The Old Northerner Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think that is just the SFA's way of a "default listing"... Clubs like BSC Glasgow and Cumbernauld Colts never appeared in it last season then promptly turned-out to have obtained their licences. IIRC the Licensing Committee can meet on a monthly basis. The majority of their work is review and you can also see the spread of months when the licenses were granted. Some obvious deadlines as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Indeed, but it requires a club to propose its abolition in the knowledge that there is enough clubs in favour to push it through. That said, is blows roughly a £15k hole in the SJFA finances and the heid yins wont be happy. Where does the EoSFL get the money from for this? Seems like a variety of sources; for example the defibrillators seem have been part-funded by the Scottish Football Partnership. Also they have a variety of sponsors (indeed I think only the King Cup lacks a sponsor now). They have also been able to introduce league prizemoney for the top 4 places this season - I haven't seen an article or radio report confirm the overall breakdowns but the top figure was £1,500 as I recall. There are also SFA funds for different things. While ago I saw the Highland League got cash to run coaching courses, and the Scottish Amateurs have been doing various initiatives. Not just football money either - you also see funds being made available from Cashback to Communities, the lottery, windfarm schemes, even landfill tax. EOSL announced at the end of last season they were the first non-professional league or FA to have every club get Quality Mark status, too. It's only speculation but I'd imagine that entering the pyramid, applying those standards and so on would help attract funding and sponsors. Do people not say the SJFA has hundreds of thousands of £ in the bank, anyway? What is that being usefully put towards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Linlithgow were gifted a defibrillator and then held a fundraiser evening for the organisation who gave us it. People in communities will put their hand in their pocket for this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clash city rocker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Yes, and the obstacle is that clubs need to sign a commitment to engaging with the pyramid at the earliest opportunity, which is usually assumed to mean leaving the SJFA and joining the EoS or SoS instead, although that has yet to be tested in practice. Lithgae got a waiver on that as they started their application before the new requirement was brought in and there is no feeder to the HL up north so Banks O'Dee have nowhere to go. Why is there no feeder to the Highland League ? How can there ever be a pyramid when the SFA are allowing this to happen ? Every grade Senior, junior, whatever grade the Highland League are is a closed shop. Mental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Northerner Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 To be honest & this is just my personal opinion the ll was created to protect the lower spfl sides as only 1 or 2 teams in it will realistically ever challenge your east Stirlings of this world for promotion/relegation where as there would be about a dozen junior teams who realistically give them a run for their money No disrespect but Haddington will hardly have them shaking in their boots as well Self preservation society The question is though - if you want to protect something why introduce a system which, no matter how biased, allows existing protection to be breached? The safest thing was to do nothing and I don't think the SFA had anyone breathing down their neck to force them to do "something" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Why is there no feeder to the Highland League ? How can there ever be a pyramid when the SFA are allowing this to happen ? Every grade Senior, junior, whatever grade the Highland League are is a closed shop. Mental. HFL were not that keen on being in a pyramid from what i recall. They were threatened with loss of status i think - something that never really happened with the Juniors but has since in the shape of pyramid commitment requirement. Someone might want to correct my recollection of the HFL negotiation. All that said, if they continue to retain a closed shop at the bottom then they should get hunted. But the next obvious level is the North juniors. That tells you everything about the stupidity of a north:south split given the strength of that grade compared to south of the Tay. And of course the north juniors are part of the sjfa - albeit the sjfa wanted to ignore them for the super duper league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of the juniors Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The question is though - if you want to protect something why introduce a system which, no matter how biased, allows existing protection to be breached? The safest thing was to do nothing and I don't think the SFA had anyone breathing down their neck to force them to do "something" True enough Maybe putting their own flawed plan was a way of forcing the juniors to the table? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The question is though - if you want to protect something why introduce a system which, no matter how biased, allows existing protection to be breached? The safest thing was to do nothing and I don't think the SFA had anyone breathing down their neck to force them to do "something" The Highland League insisted on remaining intact before agreeing to be the north feeder, so the safe thing has actually been done in half of the country. They had to open up the LL, because so many EoS and SoS clubs played on public parks that there was a genuine question as to whether they could form a viable south feeder to the SFL otherwise. Agree on the nobody breathing down their neck angle, so opening up the SFL/SPFL has probably been driven to a significant extent by a few influential board members with Alan MacRae of Cove Rangers being the prime suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 HFL were not that keen on being in a pyramid from what i recall. They were threatened with loss of status i think - something that never really happened with the Juniors but has since in the shape of pyramid commitment requirement. Someone might want to correct my recollection of the HFL negotiation. All that said, if they continue to retain a closed shop at the bottom then they should get hunted. But the next obvious level is the North juniors. That tells you everything about the stupidity of a north:south split given the strength of that grade compared to south of the Tay. And of course the north juniors are part of the sjfa - albeit the sjfa wanted to ignore them for the super duper league. AS mentioned before, the suggested plan was for two new fully licenced Highland/Lowland regional divisions of ten clubs below the SPFL with Highland, East and South of Scotland Leagues below this. The HFL clubs voted for the HFL to become a feeder division in its own right and the new Lowland League was created alongside it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnie_man Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Do people not say the SJFA has hundreds of thousands of £ in the bank, anyway? What is that being usefully put towards. A few seasons back they handed out £1,000 to every club as a "hardship" payment due to the bad winter. With over 160 members that was a lot of money. They are also without a Junior Cup sponsor but still distribute the same level of prize money. Looking at the last set of accounts upto March this year, £530k was in the bank, helped by the sale of the old SJFA property in St.Vincent Street, but in trading terms losses have been made the last couple of years, due mostly to lack of major sponsor for the Junior Cup. So aye, if a defibrillator was to be supplied to every club along with training it could be done, not sure how big a dent to finances that would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 ...The SPFL won’t entertain anything more than a two region system... Maybe worth bearing in mind that it was the SFL that was adamant about that rather than the SPFL. Under the new set up the format of the pro/rel playoff at the foot of the SPFL is agreed between the SFA and the SPFL's executive board, which is dominated by full-time clubs, so there's no need for turkeys to vote for an early Christmas on this. A third feeder probably isn't impossible for that reason in other words, but if junior clubs are not interested in forming the "superduper league", it's difficult to see how one is going to emerge any time soon under the current set of circumstances. It's also not clear what the SJFA's motivation was in pushing for the "superduper" in the first place. A genuine attempt to push for higher standards and position junior football for pyramid entry at tier 5, or a cynical way to deflect attention away from the LL's call for membership applications in the full knowledge that it would ultimately almost certainly be rejected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthurlie1981 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 A few seasons back they handed out £1,000 to every club as a "hardship" payment due to the bad winter. With over 160 members that was a lot of money. They are also without a Junior Cup sponsor but still distribute the same level of prize money. Looking at the last set of accounts upto March this year, £530k was in the bank, helped by the sale of the old SJFA property in St.Vincent Street, but in trading terms losses have been made the last couple of years, due mostly to lack of major sponsor for the Junior Cup. So aye, if a defibrillator was to be supplied to every club along with training it could be done, not sure how big a dent to finances that would be. IIRC the majority of that money came from the SFA. IMO the SJFA should be looking to employ a club development officer whose role it is to develop the game, facilities etc by working with clubs to raise money to drive up standards. The only contact most clubs will have with the SJFA or regions is when something goes wrong. Also think clubs could work closer together and look to share best practise etc. We really need to push the game on but we are being held back by some clubs and individuals and it is very frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnie_man Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 IIRC the majority of that money came from the SFA. IMO the SJFA should be looking to employ a club development officer whose role it is to develop the game, facilities etc by working with clubs to raise money to drive up standards. The only contact most clubs will have with the SJFA or regions is when something goes wrong. Also think clubs could work closer together and look to share best practise etc. We really need to push the game on but we are being held back by some clubs and individuals and it is very frustrating. I'm fairly sure the cash came from the SJFA itself, but I stand to be corrected. If clubs want to develop then they need to go down the road of being part of a community club. Lot's of help from the SFA available, and it opens up a lot more grant opportunities. Having U21/U19/U17/U16 sides can only be good for the Junior club as well. Clubs cant sit on their backsides and wait for stuff to be handed to them on a plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 At least some of it came from the SFA - they made payments to member clubs and Affiliated National Associations. It's been discussed here before. It created some controversy in the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway as the non-SFA members in the EOS / SOS leagues fell between the two stools. Coldstream was quoted in a local paper admitting it was unfair on non-members like Eyemouth, who'd potentially have got cash if members or Junior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthurlie1981 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'm fairly sure the cash came from the SJFA itself, but I stand to be corrected. If clubs want to develop then they need to go down the road of being part of a community club. Lot's of help from the SFA available, and it opens up a lot more grant opportunities. Having U21/U19/U17/U16 sides can only be good for the Junior club as well. Clubs cant sit on their backsides and wait for stuff to be handed to them on a plate. Agree with your last point. We recently gained the standard award and are well on our way to the next award level. We are only a few teams away from covering every age group and are starting looking at our woman's section. It can only be good for clubs to have teams at a level below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Northerner Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 All these Junior clubs with teams various age group and ladies team. Where are we getting all the players for all these teams. Fewer and fewer are actually playing the game, keeping all these teams going numbers wise is going to be a massive challenge in itself. In our case, from Haddington and nearby villages. More and more appear to be playing the game, certainly at the youngest levels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Put the facilities and coaching in place and kids can be enticed away from their computers. Play for a club's youth teams and there's a chance they will still identify with it later in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 All these Junior clubs with teams various age group and ladies team. Where are we getting all the players for all these teams. Fewer and fewer are actually playing the game, keeping all these teams going numbers wise is going to be a massive challenge in itself. The Rose community club is growing steadily year on year - particularly the girls sections. There is a route through to adult amateur now. It's straightforward enough - the number of teams will correspond to the numbers who want to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnie_man Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Agree with your last point. We recently gained the standard award and are well on our way to the next award level. We are only a few teams away from covering every age group and are starting looking at our woman's section. It can only be good for clubs to have teams at a level below. Good to hear, we've certainly benefited in the last couple of years in U21/U19 players moving into the Junior squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Sorry i get about and really don't see it , the numbers at many levels. Hey ho. There's enough evidence that where it's done properly community clubs will thrive. If there is no will to get involved then it won't - or it will happen around existing infrastructure. It took a number of years before the integration started to happen at Linlithgow but it's brilliant to see so many kids in the town on a Saturday with their Rose kit on and I think we're starting to see the same in Boness. This doesn't have to be about massive community clubs - the model can fit the geography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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