New clubs in the East of Scotland

[bluebell1]

As it stands the majority of clubs that have moved over to the eosl would be looking to achieve entry level licensing as quickly as possible.  The big elephant in the room at the moment is that the embargo has not been lifted to allow clubs to apply.  

I am currently on holiday but am led to believe that the meeting on Monday didn’t clearly indicate any timescale for this to be lifted.

This needs to be addressed urgently, and the barriers lifted to allow clubs to progress as initially hoped.

Playing devils advocate I actually get the point raised by the pyramid news guy but obviously not in the way he has communicated it.

Theres a glass ceiling at the moment and it needs lifted ASAP. 

 

[Burnie_man]

There is nothing to stop clubs getting on with the work required for Licensing in the meantime. The criteria is quite clearly set out to allow them to do that. Hopefully the embargo is lifted at the next board meeting as promised to allow for clubs to formally begin the process, there is no reason why it shouldn't be, but it shouldn't be a hindrance to getting work done in the meantime.

 

 

[Ginaro]

Hopefully the clubs likely to be in the running for winning their conference are pushing the SFA behind the scenes - because surely the embargo can't continue for another 6 months, preventing a club from gaining promotion?

[bluebell1]

37 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:

There is nothing to stop clubs getting on with the work required for Licensing in the meantime. The criteria is quite clearly set out to allow them to do that. Hopefully the embargo is lifted at the next board meeting as promised to allow for clubs to formally begin the process, there is no reason why it shouldn't be, but it shouldn't be a hindrance to getting work done in the meantime.

 

 

This is happening on our side.  However, part of paying the fee then  allows feedback and guidance from the licensing department, assistance and direction with grants etc.

As they are not accepting the entry fees the above is not forthcoming.  

At the moment although you can look at the detail and do as much as you can the finance element for any assistance is null and void.

I may be overly worrying however it is common knowledge to me that other clubs in the higher pyramid tiers aren’t as open to allowing clubs to climb the pyramid as was hoped.

Hopefully all will be resolved very quickly

[stanley]

1 hour ago, FairWeatherFan said:

I see St. Bernard's have folded. If they were the amateur team that applied for the EoS and told to re-apply next year, it's quite the sliding doors moment. I'd guess acceptance into the EoS would of attracted extra interest to keep them going this year.

I thought they only enquired rather than applied.

Amateur clubs are folding all over the place now and even leagues have been folding as well.  General trend of fewer people committing to playing and clubs not having enough players available.

[stanley]

What justification is being given for the licensing embargo?  Seems crazy.

[FairWeatherFan]

5 minutes ago, stanley said:

I thought they only enquired rather than applied.

Amateur clubs are folding all over the place now and even leagues have been folding as well.  General trend of fewer people committing to playing and clubs not having enough players available.

The way I remember it there was an amateur club given the heads up to withdraw their application as their ground wouldn't meet the requirements. Get that sorted and apply the next year. With St. Bernard's and Musselburgh Windsor being the two bandied about candidates.

[Burnie_man]

3 hours ago, bluebell1 said:

This is happening on our side.  However, part of paying the fee then  allows feedback and guidance from the licensing department, assistance and direction with grants etc.

As they are not accepting the entry fees the above is not forthcoming.  

At the moment although you can look at the detail and do as much as you can the finance element for any assistance is null and void.

I may be overly worrying however it is common knowledge to me that other clubs in the higher pyramid tiers aren’t as open to allowing clubs to climb the pyramid as was hoped.

Hopefully all will be resolved very quickly

Yeah we didnt really get any help from the Licencing Dept until we had paid and been accepted. Once that happened the SFA paid a visit and gave us a few pointers.

You should be able to progress grants without this though, the SFP will come out and see you anytime, and of course the EoS offer a small grant.

I think the SFA were spooked at the prospect of 100+ Junior clubs wanting to get Licenced at the same time, never happen of course and I think now they can better see the lie of the land it will be lifted.

[bluebell1]

That’s not how it works at the moment to be fair no potential of grants from eosl unless you have paid your £2k the SFP are also saying the same.

Cant get my head round why there is an embargo and no reason given to why it is in place.

smoke and mirrors all the time whether it’s the sjfa or the sfa never a straight answer from anyone.  Extremely frustrating at the moment.

[tynie1874]

St.Bernards lost players to EoS league. Some had knocked back money to stay and others had more money thrown at them to sign.

[Burnie_man]

That’s not how it works at the moment to be fair no potential of grants from eosl unless you have paid your £2k the SFP are also saying the same.
Cant get my head round why there is an embargo and no reason given to why it is in place.
smoke and mirrors all the time whether it’s the sjfa or the sfa never a straight answer from anyone.  Extremely frustrating at the moment.

We've had the SFP visit several times before we ever paid the SFA. The SFP fund all levels of football so the application to the SFA is immaterial.

[LongTimeLurker]

15 hours ago, bluebell1 said:

...Cant get my head round why there is an embargo and no reason given to why it is in place...

3

Was it not stated when it was imposed that it was only likely to be for two meetings of the committee and is related to allowing time for the mode of entry of the SJFA into the pyramid to be sorted out? As Burnieman mentions above they probably didn't want to suddenly be inundated by 100+ applications from junior clubs after Tom Johnston announced the results of the survey, so I suspect the goalposts are going to be moved a bit on the requirements, but not to the extent that an EoS promotion contender can't do what needs to be done to get into the Lowland League the following season as that would be incompatible with their stated goals with the pyramid.   

[bluebell1]

16 hours ago, Burnie_man said:

17 hours ago, bluebell1 said:

That’s not how it works at the moment to be fair no potential of grants from eosl unless you have paid your £2k the SFP are also saying the same.
Cant get my head round why there is an embargo and no reason given to why it is in place.
smoke and mirrors all the time whether it’s the sjfa or the sfa never a straight answer from anyone.  Extremely frustrating at the moment.

We've had the SFP visit several times before we ever paid the SFA. The SFP fund all levels of football so the application to the SFA is immaterial.

Depends what level of grant you are going for their are various tiers.    Also, the reality currently is any business minded person in there right mind would question whether to throw money at facilities to comply for a licence when at this moment in time there is no guarantee of when/if you will ever be allowed to obtain the licence and obtain the financial benefits of doing so.

At lot of the old superleague  clubs  ourselves included applied for eosl on the basis that moving towards licence could be done quickly which has proven not to be the case.  

We have tried to contact various people about this and been met with basically a wall of silence with nobody assisting in any way whatsoever.

[Burnie_man]

8 minutes ago, bluebell1 said:

Depends what level of grant you are going for their are various tiers.    Also, the reality currently is any business minded person in there right mind would question whether to throw money at facilities to comply for a licence when at this moment in time there is no guarantee of when/if you will ever be allowed to obtain the licence and obtain the financial benefits of doing so.

At lot of the old superleague  clubs  ourselves included applied for eosl on the basis that moving towards licence could be done quickly which has proven not to be the case.  

We have tried to contact various people about this and been met with basically a wall of silence with nobody assisting in any way whatsoever.

I don’t disagree with any of that, the embargo needs to be lifted asap and I understand that message was bluntly delivered to the SFA on Monday night.

All I am saying that the Scottish Football Partnership will come out and speak to any club at any time, the embargo doesn’t affect that.

[Guest]

Clubs can read the licence document and begin their preparations without the embargo being lifted or anyone coming to the ground.

From reading it most of it is fairly straight forward, clever use of space will allow for the meeting of standards for toilets and changing facilities. The constitutional stuff is a paper exercise and takes more time than anything else. Most of the ground requirements most clubs will already have, and again from my experience, what isn't there is quite straight forward to get if you can take the time to sit and read through the document and decide what you need from scratch and what you can re use from what you already have. It would be great to get some early guidance but the embargo has halted this (SFA led). 

[AlanCamelonfan]

37 minutes ago, bluebell1 said:

Depends what level of grant you are going for their are various tiers.    Also, the reality currently is any business minded person in there right mind would question whether to throw money at facilities to comply for a licence when at this moment in time there is no guarantee of when/if you will ever be allowed to obtain the licence and obtain the financial benefits of doing so.

At lot of the old superleague  clubs  ourselves included applied for eosl on the basis that moving towards licence could be done quickly which has proven not to be the case.  

We have tried to contact various people about this and been met with basically a wall of silence with nobody assisting in any way whatsoever.

Quickly is this year not sure in what universe you thought it was going to happen right away. As longs it's done for end of the season it doesn't need to happen right this minute

[Auld Heid]

What justification is being given for the licensing embargo?  Seems crazy.

Maybe calling clubs bluff and seeing if their still willing to invest on ground improvements.

A big influx of clubs who jumped for benefits without showing willingness beforehand.

Some clubs who have moved have spent nothing for years.

[beaver1]

What happens with the Scottish cup? Do two or three juniors still get in? And do all EOSL teams get a place in this seasons cup? If so, how does any prize money get apportioned?

[AlanCamelonfan]

18 minutes ago, beaver1 said:

What happens with the Scottish cup? Do two or three juniors still get in? And do all EOSL teams get a place in this seasons cup? If so, how does any prize money get apportioned?

Only licensed clubs play in it.not all of the original eosfl clubs are licemsed The rest of us play in alex jack cup to qualify for next season Scottish 

Edited July 28, 2018 by AlanCamelonfan

[Bundesliga Boy]

To answer his question on the juniors, the winners of the East, West and North juniors plus Scottish junior cup winners get access to the big Scottish regardless of licensing.