Mr Hardy Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Surely Glasgow University going into the Lowland League has to be a non-starter. Firstly playing at Airdrie doesn't make any sense. But on top of that what would they be apart from cannon fodder, bottom of an amateur league by-passing EoS/SoS levels gaining entry to LL, joke. If they want to progress let them improve on the field in EoS/SoS standards the leap in class is just too much at the moment. Then the stipulation should be brought in, 'Glasgow' University find a 'Glasgow' ground to play home matches at. That team at Ibrox might welcome some extra revenue at renting their ground out, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 The difficulty that Glasgow Uni are in is that there is no suitable league for them to go into. They will want to maintain their SFA membership and the only way to ensure that is for them to be licensed. Which means that they have to be part of the pyramid structure. Since the EOS and SOS leagues are unsuitable for Glasgow based clubs the Lowland league is the only alternative. In the ideal world they should be able to join the West Junior league and progress from there. However the parting of the Red Sea seemed to be easier that getting the juniors to join the pyramid structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 The difficulty that Glasgow Uni are in is that there is no suitable league for them to go into. They will want to maintain their SFA membership and the only way to ensure that is for them to be licensed. Which means that they have to be part of the pyramid structure. Since the EOS and SOS leagues are unsuitable for Glasgow based clubs the Lowland league is the only alternative. In the ideal world they should be able to join the West Junior league and progress from there. However the parting of the Red Sea seemed to be easier that getting the juniors to join the pyramid structure. Why do they need an SFA licence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Automatic entry to the Scottish Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Why do they need an SFA licence? You will not be able to be a member without one soon and as Ranaldo says to gain entry to the Scottish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I can't really agree with that. These teams are at tier five in the pyramid and one promotion away from being in the league. Having an academy club who have no permanent town to play in or any town whatsoever represented in their name and who will happily play at places as far away as Hamilton and Annan is not a good idea. If they are accepted into the league then they could be in League Two of the SPFL as soon as 2016 if they win promotion next season. On top of that, there is the potential for a third university team at tier five and they wouldn't even be playing in the city that the university is based in. University teams have almost no chance of any support in Scotland playing in their own city let alone having Glasgow University play in Airdrie. This would be another team one step away from League Two. I think it would reflect very badly on the pyramid if you have these kinds of teams getting promoted. This is all hypothetical until we find out which teams are accepted but I'd be very concerned if the Lowland League starts accepting these teams. I understand that the juniors aren't taking part so we have to make the best that we can of the pyramid being purely for senior teams (or amateur/new teams) but you have to have some kind of standards in place beyond a licence. If you start saying teams can get in by ground sharing in places they don't even represent or teams can get in who don't represent any town whatsoever then any team can get into the league as long as they meet the non-stadium related aspects of the licence. All this 'they are one promotion away' is strange surely if promoted they have more than proven their worth as a LL side? IMO eduaport and Glasgow uni have pretty weak applications but if they meet the minimum standards then they should be accepted should others not have stronger applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Daft question but what if Glasgow Uni were keen on accessing the Lowland League but the league were already full of licenced teams? If they can't join the EOS or SOS feeder leagues, where would they play? Just because they can get in now doesn't solve the problem for the future in terms of teams joining the pyramid. Is there not an obligation on the LL to establish the demand for a WOS feeder and implement it? That could offer potential to influence some of the junior teams in the west or at least some of the top amateurs. Obviously BSC are in but same applies to them - what if the league were already full. Are the west teams to be closed out in the same way as the north juniors are by the HFL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 I suspect Cicero was meaning practically, not literally. There's nothing stopping Glasgow University joining the SOS League... it's already admitted EK, and Edusport (apparently maybe moving to Lesser Hampden in Glasgow) in recent years... but it's tougher on Strathclyde clubs since it's otherwise so 'Dumfries & Galloway-centric'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestman54 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I suspect Cicero was meaning practically, not literally. There's nothing stopping Glasgow University joining the SOS League... it's already admitted EK, and Edusport (apparently maybe moving to Lesser Hampden in Glasgow) in recent years... but it's tougher on Strathclyde clubs since it's otherwise so 'Dumfries & Galloway-centric'. Perhaps if more Central league clubs ignored the SOSL's name and entered it, the league would become more evenly based accross the west of scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Aye but is the strategic answer to continue trying to shoehorn West teams into a border league? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankies Alive Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Perhaps if more Central league clubs ignored the SOSL's name and entered it, the league would become more evenly based accross the west of scotland. You`d be fine with Ayr Utd playing in the Highland League then? After all its only a name........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 You will not be able to be a member without one soon and as Ranaldo says to gain entry to the Scottish.But why does that mean so much to them? What they get can't be crucial to their funding. They would be better off playing at some university location and joining the juniors, that way if they progressed visiting support would be a more regular income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 But why does that mean so much to them? What they get can't be crucial to their funding. They would be better off playing at some university location and joining the juniors, that way if they progressed visiting support would be a more regular income. But the junior income would be fairly minimal as well, the uni teams are less influenced by finances than others, playing in the Scottish cup and having the chance to be promoted to the spfl are far more prestigious offers to potential players than an offer of the chance to play talbot or clydebank if you're successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabidAl Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 What's the rationale for licencing still being a requirement for this season's LL, given that no club has been relegated from the SPFL to the LL? Would an extension of a further season to allow clubs to get licenced be sensible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsimButtHitsASix Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 If a west central belt club can't hack the idea of a two hour journey to play teams in the SOS league (if that's the highest they can enter) they shouldn't bother applying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 But the junior income would be fairly minimal as well, the uni teams are less influenced by finances than others, playing in the Scottish cup and having the chance to be promoted to the spfl are far more prestigious offers to potential players than an offer of the chance to play talbot or clydebank if you're successful.But you and I, and potential players, know that the the cup will be one game a season against another wee team. Also they are more likely to go down than up from The LL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 All this 'they are one promotion away' is strange surely if promoted they have more than proven their worth as a LL side? IMO eduaport and Glasgow uni have pretty weak applications but if they meet the minimum standards then they should be accepted should others not have stronger applications. How can people seriously think that an academy team should be going straight into tier five of the "pyramid"? They have no town in their name, no ground of their own and will quite happily play anywhere to get into the league. Licensing requirements ground-wise can't be very strict if them being able to ground share at Annan meets the requirements. This is about more than proving their worth on the pitch. Surely there's some kind of compromise here in this senior (it's all about facilities) vs. junior (it's all about fanbase) extreme argument on here. The funny thing is that Edusport Academy have neither of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 If a west central belt club can't hack the idea of a two hour journey to play teams in the SOS league (if that's the highest they can enter) they shouldn't bother applying. Not really the point. If the Lowland League is content to have feeders specifically aimed at the east and the south, why are they not testing the water for a West feeder? Just because it is how it is now is a very "junior " attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsimButtHitsASix Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Those were the two in place. Unless enough teams from the west come along what else can they do? Anyway it's called South of Scotland. All the teams mentioned are IN the South of Scotland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 But you and I, and potential players, know that the the cup will be one game a season against another wee team. Also they are more likely to go down than up from The LL. Even so it's still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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