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Junior football, what is the future?


Burnie_man

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29 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Figured as much, but wanted to be on the safe side since the North side of the pyramid tends to get overlooked. Thanks.

The North is comfortably the most straightforward to resolve. But the sfa seems determined to let the Highland League teams retain a closed shop. 

I've said it before but will say it again. Thus far, the football authorities haven't given a single solitary f**k about the development of a logical pyramid. Their sole requirement was to meet a demand from UEFA that they implement a pyramid of some description. They've done that. 

Regan really needs to show that he is willing to support teams with aspiration and content to see those who have had their current status protected for years drop to their appropriate level.  I don't think he's got the balls for it. 

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5 minutes ago, HTG said:

The North is comfortably the most straightforward to resolve. But the sfa seems determined to let the Highland League teams retain a closed shop. 

I've said it before but will say it again. Thus far, the football authorities haven't given a single solitary f**k about the development of a logical pyramid. Their sole requirement was to meet a demand from UEFA that they implement a pyramid of some description. They've done that. 

Regan really needs to show that he is willing to support teams with aspiration and content to see those who have had their current status protected for years drop to their appropriate level.  I don't think he's got the balls for it. 

True. As far as i'm concerned once the Lowland League was created there was a missed opportunity to just place the Junior leagues on at Tier 6. The EoSFL & SoSFL had been gutted so they would of been easily tucked in at the bottom tiers of their respective Junior Region.

Once more Lowland area clubs got licenced you could split the Lowland League East & West. Instead it was allowed to simply tack on EoSFL & SoSFL which has continued the Junior/Senior divide.

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The North is comfortably the most straightforward to resolve. But the sfa seems determined to let the Highland League teams retain a closed shop. 
I've said it before but will say it again. Thus far, the football authorities haven't given a single solitary f**k about the development of a logical pyramid. Their sole requirement was to meet a demand from UEFA that they implement a pyramid of some description. They've done that. 
Regan really needs to show that he is willing to support teams with aspiration and content to see those who have had their current status protected for years drop to their appropriate level.  I don't think he's got the balls for it. 
I disagree. It's up to the interested clubs to approach the SFA and ask for an amendment or extension to the pyramid.

I follow junior football closely and at this stage I have no idea if there are any clubs actually willing to join any form of pyramid.

Why should the SFA develop a logical pyramid when nobody has any idea if any junior clubs in the West have an appetite for it? Let the clubs decide themselves and then implement the change if the desire is there.
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36 minutes ago, HTG said:

Regan really needs to show that he is willing to support teams with aspiration and content to see those who have had their current status protected for years drop to their appropriate level.  I don't think he's got the balls for it. 

Or rather...

Clubs need to show that they aspire to rise to their appropriate level and not content to have their current status protected.

Have the Junior clubs and the SJFA got the balls for it?

The LL is working, improving every year and is here to stay. No doubt it would be stronger with top junior clubs in it, but up to now the idea of joining has been ridiculed by those at the top.

First step to improve the pyramid would be to introduce a WoS league feeding into it and to ensure the Highland league is open to promotion / relegation.

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1 hour ago, energyzone said:

I disagree. It's up to the interested clubs to approach the SFA and ask for an amendment or extension to the pyramid.

I follow junior football closely and at this stage I have no idea if there are any clubs actually willing to join any form of pyramid.

Why should the SFA develop a logical pyramid when nobody has any idea if any junior clubs in the West have an appetite for it? Let the clubs decide themselves and then implement the change if the desire is there.

 

37 minutes ago, Che Dail said:

Or rather...

Clubs need to show that they aspire to rise to their appropriate level and not content to have their current status protected.

Have the Junior clubs and the SJFA got the balls for it?

The LL is working, improving every year and is here to stay. No doubt it would be stronger with top junior clubs in it, but up to now the idea of joining has been ridiculed by those at the top.

First step to improve the pyramid would be to introduce a WoS league feeding into it and to ensure the Highland league is open to promotion / relegation.

The reason it needs top down leadership is because when you leave something like this to a body comprising 160+ clubs, they will have vastly different agendas and vastly different aspirations. If 120 see no value in change because it won'the affect them in the near future - if ever - then what you'll get is the Kelty model. That's not gong to change football. There has to be leadership and it needs to be prescriptive. I doubt we'll see it though.

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9 minutes ago, the jambo-rocker said:

I doubt I'm the only one expecting to be underwhelmed by the outcome of this meeting and the status quo to remain for at least another season.

It’s only natural to feel that way but I'm still pleasantly surprised that it's even up for discussion so you never know. 

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6 minutes ago, energyzone said:

What if the clubs aren't interested?

While the concept of a pyramid appears to be a big deal on this forum, I see no evidence it features at all at the upper echelons of the sport in this country.

That's the point...it should.

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43 minutes ago, Shanner said:

It’s only natural to feel that way but I'm still pleasantly surprised that it's even up for discussion so you never know. 

I agree that getting them around the table is a good start but to me, it feels like there are too many seperate agendas for any kind of agreement to be made at this moment. I really hope that there is a good moderator involved for this.

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1 hour ago, energyzone said:
1 hour ago, Sergeant Wilson said:
That's the point...it should.

Only if there's evidence to suggest clubs are interested. Which hasn't been the case.

There was evidence 5 years ago when the SJFA surveyed its clubs.  The survey was ignored and has never been repeated as they wouldn't like the result.

How can TJ attend todays meeting without being armed with upto date data of what clubs would like to see and in what form. What is his negotiating position and who authorised him to go in with it?

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Only if there's evidence to suggest clubs are interested. Which hasn't been the case.


You keep saying there isn’t interest. But clubs have not been properly consulted. If a full proposal is put forward (as wasn’t when clubs were asked to indicate if they wanted to be involved) then you might get a better idea of who wants involved and who doesn’t. I would be a massive supporter (as I have been in the past) for my club to be involved, but at the moment that opportunity doesn’t exist without taking on a significant financial risk.

I hope that there is some movement towards this either through working together or a separate WOS league proposal.

I agree that there needs to be a top down approach as I said earlier as there are too many agendas to get a consensus.
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