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Junior football, what is the future?


Burnie_man

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OK, those who know the west better than me can probably help.  Out of the West Superleague clubs, which one's could potentially meet licence requirements by February next year to guarantee Scottish Cup entry for 2021-2022 (and LL play-off entry) and who out with the Superleague?  Main requirements obviously being floodlights, cover for 100, changing rooms to accomodate 22 players, bigger refs rooms, male/female/disabled toilets, medical room, disabled cover.

Clydebank

Beith

Hurlford

Benburb

Kilbirnie Ladeside

Cumnock

Kilwinning Rangers

Irvine Meadow

Rob Roy

Glenafton

Largs Th

Troon

Rossvale

Auchinleck Talbot

Rutherglen Glencairn

Pollok

Edited by Burnie_man
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Benburb(And Rossvale, given they groundshare) can't be a million miles from it.

We need to do a bit more work on Holm Park but it would definitely be achievable in that time frame. That would obviously put Yoker in about it as well.

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6 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:

OK, those who know the west better than me can probably help.  Out of the West Superleague clubs, which one's could potentially meet licence requirements by February next year to guarantee Scottish Cup entry for 2021-2022 (and LL play-off entry) and who out with the Superleague?  Main requirements obviously being floodlights, cover for 100, changing rooms to accomodate 22 players, bigger refs rooms, male/female/disabled toilets, medical room, disabled cover.

Clydebank

Beith

Hurlford

Benburb

Kilbirnie Ladeside

Cumnock

Kilwinning Rangers

Irvine Meadow

Rob Roy

Glenafton

Largs Th

Troon

Rossvale

Auchinleck Talbot

Rutherglen Glencairn

Pollok

Rob Roy groundshare with Cumbernauld United. It's not quite in their hands in the same way as others.

Rossvale groundshare at Benburb as their place in bishopbriggs wasn't considered good enough for the Premiership. What usually gets said about Benburb is the need for cover.

Girvan outside the Premiership presumably just needs lights having kept up with licencing otherwise so far.

Maryhill was considered good enough for when BSC got licenced originally. Again some requirements may have moved on.

Petershill as mentioned elsewhere. 

Technically Yoker if they fancied it I suppose. Most of the big ticket items are covered. It's just the details.

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OK, those who know the west better than me can probably help.  Out of the West Superleague clubs, which one's could potentially meet licence requirements by February next year to guarantee Scottish Cup entry for 2021-2022 (and LL play-off entry) and who out with the Superleague?  Main requirements obviously being floodlights, cover for 100, changing rooms to accomodate 22 players, bigger refs rooms, male/female/disabled toilets, medical room, disabled cover.
Clydebank
Beith
Hurlford
Benburb
Kilbirnie Ladeside
Cumnock
Kilwinning Rangers
Irvine Meadow
Rob Roy
Glenafton
Largs Th
Troon
Rossvale
Auchinleck Talbot
Rutherglen Glencairn
Pollok
Carluke in the 3rd tier play at a council athletics facility so should meet most criteria. Greenock in same division play at Ravenscraig which got a £1.7 million upgrade for the commonwealth games. Lastly in same division Maryhill's Lochburn Park I believe would meet the majority of the criteria listed.
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5 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Hope clubs dont feel the need to move if they dont want to, im sure there will still be enough clubs for 2/3 junior leagues to play the east in the Scottish etc.

The thing is if sjfa got in at tier 6 as a whole lugar would still get their games vs big guns for a few years now its possible they may lose them all together. 

I have a feeling a few go some will follow. If talbot go expect an avalanche 

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Out of interest, which club are you supporting? I've lived in England for quite a few years and watched a fair amount of non-league football. When thinking of the current SJFA shambles, I can't help but think of the Northern League in England who ended up joining the pyramid much lower than they could have if they took part from the start...


I used to be involved in the Northern League back then before moving up here two decades ago. It’s funny I’ve been watching this situation up here and thinking the similarities of what you mention. Two men held the Northern League back all those years ago. They wanted us feeding into the Conference which was an absolute ridiculous demand knowing they wouldn’t back down and gave them a reason not to join the pyramid.
But after two of the big guns upped sticks and left followed by another two the next season the writing was on the wall. We ended up a level lower than we were offered.
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32 minutes ago, Burnie_man said:

OK, those who know the west better than me can probably help.  Out of the West Superleague clubs, which one's could potentially meet licence requirements by February next year to guarantee Scottish Cup entry for 2021-2022 (and LL play-off entry) and who out with the Superleague?  Main requirements obviously being floodlights, cover for 100, changing rooms to accomodate 22 players, bigger refs rooms, male/female/disabled toilets, medical room, disabled cover.

Clydebank

Beith

Hurlford

Benburb

Kilbirnie Ladeside

Cumnock

Kilwinning Rangers

Irvine Meadow

Rob Roy

Glenafton

Largs Th

Troon

Rossvale

Auchinleck Talbot

Rutherglen Glencairn

Pollok

 

Talbot have approval for floodlights  which according to their website,  will be erected before next season.

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4 minutes ago, AlanCamelonfan said:

The thing is if sjfa got in at tier 6 as a whole lugar would still get their games vs big guns for a few years now its possible they may lose them all together. 

I have a feeling a few go some will follow. If talbot go expect an avalanche 

Auchinleck's line has always been the will follow but not lead. They're happy where they are.

Right now Clydebank and Kilwinning go. They'll probably be thinking 14 team Premiership that'd suit their cup runs :)

Few more though and I'm sure they leave.

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26 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Rob Roy groundshare with Cumbernauld United. It's not quite in their hands in the same way as others.

Rossvale groundshare at Benburb as their place in bishopbriggs wasn't considered good enough for the Premiership. What usually gets said about Benburb is the need for cover.

Girvan outside the Premiership presumably just needs lights having kept up with licencing otherwise so far.

Maryhill was considered good enough for when BSC got licenced originally. Again some requirements may have moved on.

Petershill as mentioned elsewhere. 

Technically Yoker if they fancied it I suppose. Most of the big ticket items are covered. It's just the details.

Largs, Renfrew, Port Glasgow, Ashfield & Ardrossan must tick a few major boxes as well.

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1 minute ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Auchinleck's line has always been the will follow but not lead. They're happy where they are.

Right now Clydebank and Kilwinning go. They'll probably be thinking 14 team Premiership that'd suit their cup runs :)

Few more though and I'm sure they leave.

Much like in the East a couple of years ago....a surprising amount of sides had already left before Linlithgow and Bo'ness declared themselves. I get the impression the two clubs were playing chicken with each other across the flints and seeing who would blink first.

Once it becomes clear that what remains - and I've no doubt that much like in the East something will - is no longer a viable or attractive environment in which to operate, pragmatism and self preservation will kick in.

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1 hour ago, Marten said:

Out of interest, which club are you supporting? I've lived in England for quite a few years and watched a fair amount of non-league football. When thinking of the current SJFA shambles, I can't help but think of the Northern League in England who ended up joining the pyramid much lower than they could have if they took part from the start...

I follow Wealdstone, and probably my interest in the development of the Scottish pyramid relates to the fact that the Stones were involved in the setting up of what was then the Alliance Premier, now known as the National league, back in 1979.  The English Football League were quite pro pyamid, and applications were invited from clubs in the Southern League and the Northern Premier League, who had already come to an agreement that they would jointly support a single candidate to challenge Division 4 clubs seekinfg re-election, so as to avoid splitting FL members votes.  This approach resulted in the election of Wimbledon (of the SL) in 1977, and Wigan Athletic (of the NPL) in 1978.

Following the establishment of the AP, it was felt in the Non-League game that FL clubs closed ranks a bit, and no further clubs were elected untill automatic promotion (one space only) was brought in for the 86-87 season.  The NPL and SL were the strongest leagues in the North and South respectively and were semi-pro, whereas the Northern League and the Isthmian league covered some of the same areas, but were strictly amateur.  Ambitious clubs from the NL and the IL would tend to gravitate to the NPL and SL, and clubs in difficulty would go in the opposite direction.  The Isthmian League saw which way the wind was blowing and joined the pyramid in the mid-80s', today sitting alongside the NPL and the SL at levels 7-8.  The Northern League lacked the vision or ambition, and are now at levels 9-10, and one of the feeders into the NPL.

Interestingly, from a senior v junior perspective, there remained extensive overlap between the SL and the IL for many seasons;  in fact this has really only been fully resolved in the last few years.  Nevertheless, I don't recall the SL having any issues with the IL joining at the same level, despite them being a few years late to the party.  However, I think the remaining East Junior clubs would be unwise to draw any conclusions from this precedent.

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8 minutes ago, RealityHits said:

I follow Wealdstone, and probably my interest in the development of the Scottish pyramid relates to the fact that the Stones were involved in the setting up of what was then the Alliance Premier, now known as the National league, back in 1979.  The English Football League were quite pro pyamid, and applications were invited from clubs in the Southern League and the Northern Premier League, who had already come to an agreement that they would jointly support a single candidate to challenge Division 4 clubs seekinfg re-election, so as to avoid splitting FL members votes.  This approach resulted in the election of Wimbledon (of the SL) in 1977, and Wigan Athletic (of the NPL) in 1978.

Following the establishment of the AP, it was felt in the Non-League game that FL clubs closed ranks a bit, and no further clubs were elected untill automatic promotion (one space only) was brought in for the 86-87 season.  The NPL and SL were the strongest leagues in the North and South respectively and were semi-pro, whereas the Northern League and the Isthmian league covered some of the same areas, but were strictly amateur.  Ambitious clubs from the NL and the IL would tend to gravitate to the NPL and SL, and clubs in difficulty would go in the opposite direction.  The Isthmian League saw which way the wind was blowing and joined the pyramid in the mid-80s', today sitting alongside the NPL and the SL at levels 7-8.  The Northern League lacked the vision or ambition, and are now at levels 9-10, and one of the feeders into the NPL.

Interestingly, from a senior v junior perspective, there remained extensive overlap between the SL and the IL for many seasons;  in fact this has really only been fully resolved in the last few years.  Nevertheless, I don't recall the SL having any issues with the IL joining at the same level, despite them being a few years late to the party.  However, I think the remaining East Junior clubs would be unwise to draw any conclusions from this precedent.

wait.... are you?...........

Edited by Jeek
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1 hour ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

That's one of the things that bemused me. Had they handled this differently, he would have had a job and an honorary position for life. It's been a colossal management and mistake compounded by more mistakes and lies.

Yep. The strength of Clydebank and Kilwinning's statements as well makes you wonder how they managed to keep quiet for so long, when it seemed really obvious that TJ was just stalling. 

The interesting thing will be next to voice their intentions to leave the west juniors. As we speak TJ is away oot to buy another bag of spanners....

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17 minutes ago, Hillonearth said:

Much like in the East a couple of years ago....a surprising amount of sides had already left before Linlithgow and Bo'ness declared themselves. I get the impression the two clubs were playing chicken with each other across the flints and seeing who would blink first.

Once it becomes clear that what remains - and I've no doubt that much like in the East something will - is no longer a viable or attractive environment in which to operate, pragmatism and self preservation will kick in.

Bo'ness particularly, at the moment, with the very real possibilty of Lowland league football next season, must be wondering why it took them so long.

 

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