilwinning & Clydebank would automatically have a functional League being formed about them. There'd be at very least a dozen sides already making up the numbers, more if further WJFL clubs jump ship. The point of this legerdemain is to guarantee the new League begins asap. The deal for the 'borrowed' EoSFL teams is that season-by-season, as more WJFL clubs join in, they'll get reabsorbed back into their natural East environment one-by-one. This new League could even allow say, 2-4 top EJFL clubs to be promoted/voted-in to sustain numbers. It would establish a 'soft-border' between WoSFL & EoSFL divisions, sufficient to perhaps somewhat equalise membership numbers between them. Obviously, once the guarantee's put on the table, the WoSFL should prove a much more attractive proposition.

It's gone to 'gonewildhairy' over at Reddit!

They would care, though. Allowing there to be a second Tier5 League was a considerable concession on the part of the SPFL and they'll not brook a further 'dilution in standard' to three feeders for their members to have to drop into if relegated - notwithstanding that the influx of new licenced teams would see the three feeder-zones being of higher average standard than the original HFL/LFL duopoly. It does, nevertheless, make sense to have three feeders from the bottom-up standpoint. So, what ideas could possibly cause the SPFL to become more enthusiastic to it? a couple occur to me. 1. Measures to reduce the chances of any of their current Members to drop out of Tier4. Say, an increase in numbers in Memberships in both Tier3 & Tier4? Increase both to 16/18 teams. 2. Evolution of an internecine regional two-division Tier between Tier4 &Tier5, while present Tier5 expands to four regional Leagues - representing HFL & NoS, Fife & Tayside, WoS and EoS. New Tier4½ would cover HFL/NoS & Tayside areas (but, would be a higher division than the present HFL) in it's Northern Zone, with Fife, WoS and EoS being covered by it's Southern Zone (a 'glorified' LFL, now inc. Fife/WoS teams)

Thought 'Fourth Lanark FC' might've been a good one! lol

There have been many splendid ideas and proposals aired on this thread (which I've 'lurked' on for some time!). I'd now like to present my own modest proposal... If one arranges a Division first into two (random?/regional?/league-place-ordered?) Conferences, followed by a halfway split & recombination into an 'upper/lower' pair of Conferences, one may operate Divisions with precisely 4/3rds. the number of teams in them compared to regular double-round-robin structured Divisions. This works as long as the total number of teams is divisible by four and results of all head-to-heads among qualified teams from the preliminary Conferences are retained in the upper/lower Conferences. Ergo, we could have 24-team Divisions, playing a 34-match season... &/or... 28-team Divisions, playing a 40-match season. That would respectively give 22/26 games each in the preliminary Conferences; 6/7 teams carry over their 10/12 head-to-head results; then the upper/lower Conferences kick-off with halfish-completed league tables and are finished via the teams playing their final 12/14 games versus those they've not yet played in the present season. 22+12/26+14. The 'Premer Division' can, of course, be 'fixed' to provide the Glasgow OF pair with their four fixtures against each other (presuming that they both end up in the same upper or lower Conference for the end of season run-in!). Advantages of this system... (i)... Allows 1/3rd. more teams to compete in higher prestige League matches. (ii).. Can provide high-interest derby matches in the first period of the season - if Conferences are split regionally. (iii). The first period of the season Conferences 'split' exactly halfway through the middle, providing for that split to be made right at the point where statistically the highest number of teams with the closest points totals reside. Creating extra will-they/won't-they excitement for very many fans. (iv).. The system provides a natural break at just the right time of year for the 'winter break' (v)... There will be 'peril' for the last-placed team in the upper Conference, in the form of having to participate in promotion/relegation playoffs. There will also be 'reward' to be earned - in the form of playoffs for the top-2 in the lower Conference toward gaining Europa League entry. (vi).. The upper Conference would be competing for the usual prizes & European competition entry, noting that the lowest of the would-be Europa League qualifiers would still be required to win playoffs versus the two best teams from the lower Conference (EoS-2018-19-style probably). Depending on the number of relegation places decreed in the League's rules; here I'm assuming four direct relegations and one or two playoff places; there will be a 'direct relegation line' drawn above the fourth-from-bottom position and a 'playoff zone line' drawn above either the 5th./6th.-from-bottom position - that dependent on whether a preliminary playoff be required between 6th.-bottom and 12th. from the upper Conference. (vii). Competition prize money will be awarded strictly pro-rata, based on 'total points won over the 34/40 matches of the season'. Disadvantages of this system... (i)... The pattern of matches to be played might be a little tricky to understand by some, particularly in its inception season. Well, there you have it. Not really that complex, yet still exercising for the old grey matter! I would allow for just the one national Division, with each subsequent tier dividing the tier above in half in regional, then area and maybe district based Divisions/Conferences. I'd suspect that the 24-team model would be more popular than the 28-team one. If someone wishes to illustrate my model with spreadsheets/maps - feel free. It's not copyrighted and doing such things exceeds my capabilities! lol. Hope folks enjoy perusing and pondering on my modest model.

Sorry, mcruic. There will probably never be more than two direct regional feeders into the SPFL - the latter originally baulked the two-feeder idea and only upon the creation of the LFL did they unwillingly come into line step.