Font Of Information Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Lets see how many clubs attend the meeting in Glasgow on Thursday night. I know of a few from the East that have been invited that wont be attending purely due to the travelling involved to get to the meeting let alone the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loughal Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 In his attempt to draw clubs into a pyramid system aligned to the senior grade, would it be an idea that he altered one major item that holds them apart, REINSTATEMENT this bugbear that does emphasize the differences is a costly reminder to all junior clubs every time they have to part with £40 to sign a footballer to play in a lower grade the pickpockets at Hampden pounce. Get your priorities sorted out Mr. Johnstone. Abolish this stupid edict unique in the world of football and an embarrassment to Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Never mind East/West combined. Best thing that could happen is back to Ayrshire/Central. Bring back the local league derbys, and the West and Scottish Cups will mean something again. I know from Whitletts perspective that the only time we get a half decent crowd is Winton or the Buffs. Junior fitba is popular because its affordable and local. As soon as it starts costing too much youd be aswell supporting Ayr Utd etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnie_man Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The Junior grade cannot regress back to the old ways, that is the fast way to suicide. Anyway as someone pointed out, there is no sponsor for the Junior Cup, so WTF is Johnstone trying to achieve here? cover his own failings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
energyzone Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 What is then do you think? Fwiw, I don't think it's the way forward either. The Lowland League was the way forward and that boat has all but sailed for junior teams. It's a pipe dream but:- SPFL Premier League with 16/18 teams. Similar sized First Division. Regional leagues below that. Split them into East, West and North. A sectional league cup with qualifiers etc. Open to everyone. Retain the junior cup but make it open to everyone before a certain level so that it won't be too dissimilar to what we have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Agree that would be an ideal setup and the pyramid would be a much easier sell if that were the model, but that's unlikely to happen at this point. If the junior grade doesn't get a superleague in at the fifth tier what will probably unfold over the next couple of decades is a slow death by a thousand cuts sort of decline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 A combined Super League running parallel to the Lowland League acting as a fifth tier could potentially be alright. Knock out play offs between the LL/HL/Junior winners and bottom of League Two to go up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmontheloknow Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I'd have thought any notion of going back to the old regions is far more likely to see the bigger clubs bugger off to the Lowland League or something of that ilk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kefc Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 This would work imo if the following conditions were given to clubs in the league - 1- Yearly payment to clubs to help with travel costs 2- Big monetary prize for winning the league. 3- Winners of the league play off with HL, LL, bottom of 3rd for entry into SPFL. It would require a good sponsorship deal but that would be unlikely given the problems we have getting one for the Scottish Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I doubt another division will be accepted at level 5 that geographically overlaps with the existing LL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmontheloknow Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I doubt another division will be accepted at level 5 that geographically overlaps with the existing LL. This new thing would also overlap with Highland considering all clubs North of the Tay are to be promoted / relegated to the Highland league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The SJFA seemed to think it might in a document circulated and presumably they would have run the concept past SFA officeholders before doing so given they are both based at Hampden, or maybe that's an assumption too far? In England, the Isthmian League was added as a feeder to the Conference well after its initial launch despite overlapping geographically with the Southern League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr V Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 North Region changed last season, same as the East Region. In terms of the proposal's significance, for me there are 2 big questions - would the change help Junior football, or just help the big clubs in Junior football; and is the motivation to complement or integrate with the pyramid system, or provide a competitor or rival to it. It'll be interesting to see how the proposals flesh-out on both counts, if the clubs want to press ahead. As regards the latter point, the pyramid system, it remains the case that Johnston has previously spoken against the concept of the pyramid. And when he spoke the day after LL was approved, it seemed clear that a Super Superleague was envisioned as a non-pyramid rival, without licensing. (And he's been lukewarm about licensing itself too - e.g. the infamous toilet block costs). SJFA chiefs are set to press for a new national junior Superleague. Hampden bosses reckon it would be a better option for their clubs than the new Lowland League — & even rival several of the bottom tiers of the SFA’s pyramid system plans. It’s clear junior bosses reckon a super Superleague is the way to prevent big guns like Auchinleck, Linlithgow & Pollok being lured away by the chance to earn promotion into the new SPFL. SJFA secretary Tom Johnston said: ... “And it would be an option that clubs could look at rather than the Lowland League, without the financial implications that would have for any of our teams thinking about it. “We feel a national Superleague would raise the profile for our game. “I think it’d be right up there as a stronger division than the Highland League, the Lowland League & maybe even the bottom couple of divisions of the new senior set-up.” Johnston feels staying junior to compete in that sort of league would be the better option for the SJFA big guns. He added: “I think the Lowland League will be an inferior product — I don’t think it reaches the standards of our top clubs & I don’t see anything in it for them. “I don’t think there is any merit in our top teams going to play there because of the lack of fanbase & quality it will have, not to mention the costs involved in meeting club licensing requirements which are substantial. But attitudes can change. Were the Rose not against the East restructure, wanting to stick with 12 and sectional cups? Might be against this too. The Rose committee historically are adverse to league change and you are right, they were against the Superleague when it was initially proposed. On the other hand they have been pioneers in junior football regarding investment in facilities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I doubt another division will be accepted at level 5 that geographically overlaps with the existing LL. This new thing would also overlap with Highland considering all clubs North of the Tay are to be promoted / relegated to the Highland league. A combined Super League running parallel to the Lowland League acting as a fifth tier could potentially be alright. Knock out play offs between the LL/HL/Junior winners and bottom of League Two to go up. There is no chance of a Junior Super League, which is Lowland League in another name, being accepted by the SFA to run in parallel with what is already there. It won't be accepted because of the requirement for licensing criteria to be met. This proposal can only bring together the best of the best in the Juniors - assuming it goes forward. It will never be accepted as an equal to the LL. The talk of other pyramid models is also redundant for the next 5 - 10 years. There will be zero appetite for further tinkering and there is no chance that SPFL clubs will vote themselves into a regional model. What is certain is that the structure has to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The Superduper League proposal is not going to happen. There are simply not enough clubs with a large enough travelling fan base to make it financially viable. Current set up is OK and across the whole junior game provides a decent affordable product for the bulk of the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marconi Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 terry tibs has a point, speaking to people from most ayrshire teams i am sure at least eighteen would support the idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The Superduper League proposal is not going to happen. There are simply not enough clubs with a large enough travelling fan base to make it financially viable. Current set up is OK and across the whole junior game provides a decent affordable product for the bulk of the fans. Think almost all of the clubs in it would be in an area from about Auchinleck and Irvine over to Bonnyrigg and Kelty so the travel probably wouldn't be any more drastic than the east premier, which is being sustained by clubs with supports that rarely threaten the use of triple digits. On HTG's point about licensing, I'm not sure why it would be a non-starter when there are obvious financial advantages to be gained from doing it, such as SFA full member handouts and automatic senior Scottish Cup entry. The key is eliminating the loss of junior Scottish and regional cup competition and the of traditional rivalries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonewolfie Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Daft notion being promoted by people with NO UNDERSTANDING of the game at this level. Vast majority of clubs and their supporters DO NOT WANT more travelling, DO NOT WANT pyramid structure to obtain higher League status. Please please consign this proposal to the dustbin of history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Under the proposal nothing changes for the vast majority of clubs. Would SJFA officeholders be pushing this so hard if there was no interest in it amongst the larger clubs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear no foe Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 IMO, the current set up is as geographicly spot on as you're ever likely to get, this East / West merger is simply nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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