Pyramidic

Tayport set sights for the Highland League - read all about it: https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/international/tayport-excited-about-move-into-new-midlands-division-3192854 But the new Midland League is going to have to wait until June for HL ratification.

If I was a club official and found that my application was being blocked by semantics I would attempt to tweak my application to run the Reserve set-up as a separate (but intrinsically linked) club. There are few examples of this down South and I think there are a few where the second side even enters the FA Vase.

At the moment we do not know how the numbers or structure will play out but if a new division can be created of say 13 applicants, the case might be strengthened to accept Edinburgh City Reserves to bring the number up to a nicely rounded 14, particularly as they would tick all the boxes for facilities, floodlights etc.

What will be the view on Edinburgh City entering a reserve side? The club is already a prestigious long-standing EoSFA member. Assume they will play at the totally revamped Meadowbank. An impressive new venue. Edinburgh City Reserves could be the forerunner of future applications for SPFL reserve sides. I assume that Hibernian have also retained their membership of the EoSFA. Lots of related issues and will be interesting to see how the Edinburgh City application is handled by the EOSFL.

Thanks for the update. It is difficult to understand what is going on when out of the blue informative threads become infected by meaningless rubbish.

Worth a listen.

I think the other issue will be that a significant number of applicants will not meet the current league entry criteria. The question may then arise to the degree that the entry requirements can be relaxed to create a viable Development Division. These will be difficult issues for league management to address and I can understand why public “leaks” have been curtailed for the time being until the matter has been resolved.

I wrote the following statement on another thread almost a month ago. I think it is relevant to the current debate. “It does make a lot of sense incorporating the name of the town or settlement in the club title. I think that we will see more Youth set-ups applying to the EOSFL and WOSFL. They are very different from the general football model. Most will trace their origins to a few dads that wanted to establish a Youth side for their sons. One team subsequently grew into two teams and the club then begins to mushroom and we have say 20 or 30 teams or perhaps more. Money can be raised with enthusiastic mothers an fathers. Sponsors arrive from all sorts of directions. Grants are available from local councils and other funding bodies. The club becomes recognised as a community service. The downside arrives when players are 16 or 18 and the more talented ones migrate to Junior/Senior clubs. A few may remain with the club and progress into Men’s amateur football. It is natural for those administering the club to consider at some stage creating a pathway to Senior football. This can be achieved with a partnership with a Senior club or by taking the difficult route of applying to the EOSFL or WOSFL and upgrading facilities as appropriate. In most cases the level of support for a newly created Senior side is likely to be very poor at the outset. Interested family members and a few youngsters who play for youth sides is probably the most that can be expected to attend games. However, providing that players are not paid it does not really matter. It may be possible to bring in older more experienced amateur players to swell the ranks but there is always the possibility of a clash of cultures. A Youth club following the Senior route can over time have built up a lot of assets from grants and membership/monthly fees (say 700 players paying say £25 annual membership and £20 monthly training/match fees). Some money may be left over for important development projects! Then add the fund raising and sponsorship elements. Whilst some youth set-ups will struggle others will not. The point I am making is that the funding model (assuming it works successfully) is very different for a Youth club that moves to Senior football. It will not work if the club is simply going to rely on its local support base in terms of matchday attendances. A successful Youth club who establishes a Senior side in my view represents a positive element for the future of the EOSFL and WOSFL . However, it does need to be carefully assessed by the respective league officials to make sure that league criteria can be properly met and the applicants proposals are truly sustainable.”

Can you make one of your useful lists please Dev. I have lost track this time around.

Interesting. What would an amateur pyramid look like and who would initiate it? Could it be a flagship project for the Scottish Amateur FA?

This would assume that the Tay boundary would change / be redefined. Any news on that front Marten? Unlike the joint WOSFL/ EOSFL statement re West Lothian, nothing has materialised on the ML / EOSFL boundary definition as far as I am aware. If this is the case north of the Tay clubs can still proceed with their applications to join the EOSFL.

Good to see Luncarty committing to their second season in the EOSFL (refer above wording that should end speculation).

Sincerely hope the Stoneyburn signings will be playing EOSFL football next season. The club have yet to confirm that they submitted their application.

JustBecause has stated on the other thread that: ”Information provided to Tayside teams was that at the conclusion of season 21/22 the top 6 clubs along with the top 6 from the North juniors would come together to form a Premier/superleague at tier 6 seeing those remaining teams become a 7th tier. “ Are the ML and NL to be amalgamated for 2022/23 and are we simply witnessing an interim solution for 2021/22?

Glad that the issue is finally being settled and that Tayport are able to make their favoured choice. Historically the club has always looked towards Tayside and not Fife.

Does the grey area in the map mean that Dundee clubs and Tayport have a choice of applying to EOSFL or ML? The area has been left grey for a reason. The map must have been drawn by somebody ITK as most of us would have coloured Dundee yellow as part of the ML.

A map for reference:

A map for reference:

I like maps and boundaries and “grey areas”:

There appear to be intentions of the WOSFL forming a Development Division in their bottom tier if they have enough applicants. What a way to start if the ML invited Amateur and Youth teams to form a Second Division right at the outset. It would give the embryonic league a much needed structure and a mechanism for encouraging progressive clubs to develop. There is plenty of time at the moment for Amateur and Youth sides to consider such a proposal. Just needs someone to actively promote the concept.

Coupar Angus Facebook: EXCITING TIMES AHEAD We are still working away at the club and the boys have been back a few weeks for non contact training. We hope you are all well and keeping safe and we still can’t wait to welcome you all back when it’s safe to do so. An announcement which was confirmed today in the below statement which has been in the pipeline for a while. CAJFC are in full support of this move to Teir 6 and hope it all goes to plan for starting in season 2021/2022! We would also like to add that due to the 2020/2021 season now being null and void all player sponsorships will be transferred to next season. We hope to get back to seeing you all at Foxhall Park as soon as it’s allowed. #mtc SCOTTISHJUNIORFA.COM SJFA PYRAMID STATEMENT | Scottish Junior FA The Scottish Junior FA & East Region SJFA have formally submitted our commitment and agreem

Coupar Angus Facebook: EXCITING TIMES AHEAD We are still working away at the club and the boys have been back a few weeks for non contact training. We hope you are all well and keeping safe and we still can’t wait to welcome you all back when it’s safe to do so. An announcement which was confirmed today in the below statement which has been in the pipeline for a while. CAJFC are in full support of this move to Teir 6 and hope it all goes to plan for starting in season 2021/2022! We would also like to add that due to the 2020/2021 season now being null and void all player sponsorships will be transferred to next season. We hope to get back to seeing you all at Foxhall Park as soon as it’s allowed. #mtc SCOTTISHJUNIORFA.COM SJFA PYRAMID STATEMENT | Scottish Junior FA The Scottish Junior FA & East Region SJFA have formally submitted our commitment and agreem

Hope to see more statements of intent:

Twitter confirmation: