dwl123

My only concern bout eventually setting up a LL2 is that when the whole non league arrangement is sorted LL2 would be on the same tier 6 as the Tayside league and the North juniors. As the lowland catchment covers twice as many clubs as the highland catchment I would like to see three equal leagues at tier 5 - HL 'LL west and 'LL east then regional leagues below that. The big caveat 're play offs is that SPFL club 42 gets automatic relegation and the 3 tier 5 champs fight it out for promotion.

Burnie, i used to do the turnstiles at one of the HFL clubs and if anyone is in the ground be they spectator, committee, helper or free concession they go towards the licenced ground capacity limit so have to be recorded. As for safe capacities at grounds dont get me started, Health and safety gone daft.......

All sounds very fair and logical but id advocate just 3 games intotal to decide the overall champion of the EOS league considering midweek games will probs be a non starter. Id also suggest that once the league structure is sorted for 19/20 (premier at T6, 2 equal leagues at T7) any new teams joining do so at T7, and i bet there will be a few!

True! However The north and midlands district leagues work fine in rugby so theres no reason football couldnt adopt the same at this level.

Its fake news. The boundary between lowland and highland leagues isnt changing.

I wouldnt quote the motherwell semi today if i were u. Only 18750 at lanarkshires doorstep this aft. Pretty poor tbh

If the SFA had engaged with them at the right time then i think they would have come on board. After all theres more to be gained within the pyramid than outwith. I just feel the SFA have gone about this in the wrong way.

Ive always beeen in favour of a pyramid system for football below the SPFL and being involved with a highland league club that wants to go as far as is possible, will always support the concept. However i have always felt that the SFA have not thought through the structure of the pyramid below league 2 with all the interested parties - EOSFL, SOSFL HL and the juniors. Scottish football should have followed the structure of scottish rugby and created a west, east and North/midlands league on equal parity with the north champions playing off with the midlands champions to then move forward to a semi finals with the west league winners, east league winners and SPFL bottom club for a place in the top draw the next season. 4 non leagues on equal parity with each top division licenced or near licenced. Eligibility to scottish cup at level 5 eligibility to junior cup at level 6 and below regardless of current senior junior or amateur status.

If the divide between the juniors and joining the seniors pyramid doesnt get sorted itll be knowing me, knowing you a-ha Souper trouper, sorry i mean't Goalie Hamish:-)

The HL will always welcome new member clubs. The problem it has i the fact that at 18 clubs currently there is no route to allow just one club in. The league is at its limit as a single division. All cjrrent member clubs have floodlights enclosed grounds and a host of facilities which has resulted in a lot of spend. A good example is Strathspey Th a few years back a north junior club with a picket fence rou d the pitch. Now a fully enclosed ground eith stand and floodlights. My point is that expansion in the north requires a number of clubs to commit to make a HL2 viable and they will have to spend money upgrading facilities at a basic level. Theyre just isnt th support or money in this area to make it happen in the short term. So no the HL is not a closed shop.

Fair point SW but i was looking at how the smaller clubs could save on the travel costs. Perhaps have regional leagues below league 1? Just a thought.

Im a massive fan of non-league football in all its forms - senior, junior, amateur, welfare - you name it but the times they are a changing to quote a certain musician poet. Im sure this has been mentioned in some form or other but i would like to see the Scottish football system re-organised to suit the geography of the country. Don't forget we only have 20+ full time clubs in operation with the vast majority playing part time football and being asked to commit to long mid week journeys in all sorts of weathers. Im suggesting we re-organise the leagues into a more regional system to accommodate the level of football we are currently playing as follows: Level 1 - Premiership - 12 clubs/split after 33/38 games total/relegation playoffs as at present Level 2 - Championship - 12 clubs/split after 22 or 33 games/32 or 38 games total/promotion and relegation play offs as at present - relegation to L1N or L1S Level 3 - National League 1 North - 12 clubs/split after 22 games/32 games total/promotion and relegation to LLE, LLW or HL as appropriate Level 3 - National League 1 South - 12 clubs/split after 22 games/32 games total/promotion and relegation to LLE, LLW or HL as appropriate Level 4 - Lowland League West - 12 clubs/split after 22 games/32 games total or 16 clubs playing 30 games depending on uptake Level 4 - Lowland League East - 12 clubs/split after 22 games/32 games total or 16 clubs playing 30 games depending on uptake Level 4 - Highland League - 12 clubs/split after 22 games/32 games total or 16 clubs playing 30 games depending on uptake winners of LLW, LLE, HL plus bottom clubs in L1N and L1S fight it out for 2 places in national leagues at national 3 level. Level 5 - Feeder Leagues to LLW and LLE - EoSL/SoSL/West and East juniors as appropriate Level 5 - Feeder Leagues to HL - North Caley and North Juniors as appropriate The above proposal increases the current SPFL membership to 48 by including 3 clubs each from current LL and HL. By adding a new lowland League west it gives opportunity for junior clubs to join pyramid on an equal footing with current senior 'non-league' clubs. League Cup limited to clubs in levels 1,2 and 3. Challenge cup limited to levels 2, 3 and 4 plus invited extras.

I do think that due to the population/football club density in the central belt an East/West lowland league split on an equal par with the Highland League makes complete sense for those clubs wishing to progress. As has been posted previously adding the league 2 bottom club results in a nice 4 way play off for the SPFL place.

I think the fact that there are several Lowland League clubs without floodlights precludes midweek playoffs. All the Highland League clubs are capable of playing midweek as they have the necessary fllodlights

Wait a mo.......that's a shinty park.