stanley Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 There are 2 regions under SPFL2 as (1) SFL clubs always insisted on 1 nationwide feeder and that was as far a compromise as they were prepared to go; (2) they insisted upon them being licensed and there were (and still are) only enough licensed clubs outwith HL for one league. I don't think anyone doubts that population, transport geography, distribution of non-league clubs and so on all points to a 3-region set-up in an ideal world. They could create a Lowland League East and West along these lines (only including currently licensed clubs and excluding Linlithgow for obvious reasons): Spartans Whitehill Welfare Edinburgh University Vale of Leithen Gala Fairydean Selkirk Preston Athletic Civil Service Strollers Coldstream Hawick Royal Albert Burntisland Shipyard East Stirling Stirling Uni Cumbernauld Colts East Kilbride Dalbeattie Star Gretna BSC Glasgow Threave Rovers Edusport Academy Wigtown & Bladnoch Glasgow University Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I agree but perhaps they need to shift where the cutoff is too. It seems a bit arbitrary just now to have it at tier 5/6. Full time/part time might be a starting point, alternatively do it at a national league level. Nonsense, the whole point in the licencing system is the standards become more stringent as you go up the leagues. Tier 5 is the level that requires the lowest standards within licencing, this makes sense given its place within the professional game. A very good move in terms of standards on the overall game, and and for progress with the pyramid would be for lower levels of licencing to cover clubs bellow HL/LL. If we got a group of clubs with a 'baby' (i hate the naming system btw) licence then those clubs may not be as scared of going for an entry licence in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selfassemblyshire Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 East Stirling It's East Stirlingshire by the way..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmontheloknow Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I have no idea what the long game is at Pollok but they have the SFA quality mark (whatever that is worth) and have affiliations with two youth sides, Pollok United BC and Pollok Juveniles 21s. The ground has issues with toilets - the gents is a wall behind the stand, the ladies in the committee room at the pavilion. The pitch is very small (102x64yds) and I think it caps progression at Entry level. This all has come at a bad time for the club - in 2014 the club was relegated for the first time in a generation so the focus has been on regaining lost ground rather than looking elsewhere. First acceptable league finish in a while, first Junior Cup final in 18 years, all is progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It's East Stirlingshire by the way..... I saw an English guy on a forum years ago moaning because he turned up in Stirling for a Shire game and had to get a taxi to Falkirk when somebody told him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I have no idea what the long game is at Pollok but they have the SFA quality mark (whatever that is worth) and have affiliations with two youth sides, Pollok United BC and Pollok Juveniles 21s. The ground has issues with toilets - the gents is a wall behind the stand, the ladies in the committee room at the pavilion. The pitch is very small (102x64yds) and I think it caps progression at Entry level. This all has come at a bad time for the club - in 2014 the club was relegated for the first time in a generation so the focus has been on regaining lost ground rather than looking elsewhere. First acceptable league finish in a while, first Junior Cup final in 18 years, all is progress.I think those festival-type plastic cubicles are acceptable. Alloa had them years ago in the away end when ICT visited them in div 1.Some things can be a bit annoying though. Whitehill's pavilion was opened in 2000 and is pretty decent. Something like 25 places in each dressing room which is enough for Bronze. But there were only 4 shower heads in each and Entry level demands 5, so we had to pay a plumber about 300 quid which Sir Peter moaned about for weeks. You also have to provide wc and shower for the officials. Nothing in the rules about different genders though so when we have a female lino they have to take turns waiting outside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 It's East Stirlingshire by the way.....Yes, I know. East Stirlingshire from Falkirk. I put them in the west division because there weren't enough options for the west division. I write Hearts and Hibs but I know their full names too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshmallo Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I have no idea what the long game is at Pollok but they have the SFA quality mark (whatever that is worth) and have affiliations with two youth sides, Pollok United BC and Pollok Juveniles 21s. The ground has issues with toilets - the gents is a wall behind the stand, the ladies in the committee room at the pavilion. The pitch is very small (102x64yds) and I think it caps progression at Entry level. This all has come at a bad time for the club - in 2014 the club was relegated for the first time in a generation so the focus has been on regaining lost ground rather than looking elsewhere. First acceptable league finish in a while, first Junior Cup final in 18 years, all is progress. If licensing was possible do you think there would be an appetite at Pollok for entry into the pyramid? Newlandsfield is the best small stadium in Scotland I reckon, would always be the first place I'd look to go to if I'm not going to the Falkirk game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinabear Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 They could create a Lowland League East and West along these lines (only including currently licensed clubs and excluding Linlithgow for obvious reasons): Spartans Whitehill Welfare Edinburgh University Vale of Leithen Gala Fairydean Selkirk Preston Athletic Civil Service Strollers Coldstream Hawick Royal Albert Burntisland Shipyard East Stirling Stirling Uni Cumbernauld Colts East Kilbride Dalbeattie Star Gretna BSC Glasgow Threave Rovers Edusport Academy Wigtown & Bladnoch Glasgow University Ive definitely come round to splitting the LL into East and West but only if the Juniors get on board. There's not enough teams to justify it otherwise. If not then continue as we are and start a west of Scotland feeder at tier 6 of whoever else is interested but most likely Caledonian clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Yes, I know. East Stirlingshire from Falkirk. ... I write Hearts and Hibs but I know their full names too... Fair enough (and I am not picked at you personally) but East Stirling is not and never has been a name used by the club, the fans or the local media, even as a shortened version of our name. In a way it is just like randomly shortening any clubs name e.g. Aber or Mort of more similar to us Ross (Ross County are a name of the county just like the name the Shire took on all those years ago). It makes no sense and it is, at best, sloppy to use it. Hearts and Hibs are shortened names used by their fans, The name East Stirling had nothing to do with our club and I always think that there is some hidden club with that name based of the East of the city of Stirling, near Forthbank, when it is used. Image if Edinburgh City were shortened in the media to Edinburgh, that would lack any sense either and cause similar confusion. I do a lot of historical research into the club and sadly I should know. Other than our full name we have had the following shortened nicknames over the years : E.S. The Shire The Zebras Shirey Pirey to name the main ones All of these nicknames were 1st coined more than 100 years ago so there is no excuse not to use at least one of them. Please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureiknow Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Fair enough (and I am not picked at you personally) but East Stirling is not and never has been a name used by the club, the fans or the local media, even as a shortened version of our name) Well when I go to the football results on BBC it says East Stirling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Fair enough (and I am not picked at you personally) but East Stirling is not and never has been a name used by the club, the fans or the local media, even as a shortened version of our name. In a way it is just like randomly shortening any clubs name e.g. Aber or Mort of more similar to us Ross (Ross County are a name of the county just like the name the Shire took on all those years ago). It makes no sense and it is, at best, sloppy to use it. Hearts and Hibs are shortened names used by their fans, The name East Stirling had nothing to do with our club and I always think that there is some hidden club with that name based of the East of the city of Stirling, near Forthbank, when it is used. Image if Edinburgh City were shortened in the media to Edinburgh, that would lack any sense either and cause similar confusion. I do a lot of historical research into the club and sadly I should know. Other than our full name we have had the following shortened nicknames over the years : E.S. The Shire The Zebras Shirey Pirey to name the main ones All of these nicknames were 1st coined more than 100 years ago so there is no excuse not to use at least one of them. Please Ok, I understand. I will try to avoid using "East Stirling" in the future. It is a commonly used name for the club although clearly it's mistakenly used and not by those involved with the club itself. I'm not one of those people who think that the club is from Stirling. I guess it's like when people say "Hearts of Midlothian". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim O'Grady Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Is it a wise move to point out in here that East Stirlingshire get wound up being called East Stirling? Welcome to the Lowland League boys (& girls). Grimbo from the Sparts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Well when I go to the football results on BBC it says East Stirling. The towns of Falkirk and Stirling have a bit of a rivalry, so running into people that assume they come from Stirling rather than Falkirk because of the way that name gets used by the media, doesn't go down well with some people. It's always "the Shire" or "Shirey Pirey" in the Falkirk area in my experience. I'm sure they could have got the media to stop by now though if it was more than a minor irritant. Hamilton Accies fans managed to persuade various media outlets to stop using Acads or the universally loathed Acas that was long favoured by the Hamilton Advertiser a few decades back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Just a wee question,is June the 6th decision day on applicants to join the LL,looking like 2 clubs required now as Threave are going down and St.Cuthberts want to stay where they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnie_man Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Is this a case of St.Cuthberts refusing promotion despite having a licence, or refusing to submit their licence application in order to body swerve promotion by saying "look, we don't have a licence yet"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 The latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selfassemblyshire Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 So as things stand we might only have a 14 team Lowland League next season? Ps - I'm not too bothered about the East Stirling thing, just threw the bait out there to see if I could get a good bite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 So as things stand we might only have a 14 team Lowland League next season? Ps - I'm not too bothered about the East Stirling thing, just threw the bait out there to see if I could get a good bite. No, whatever happens with Saints you'll still have a 16 team LL. If Saints do get licensed in time(unlikely) and decide to come up one team will be elected to join the LL. If Saints fall by the way side one way or another,most likely 2 clubs will be elected from Hawick RA,Civil Service Strollers or Edusport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky85 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 No, whatever happens with Saints you'll still have a 16 team LL. If Saints do get licensed in time(unlikely) and decide to come up one team will be elected to join the LL. If Saints fall by the way side one way or another,most likely 2 clubs will be elected from Hawick RA,Civil Service Strollers or Edusport. I was under the impression if/when Saints swerve going up, Threave are automatically kept in the league regardless of what they 'want' to do. Same scenario as last season?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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