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North Caledonian League


Whitburn Vale

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On ‎24‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 08:59, Whitburn Vale said:

Massive congratulations to Invergordon in knocking HL Wick Academy out of the North of Scotland cup last nite :thumsup2

Lacking floodlights, their QF v Golspie will be at Ross County on Wednesday (8pm).

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1 hour ago, Robert James said:

Best of luck to Bunliddlh Thistle today on its return to the NCL for 2017/18..  

Game was postponed last week as they use the same players as those that turn out for Helmsdale United in the summer league, meaning theyre double-booked.

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On 24/08/2017 at 08:59, Whitburn Vale said:

Massive congratulations to Invergordon in knocking HL Wick Academy out of the North of Scotland cup last nite :thumsup2

Does anyone know why Invergordon as reigning champions of the NCL, were not granted entry to the SFA Cup ?  The NCL is a senior league (affiliated to the SFA), and this isn't a question of them not having a licence, as the champions of the EoSL and the SoSL are granted entry to the qualifying round(s) irrespective as to whether or not they hold a licence. Also the Scottish Amateur winners don't have to be licensed, and nor do the Junior Super League champions.

Is this prejudice against the NCL clubs because of the travelling distances involved ?

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7 hours ago, Robert James said:

Does anyone know why Invergordon as reigning champions of the NCL, were not granted entry to the SFA Cup ?  The NCL is a senior league (affiliated to the SFA), and this isn't a question of them not having a licence, as the champions of the EoSL and the SoSL are granted entry to the qualifying round(s) irrespective as to whether or not they hold a licence. Also the Scottish Amateur winners don't have to be licensed, and nor do the Junior Super League champions.

Is this prejudice against the NCL clubs because of the travelling distances involved ?

I've basically asked this in the past and what i've gotten in response i think is a pretty fair answer. In the last couple of years where the Scottish Cup has opened up its qualifying structure, the NCL has been hanging on by a thread. There's been as few as 6 teams involved and it isn't necessarily fair for their champions to gain entry after a 10 game season.

I'm sure if the NCL continues to strengthen in numbers its champions can gain an automatic entry like the EoS & SoS. For now they'll either have to get licensed or win the new Senior cup (the actual name escapes me) that has entry into the Scottish Cup as a prize.

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7 hours ago, FairWeatherFan said:

I've basically asked this in the past and what i've gotten in response i think is a pretty fair answer. In the last couple of years where the Scottish Cup has opened up its qualifying structure, the NCL has been hanging on by a thread. There's been as few as 6 teams involved and it isn't necessarily fair for their champions to gain entry after a 10 game season.

I'm sure if the NCL continues to strengthen in numbers its champions can gain an automatic entry like the EoS & SoS. For now they'll either have to get licensed or win the new Senior cup (the actual name escapes me) that has entry into the Scottish Cup as a prize.

Unless it's another new one, they don't enter it. The Alex Jack Cup (EoS) finalists play the Alba Cup (SoS) finalists with the winner qualifying for the Scottish Cup.

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Does anyone know why Invergordon as reigning champions of the NCL, were not granted entry to the SFA Cup ?  The NCL is a senior league (affiliated to the SFA), and this isn't a question of them not having a licence, as the champions of the EoSL and the SoSL are granted entry to the qualifying round(s) irrespective as to whether or not they hold a licence. Also the Scottish Amateur winners don't have to be licensed, and nor do the Junior Super League champions.
Is this prejudice against the NCL clubs because of the travelling distances involved ?

I would say because the senior league status of the NCL is an anomaly at best and it has no defined place in the pyramid as it stands. The SFA only handles discipline as a hangover from the 2nd XI League days. Realistically, the NCL is the winter amateur league for the Highlands. You could argue that the winners of the top divisions of all the various amateur and welfare leagues should get a chance in the cup as well!
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  • 2 weeks later...

Unless the Greenock & District Welfare is still hanging on with a handful teams (or fewer), there isn't any Saturday regular season Welfare football left, so you can discount them.

Clearly it'd be unrealistic for ~30 amateur leagues to get places.

That leaves the anomaly of the North Caledonian clubs who are nominally "senior" yet actually have no route in whatsoever.

If they reached 10+ clubs then personally I'd like to see them given a league slot and entry to the new Cup-Winners' Shield.

I don't expect it to happen though and are they even looking for it? Maybe a long trip to get thumped.

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Well, I was being facetious regarding allowing amateur/welfare league champions access to the cup... I don't disagree with you regarding the North Caledonian teams entering the cup via another route, like the shield, I'm just not sure how realistic that would be. If, somehow the NCL were recognised as on a par with the EoS/SoSL and slotted into level 6, then I think there'd be an argument for the champions getting direct entry. I think the chances of that are extremely slim, even though I think it's a major issue there is no level below the HFL in the North of Scotland.

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Another wee aside about the NCL - the SFA's senior list of referees is exclusively used for staffing all matches within the pyramid and outwith that, the Juniors. There are people on the list that do the NCL but even Golspie, the club within with the highest status, are given referees from off the list. The only other area of non-amateur football that occasionally gets a ref from off the list is the North Juniors.

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