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Trapdoorwatch 2017-18


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On 27/02/2018 at 17:39, Clyde01 said:

 


This Cowdenbeath team are truly diabolical. As much as I wish Cowdenbeath all the best, if cove or Spartans can’t beat them they should probably discard relegation in future as the teams below are clearly not interested.

 

true story

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One for the future, yet also a blast from the past... Clydebank FC announced tonight that 86% of members have voted to move the club from the Juniors into the Senior pyramid:

http://www.clydebankfc.com/club-announcement/


They join Dalkeith as confirmed "intended movers"

http://www.dalkeiththistle.co.uk/news/club-announcement-east-of-scotland-league-2145411.html

with several more Junior clubs and Amateurs rumoured to be following.


Kelty applied for Fife Cup today:

 

Edited by HibeeJibee
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On 27/02/2018 at 01:25, Enigma said:

I hope the best team stays up or goes up. Relegation isn’t nice but it’s part of the game. I would echo the guy above in saying that the bottom team really should be automatically relegated here.

Indeed. I fully understand people wishing whichever SPFL club finishes bottom the best in the playoff, but ultimately we want the pyramid to flourish and for that to happen we need the Tier 5 sides winning it more often than not to get some real movement between the leagues.

When there is regular movement it'll hopefully make both the fourth and fifth tiers stronger, which in turn will lead to the prospect of relegation from the SPFL not being viewed with as much as fear as it is now having seen many clubs survive going down and in some cases come back up, and the introduction of automatic promotion/relegation would surely be more likely then.

Hopefully when we're at that point and we have proof that it works as a route to success in the SPFL that would in turn make it more appealing to the Juniors who are still outside the pyramid at that point.

It's shite if you're a Cowdenbeath fan obviously, but if you're interested in the success of the lower leagues then the HL/LL side winning can only be a good thing.

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When we were relegated to the LL 2 two seasons ago I said at the time that it was wrong the bottom team in tier 4 got a dog's chance of staying in up by playing in the play-off and also that it was a truly awful way to be relegated from any league.

Still think the same. 

That said good luck to Cowden next season no matter which league they end up in.  Footy doesn't end with 42nd place in the Spfl set up. Far from it.

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On 25/02/2018 at 19:05, HibeeJibee said:

Cove's run-in:
 

Wed 28 Feb     Brora (H)
Sat 03 Mar     Rothes (H)
Wed 07 Mar     Nairn (H)
Sat 10 Mar     Forres (A) – HLC R2
Wed 14 Mar     Fraserburgh (A)
Sat 17 Mar     Wick (H)
Tue 20 Mar     - HLC SF
Sat 24 Mar     Lossiemouth (A)
midweek         ?
Sat 31 Mar     - HLC Final
midweek         ?
Sat 07 Apr      ?
midweek         ?
Sat 14 Apr     Brora (A)

 

 

 ? :
Clachnacuddin (H)
Forres (H)
Strathspey (H)
Fort William (A)
Wick (A)

Since this post the Brora, Rothes and Nairn games have all been called off. The only way they're getting it finished by 14 April is playing four times a week.

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Since this post the Brora, Rothes and Nairn games have all been called off. The only way they're getting it finished by 14 April is playing four times a week.

It's pretty hectic. Although they only need to mathematically win the title by the 14th. 16 points would do it assuming the Broch don't drop any.
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On ‎08‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:55, Dunning1874 said:

Since this post the Brora, Rothes and Nairn games have all been called off. The only way they're getting it finished by 14 April is playing four times a week.

 

1 hour ago, Cyclizine said:

It's pretty hectic. Although they only need to mathematically win the title by the 14th. 16 points would do it assuming the Broch don't drop any.


Noticed this:


ttps://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/sport/football/scottish-football/talks-planned-to-help-ease-fixture-snarl-up-for-cove-and-other-teams/

EXCLUSIVE: SPFL talks planned which could help to ease fixture snarl-up for Cove and other teams

The Evening Express understands the SPFL will hold a meeting on Friday with representatives of the Highland League, Lowland League and Scottish Football Association to discuss fixture congestion and which could potentially lead to changing the dates of the League Two play-off – which could help ease Cove Rangers’ fixture backlog.

Both leagues need to crown a champion by Saturday, April 14. Then over the following two Saturdays (April 21 and 28) the winners of the Highland and Lowland League will play-off with the victor facing the club that finishes bottom of League Two – which looks like being Cowdenbeath – on Saturday, May 5 and 12.

Highland League leaders Cove look favourites to win the title being four points clear at the top with three games in hand. But they still have 12 league fixtures to play and are also still involved in the Highland League Cup. If the dates don’t change, they are facing the prospect of having to play four games a week for a number of weeks to finish their season by April 14.

Cove boss John Sheran has expressed concerns about the fixture snarl-up. While in yesterday’s Evening Express, Highland League secretary Rod Houston said he was “very reluctant” to make Cove play four games a week and it would be a “last resort” because of player welfare. Houston also revealed the Highland League had started discussions about how firm the April 14 deadline is.


One solution which has been mooted would be to move the play-offs to midweek. May 12 is the date set by the SPFL for the second leg of the League Two play-off final. That deadline could still be met if the semi-final first leg between the Highland and Lowland League champions was played on Tuesday, May 1, or Wednesday, May 2, with the second leg on Saturday, May 5. The winner of that tie could then face League Two’s bottom side on Tuesday, May 8, or Wednesday, May 9, in the first leg with the second leg being played on May 12.

Cove travel to Forres on Saturday in Highland League Cup Round Two.

Edited by HibeeJibee
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2 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

 


Noticed this:


ttps://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/sport/football/scottish-football/talks-planned-to-help-ease-fixture-snarl-up-for-cove-and-other-teams/

EXCLUSIVE: SPFL talks planned which could help to ease fixture snarl-up for Cove and other teams

The Evening Express understands the SPFL will hold a meeting on Friday with representatives of the Highland League, Lowland League and Scottish Football Association to discuss fixture congestion and which could potentially lead to changing the dates of the League Two play-off – which could help ease Cove Rangers’ fixture backlog.

Both leagues need to crown a champion by Saturday, April 14. Then over the following two Saturdays (April 21 and 28) the winners of the Highland and Lowland League will play-off with the victor facing the club that finishes bottom of League Two – which looks like being Cowdenbeath – on Saturday, May 5 and 12.

Highland League leaders Cove look favourites to win the title being four points clear at the top with three games in hand. But they still have 12 league fixtures to play and are also still involved in the Highland League Cup. If the dates don’t change, they are facing the prospect of having to play four games a week for a number of weeks to finish their season by April 14.

Cove boss John Sheran has expressed concerns about the fixture snarl-up. While in yesterday’s Evening Express, Highland League secretary Rod Houston said he was “very reluctant” to make Cove play four games a week and it would be a “last resort” because of player welfare. Houston also revealed the Highland League had started discussions about how firm the April 14 deadline is.


One solution which has been mooted would be to move the play-offs to midweek. May 12 is the date set by the SPFL for the second leg of the League Two play-off final. That deadline could still be met if the semi-final first leg between the Highland and Lowland League champions was played on Tuesday, May 1, or Wednesday, May 2, with the second leg on Saturday, May 5. The winner of that tie could then face League Two’s bottom side on Tuesday, May 8, or Wednesday, May 9, in the first leg with the second leg being played on May 12.

Cove travel to Forres on Saturday in Highland League Cup Round Two.

Would the Highland League not have been better making the league fixtures a priority rather than the League Cup. Puts you in mind of the SJFA with the Junior Cup when teams get backlogs waiting to play cup ties.

At least the LL wait until the league is out of the way before starting on the League Cup.

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As you note Highland League Cup is played during the main part of the season - and has priority over league games. Lowland League Cup is played off the end of the season - and no cups have priority over league games.

e.g. Keith v Brora in QF has been postponed tomorrow and rescheduled for next Saturday. In the preliminary Brora v Inverurie was abandoned and rescheduled for the next Saturday; so over 7 weekends Brora have spent 5 of them on HLC ties. Half of the R1 ties couldn't go ahead on Feb 10th so were rescheduled for Feb 24th... Strathspey v Huntly still hasn't been completed, and is making its third Saturday attempt tomorrow (having also been off on Wednesday).


As well as having 34 league games instead of 30, plus playing the Highland League Cup during the main part of the season not off the end, there is also a 2nd local cup for easterly HL sides - an Aberdeenshire Shield as well as an Aberdeenshire Cup - and of course 0/18 HL clubs have plastic pitches compared to 8/16 in LL.

It all adds up. Here's a computation of top 4 in both leagues of the number of games played so far (average HL: 34 / LL: 31)... postponements suffered so far (HL: 10 / LL: 4)... and games remaining to play by Apr 14th (HL: 10-12 / LL: 6)...

                           PLAYED                       |  POST  |    REMAIN   

                                           HiLC/        |  PONE  |       

             LEAG  Scot  Chal  Loc1  Loc2  SReg  TOTAL  |  MENT  |  LEAG  Cups  TOTAL

 

East Kilb     26     2     1     3           1     33   |    3   |    4     1      5

BSC Glasgow   24     2                       3     29   |    5   |    6     1      7

Spartans      22     3     2     4           2     33   |    7   |    8            8

East Stir     25     1     1                 3     30   |    2   |    5            5 

 

Cove          22     4     3     4     3     1     37   |   12   |   12    1-3   13-15

Fraserburgh   25     4           2     1     1     33   |    8   |    9    1-3   10-12

Inverurie     26     1           1     1     1     30   |    9   |    8            8

Formartine    25     4     1     3     2     1     36   |   11   |    9    1-3   10-12

Edited by HibeeJibee
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The SPFL didn't entertain rearranging Rangers fixture congestion in the lead up to Rangers Uefa Cup final to be changed with 4 games in a week which would have been excellent for scottish football if Rangers had won  so I hope they take that into consideration when reviewing this matter.

Every club should be treated the same when making decisions of a similar nature so taking the Rangers example into account the request  from Cove with all due respect to them personally I feel should be rejected. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7379902.stm

Edited by Cowden316
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3 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

As you note Highland League Cup is played during the main part of the season - and has priority over league games. Lowland League Cup is played off the end of the season - and no cups have priority over league games.

e.g. Keith v Brora in QF has been postponed tomorrow and rescheduled for next Saturday. In the preliminary Brora v Inverurie was abandoned and rescheduled for the next Saturday; so over 7 weekends Brora have spent 5 of them on HLC ties. Half of the R1 ties couldn't go ahead on Feb 10th so were rescheduled for Feb 24th... Strathspey v Huntly still hasn't been completed, and is making its third Saturday attempt tomorrow (having also been off on Wednesday).


As well as having 34 league games instead of 30, plus playing the Highland League Cup during the main part of the season not off the end, there is also a 2nd local cup for easterly HL sides - an Aberdeenshire Shield as well as an Aberdeenshire Cup - and of course 0/18 HL clubs have plastic pitches compared to 8/16 in LL.

It all adds up. Here's a computation of top 4 in both leagues of the number of games played so far (average HL: 34 / LL: 31)... postponements suffered so far (HL: 10 / LL: 4)... and games remaining to play by Apr 14th (HL: 10-12 / LL: 6)...

                           PLAYED                       |  POST  |    REMAIN   

                                           HiLC/        |  PONE  |       

             LEAG  Scot  Chal  Loc1  Loc2  SReg  TOTAL  |  MENT  |  LEAG  Cups  TOTAL

 

East Kilb     26     2     1     3           1     33   |    3   |    4     1      5

BSC Glasgow   24     2                       3     29   |    5   |    6     1      7

Spartans      22     3     2     4           2     33   |    7   |    8            8

East Stir     25     1     1                 3     30   |    2   |    5            5 

 

Cove          22     4     3     4     3     1     37   |   12   |   12    1-3   13-15

Fraserburgh   25     4           2     1     1     33   |    8   |    9    1-3   10-12

Inverurie     26     1           1     1     1     30   |    9   |    8            8

Formartine    25     4     1     3     2     1     36   |   11   |    9    1-3   10-12

The Highland League should be getting told that they have to make league games priority so the champions can be declared by the 14 April deadline. Its not fair on the Lowland League champions and club 42 that the play off dates have to be changed. There's no excuse for it they have know the score for the last few years and the LL have planed their fixture list to ensure it happens at their end.

After what has happened this season they should be making their cup an end of season thing like the LL.

 

 

Edited by cowdenbeath
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2 hours ago, Cowden316 said:

The SPFL didn't entertain rearranging Rangers fixture congestion in the lead up to Rangers Uefa Cup final to be changed with 4 games in a week which would have been excellent for scottish football if Rangers had won  so I hope they take that into consideration when reviewing this matter.

Every club should be treated the same when making decisions of a similar nature so taking the Rangers example into account the request  from Cove with all due respect to them personally I feel should be rejected. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7379902.stm

I can see where your coming from 316 but i'm not one of the folk on the "it would have been good for Scottish Football band wagon" Winning a European competition is good for the individual club but does it really mean a jot for the other 41?

Was everyone else in Scotland really excited when Celtic won the EC, Rangers the ECWC or Aberdeen the ECWC and the Super Cup good for the fans of those clubs but would everyone else have really bothered either way,  i'm sure the old firm fans were jumping for joy when the other half won a cup:lol:

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I can see where your coming from 316 but i'm not one of the folk on the "it would have been good for Scottish Football band wagon" Winning a European competition is good for the individual club but does it really mean a jot for the other 41?
Was everyone else in Scotland really excited when Celtic won the EC, Rangers the ECWC or Aberdeen the ECWC and the Super Cup good for the fans of those clubs but would everyone else have really bothered either way,  i'm sure the old firm fans were jumping for joy when the other half won a cup:lol:

As a football fan I was delighted when the Scottish clubs won all of those trophies and I supported them watching on TV - it boosts the whole game if you have quality clubs. I saw Cowden in the top flight playing the European Cup runners up and the team that would win the ECWc a year later that added lustre to those games
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1 minute ago, Cowden Cowboy said:


As a football fan I was delighted when the Scottish clubs won all of those trophies and I supported them watching on TV - it boosts the whole game if you have quality clubs. I saw Cowden in the top flight playing the European Cup runners up and the team that would win the ECWc a year later that added lustre to those games

The Celtic and Rangers ones were when I was a bairn so don't remember them. I remember watching the Dons ones in 83. I take your point in seeing Cowden playing a side reaching a EC final a few month's later and  a side which would go and win the ECWC the following year.

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It's certainly uncommon to need 2 games in 1 midweek.


Has occasionally happened since pyramid began:

2013-14
LTHV played Monday-Wednesday
+ Newton Stewart played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)

2014-15
Fleet Star played Monday-Wednesday
Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday
+ Abbey Vale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Fleet Star played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Edusport played Tuesday-Thursday (2 cups)
+ Lochar played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Mid Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Newton Stewart played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)


2015-16
Edinburgh City played Tuesday-Thursday (last 2 games postponed - held back until after playoffs as league won)
LTHV played Monday-Wednesday x3
Duns played Monday-Wednesday x2
Lochar played Monday-Wednesday
Nithsdale played Monday-Wednesday
Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday
+ Creetown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Crichton played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Dumfries YMCA played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Fleet Star played Monday Wednesday (2 cups) x2 & (1 lge + 1 cup), Heston Rovers played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups)
+ Mid Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Nithsdale played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup),  St Cuthbert played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)


2016-17
+ Threave played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)



Most recent example I can find in HL was in 2009-10 when Inverurie and Wick (x2) played Friday-Sunday.

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3 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

It's certainly uncommon to need 2 games in 1 midweek.


Has occasionally happened since pyramid began:

2013-14
LTHV played Monday-Wednesday
+ Newton Stewart played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)

2014-15
Fleet Star played Monday-Wednesday
Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday
+ Abbey Vale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Fleet Star played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Edusport played Tuesday-Thursday (2 cups)
+ Lochar played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Mid Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Newton Stewart played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)


2015-16
Edinburgh City played Tuesday-Thursday (last 2 games postponed - held back until after playoffs as league won)
LTHV played Monday-Wednesday x3
Duns played Monday-Wednesday x2
Lochar played Monday-Wednesday
Nithsdale played Monday-Wednesday
Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday
+ Creetown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Crichton played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Dumfries YMCA played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Fleet Star played Monday Wednesday (2 cups) x2 & (1 lge + 1 cup), Heston Rovers played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups)
+ Mid Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Nithsdale played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup),  St Cuthbert played Monday-Wednesday (2 cups), Upper Annandale played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup), Wigtown played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)


2016-17
+ Threave played Monday-Wednesday (1 lge + 1 cup)



Most recent example I can find in HL was in 2009-10 when Inverurie and Wick (x2) played Friday-Sunday.

Your too much times on your hands HJ thought you would have been watching the derby.

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The SPFL didn't entertain rearranging Rangers fixture congestion in the lead up to Rangers Uefa Cup final to be changed with 4 games in a week which would have been excellent for scottish football if Rangers had won  so I hope they take that into consideration when reviewing this matter.
Every club should be treated the same when making decisions of a similar nature so taking the Rangers example into account the request  from Cove with all due respect to them personally I feel should be rejected. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7379902.stm
That does of course pre-date the SPFL by about six years.

SFL did similar to Raith in 2010 when we had reached the Scottish Cup semi finals (using several replays) along with a bad winter - we had to play 7 league games in the last 14 days of the season.

However, there should be some common sense applied - if the second leg is on the same time then it feels reasonable especially if there are any more postponements. But the Highland League should also be forced to stop prioritising the cup games at this point.
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