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New clubs in the East of Scotland


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59 minutes ago, Cyril said:

Think they blew it opening it up until the 31st May, they should've closed the door when they got to 32 teams. Maybe got a bit greedy and were waiting for Linlithgow and Bo'ness.

Nobody really wants to be in a 10 / 12 team league.

To be honest, soon there won't be any junior football left in the east (south of the Tay). Then you might as well take in as many in one go as you can and have 1 messy season. At least that will get a restructure done & dusted instead of having more imbalances with a 2nd influx of clubs next season.

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10 minutes ago, Pyramidic said:

I agree there could be problems if there was slippage in the completion deadline for Phase 1.  One possibility would be programming in a catch-up period when games could be completed on available 3G pitches if necessary. At the same time perhaps reducing the number of cup competitions for a season.

Three sections of 12/14 teams is fine (playing home and away) but may becomes a little messy working out final placings. This would necessitate for example clubs finishing in 6th place in each of the 3 sections to play-off to determine the final Tier 6 place for the 2019/20 season.

There is then the issue of whether the EoSL runs a Premier Division (Tier 6), Division 1 (Tier 7), Division 2 North (Tier 8) and Division 2 South (Tier 8)  in 2019/20 - assuming there will be further influx of ERJFA clubs at the end of next season. If there were enough for 4 divisions in 2019/20 the placings for 2018/19 season of course become critical. 

It might be easier to just plan in a couple of cup rounds between the end of phase 1 and the start of phase 2. If needed, a cup game can then be postponed to allow a league game to be played and finish the league.

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Club Statement 

Dundonald Bluebell can confirm that we have brought forward our original application for admission to the eosl for season 19/20 to allow us to join the association for next season 18/19.
We sincerely hope to be accepted by member clubs at next weeks eosl agm.

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1 hour ago, Cyril said:

Think they blew it opening it up until the 31st May, they should've closed the door when they got to 32 teams. Maybe got a bit greedy and were waiting for Linlithgow and Bo'ness.

Nobody really wants to be in a 10 / 12 team league.

 

1 hour ago, Cyril said:

Think they blew it opening it up until the 31st May, they should've closed the door when they got to 32 teams. Maybe got a bit greedy and were waiting for Linlithgow and Bo'ness.

Nobody really wants to be in a 10 / 12 team league.

I wouldn't be surprised if they limit it to 36 clubs (2x18 & reduced cup games).

If so, the 4 late applicants who have already been accepted in principle by the EoSL, would be confirmed at the AGM. The remaining late applicants would be subject to a selection process, with some being given a deferred acceptance for 2019/20. 

If the overall number of applicants rose to 48 (unlikely ?) the probable outcome would be to move to 3x16 conferences, which would be the ideal scenario. 

 

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1 hour ago, tynie1874 said:

I feel current EOS clubs will be pushed to one side in all of this to cater for the 'junior mobs'

They won't "be pushed to one side", as it is the existing EoSL clubs that have the AGM voting rights. New entrants to the league don't get voting rights until 12 months after joining the EoSL.

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1 hour ago, G4Mac said:

Or the eosfl could conclude that when they reach 36 they would not consider any further applications as it would become unmanageable, potentially deferring late applications until next season for entry. 

This would seem fair to me, makes the situation more manageable and ensures further expansion next season. Having 3 leagues of 14 etc doesn't look great, two 18s would be fine so long as a cup competition is dropped for the season. 

I assume though that it will be the members of the eosfl association (current clubs who have played for at least a season) and the Committee that will decide how they will organise things. It could have been decided weeks ago if everyone had applied at the first calling, although to be fair not everyone knew what was truth, half truth or non truth back then..... 

I think they have taken the correct approach by allowing in any club who meets the league's critieria.  It means that 2018/19 will be a bit of a transitional season (and even 2019/20 might still be a bit affected), but it should once and for all establish themselves as the Eastern feeder to the Lowland League.

However, I think they may have to reconsider their original plan of two large leagues with play-offs and instead go for a two-stage league system.  Phase 1 in the first part of the season would consist of parallel groups , with Phase 2 having teams reallocated into new tiered groups for the second part of the season based on their finishing position in Phase 1.  As long as they do it cleverly, each Phase 2 section should have something to play for - either the league title or division placement for the following season.

Exactly how it was split would depend on how many clubs there are, and, crucially, the format they see the league taking from 2019/20 onwards.  They are probably going to need to operate at least 3 leagues given the number of clubs they now have.  Regionalisation will have to be considered too - Tweedmouth travelling to St Andrews or Jeanfield might be a bit much at Tier 8, for example.

Edited by craigkillie
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9 minutes ago, Robert James said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they limit it to 36 clubs (2x18 & reduced cup games).

It was 32 (2 x 16) rather than 36 that was mentioned previously as the format they had in mind back in March. I suspect it's easier to have fewer rather than more league games than 30, to avoid winding up like the Highland League in scheduling terms. They had 30 as of last Thursday, so if they were really concerned about numbers, odds on they would have stopped there.

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1 hour ago, gogsy said:

Aren't the current officials connected to EOS clubs from this season? Some will be neutral I suppose. Is it correct to say new member clubs don't get any voting rights until next agm?

Sorry didnt see Robert James had answered this.

Wonder if clubs like Kelso who apparently still pay 'fees' get a say on the matter and Duns too?

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32 minutes ago, tynie1874 said:

Wonder if clubs like Kelso who apparently still pay 'fees' get a say on the matter and Duns too?

They don't and won't. (Kelso United don't even exist now anyway). There's actually no such thing as abeyance in senior football AFAIA. I understand Duns situation was a bit odd - as they had paid-up then withdrew during preseason - but I had it direct from a club official at a game that it was only for the season, and they could not vote on anything. Only full member clubs can vote.

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Twelve months ago the East of Scotland Football League had 11 members, having lost one along the way, and let's be honest, apart from one or two none were capable of causing much trouble for larger clubs. It has now almost completely consumed the East Region Scottish Junior Football Association south of the Tay. 

Regardless of what happens from here or whether you think it's a good or bad thing, that's absolutely extraordinary, and possibly without precedent in non-league Scottish football since 1945.

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59 minutes ago, stanley said:

Where did the Dundonald statement come from and who made the Broxburn tweet?  Don't doubt that they are joining but can't see anything on the official twitter pages.

The guy who made the Broxburn tweet is an Evening News journalist:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/lower-leagues/bo-ness-and-broxburn-latest-junior-teams-to-make-east-of-scotland-switch-1-4747430/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Although no statement has yet been made officially, the Edinburgh Evening News understands Broxburn club members voted to make the move at a meeting on Monday night.

Edited by LongTimeLurker
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2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

It was 32 (2 x 16) rather than 36 that was mentioned previously as the format they had in mind back in March. I suspect it's easier to have fewer rather than more league games than 30, to avoid winding up like the Highland League in scheduling terms. They had 30 as of last Thursday, so if they were really concerned about numbers, odds on they would have stopped there.

You are probably right, although the EoSL have some tricky decisions to make about the interim format, as the shift in the balance of club standards  for the 2018/19 season, has not favoured the smaller clubs  (existing and new).

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