North Caledonian League Expansion

[Highland Capital]

Unless the UHI wanted to enter a team.  They must have a team of some sort by now surely?

[FairWeatherFan]

4 minutes ago, Highland Capital said:

Unless the UHI wanted to enter a team.  They must have a team of some sort by now surely?

Unsurprisingly they do have a team in the BUCS leagues.

https://www.facebook.com/UHIFC/

Going by their Facebook bio it ends with this:

The important bit of their bio is at the bottom:

Quote

We are the University of the highlands and islands Football team formed in late January. We Represent the UHI in BUCS leagues as well as locally. We also are hoping to hold 7 aside tournaments through out the uhi region to raise money for the Club

We are proud to have McDonald and Munro as our first kit sponsor however we are looking for a Sponsor for our 2nd and Training.

We hope to slowly progress up the leagues potentially entering amateur or even junior leagues.

 

[Jimmy Shaker]

McDonald and Munro must be running out of places to hide the money. 

[Robert James]

On 24/03/2021 at 16:41, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

The UHI is getting a full size artificial pitch. There's no mention in the article if it will include dressing rooms or any other facilities, but at least it could be an option for an NCL team wanting to play in Inverness.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/inverness-uhi-secures-funding-for-artificial-sports-pitch-232620/

An interesting situation for the H&I University.

Given the appalling lack of facilities in Inverness, I anticipate that there will be interest from several local clubs, about using the facilities (if they are on offer for hiring ?).

However the above QUOTE (if accurate) from the Uni spokesperson, suggests that it will be seeking to advance into the junior or amateur ranks. Perhaps when phase 2 is completed,  the NCL could be an appropriate option. 

[Dev]

Present North Juniors located west of the River Spey to join the North Caledonian League once the three new Highland zone Tier 6 leagues join the pyramid, so for 2021/22 this would mean Burghead Thistle, Forres Thistle, Nairn St Ninian and New Elgin but not Dufftown or Spey Valley United. 

 

This:

 

 

 

 

 

Niall Harkiss

 

@NiallFH

 

 

Replying to

@roseradge

and

@eastregion_sjfa

The draft 'North' Tier 6 agreement last year defined the geographical split as; North Caledonian League (Islands/West of the River Spey) North Superleague (West of the River Spey) Tayside a new addition to the discussions.

 

8:57 pm · 1 Apr 2021·Twitter Web App

 

2

Likes

 

 

 

Niall Harkiss

 

@NiallFH

·

1h

 

 

Replying to

@NiallFH

,

@roseradge

and

@eastregion_sjfa

Sorry, that should of course have read North Superleague *EAST of the River Spey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

[calmac25]

Nairn at ninian could be the big winners out of this. They talked up trying to get licenced last summer so wonder how they view potentially moving to NCL and an easier looking route to promotion

[RossBFaeDundee]

Probably unrealistic rn, but I'll just enjoy the thought of Orkney getting licensed and getting an away day there in the Scottish Cup... would be sweet.

[craigkillie]

Probably unrealistic rn, but I'll just enjoy the thought of Orkney getting licensed and getting an away day there in the Scottish Cup... would be sweet.

In theory they shouldn't need to be licensed if they retain the spots for winners of Tier 6 leagues.

[RossBFaeDundee]

9 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

In theory they shouldn't need to be licensed if they retain the spots for winners of Tier 6 leagues.

Well sure, but I want them in the cup every year. The odds of that dream away day get better that way, plus more Scottish Cup representation is something I'm always excited about.

Edited April 2, 2021 by RossBFaeDundee

[FairWeatherFan]

6 minutes ago, RossBFaeDundee said:

Well sure, but I want them in the cup every year. The odds of that dream away day get better that way, plus more Scottish Cup representation is something I'm always excited about.

A quicker route then would be to revive the North Challenge Cup for the Highland pyramid leagues or just extend the North & Tayside cup to include NCL teams.

[Marten]

9 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

A quicker route then would be to revive the North Challenge Cup for the Highland pyramid leagues or just extend the North & Tayside cup to include NCL teams.

Yes please, I'd love us to play away in places like Orkney, Scourie etc.  

[G51]

Struggling to work out why Tayside teams are going to feed into the Highland League tbh, especially when Perthshire clubs feed into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee Utd for example, both got promote into the HL, then you're talking probably 9/10 hours on a bus and ferry.

[Whitburn Vale]

4 minutes ago, G51 said:

Struggling to work out why Tayside teams are going to feed into the Highland League tbh, especially when Perthshire clubs feed into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee Utd for example, both got promote into the HL, then you're talking probably 9/10 hours on a bus and ferry.

Teams in and around Perth city are in the LL,not other Perthshire sides.

The pyramid is already lopsided population and teams wise,by sending the Tayside sides south it would would make that imbalance even worse.

What your talking about could happen but as it stands,its nowhere near reality as we speak.

 1 big trip away in a season currently "Wick"

The northern Angus sides should be nowhere near the LL,Brechin and Brechin Vics are about 10 miles from the Aberdeenshire border..

 

[Ginaro]

15 minutes ago, G51 said:

Struggling to work out why Tayside teams are going to feed into the Highland League tbh, especially when Perthshire clubs feed into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee Utd for example, both got promote into the HL, then you're talking probably 9/10 hours on a bus and ferry.

Basically only Perth feeds into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee United are both playing in the HL they will have more money than they do now, courtesy of being SFA members and taking part in the Scottish Cup.

This will be at least 5-10 years down the road - the landscape of Scottish football will clearly have changed by then, and if it does happen I would expect at that point some travel subsidy to have been introduced, like the SRU does for island travel. If amateur rugby players in the fourth tier can play in a 12 team national league with clubs stretching from Orkney to Newton Stewart, surely Highland League players can manage trips to Orkney as well. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Ginaro

[Marten]

14 minutes ago, G51 said:

Struggling to work out why Tayside teams are going to feed into the Highland League tbh, especially when Perthshire clubs feed into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee Utd for example, both got promote into the HL, then you're talking probably 9/10 hours on a bus and ferry.

From Inverness and beyond to Dundee actually doesn't take any longer than going to Aberdeen. It's more in miles, but there are better roads from Inverness to Dundee compared to the Inverness to Aberdeen route.

[FairWeatherFan]

39 minutes ago, G51 said:

Struggling to work out why Tayside teams are going to feed into the Highland League tbh, especially when Perthshire clubs feed into the Lowland League.

If Orkney and Lochee Utd for example, both got promote into the HL, then you're talking probably 9/10 hours on a bus and ferry.

That'd amount to one league game a year. Dependent on both clubs being licensed members of the SFA.

Which might be a problem for Orkney as I know even with the minimal NCL schedule has seen them play games on the mainland. 

Travel wise it wouldn't be something a number of clubs outside of the Highlands would be thrilled by, not just Dundee. 

[vikingTON]

The progress made on this is the important thing, though I suspect there might be a few issues to iron out at a later date.

The first could well be the 'Strathspey question': clearly on the west side of the Spey, and not likely to avoid the drop in the medium term, but would they prefer playing Aberdeenshire sides to Scourie etc. in the NCL? On the other hand, the NCL may well be a better potential route back up again and there could be other sides between Inverness and the Spey line that compensate for the occasional longer journey. 

Getting everyone in is the priority but if there's a case for a reasonable adjustment to the boundaries in the future then they shouldn't be set in stone. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by vikingTON

[Cyclizine]

@NiallFH of St Duthus has said on Twitter that clubs west of the Spey currently playing in the NRJFA leagues wouldn't be expected to move to the NCL. It would be a boundary for clubs coming down from the Highland League.

[Enigma]

I’d have had the Perthshire sides in the HL feeders too but otherwise delighted how the whole pyramid has worked out. Time for automatic relegation from the SPFL.

[Dev]

One thing which the NCL becoming part of the Pyramid will do is open up the opportunity for its' clubs to go for an SFA Licence. I wonder if this will attract some clubs from the area which haven't seen the league as a viable possibility for them to now have a go at entry?

For example, the Western Isles clubs have been regarded as non-starters previously for travel reasons. While those reasons won't have altered the income from SFA Associate Membership and playing in the SFA Cup could help to overcome that. These clubs would also become more attractive to their local potential sponsors.

Quite a few clubs play at All-Weather Floodlit facilities already e.g. South Lochaber, Portree, etc besides decent grounds at Point and in Stornoway. All-Weather and Floodlit grounds could be a big help in order to avoid cancelled matches in these more distant parts.

Would this make the NCL more attractive to the western-most North Juniors in future? It might if there were enough teams to create two Divisions. This would also help to give more evenly matched games. That in turn could make some summer amateurs consider a move to winter football? Perhaps, as pointed out by Neil Harkiss there may be another attraction for some North Juniors (see below).

One small step for the NCL may have significant long-term effects on senior football in its' area after a period of time.

 

Niall Harkiss

@NiallFH

 

Replying to

@propofology

The debate will come when the likes of a Forres Thistle, New Elgin or Burghead apply to join the NCL based on their geographic location - which could be seen as a means of getting a crack at Tier 6 without getting promoted to the Superleague.

9:34 pm · 2 Apr 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Edited April 3, 2021 by Dev
.