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North Caledonian League Expansion


Robert James

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5 minutes ago, Robert James said:

GordonS   I  suggest that you ignore the Lurker. He has little or no grasp about football in the Highlands, and as far as I know, he has no NCL contacts.   However he relishes irrelevant arguments, and apparently he thinks that he is never wrong ('tunnel vision').

As an aside, there are plenty of footballers in the north, who play both summer and winter football. For next season, the NCL has 12 clubs, requiring only 11 away matches, discounting any cup competitions. In my opinion, a "Skye United" should be able to attract sponsorship, if it played in a pyramid league, which would reduce costs..

I do actually have him on ignore, but I presumed a post on this thread would surely be fine so I opened it. I won't make that mistake again.

I'd heard before that the Skye & Lochalsh league is a pretty decent standard, but also that it's a bit like the Borders ammies in that the players are happy with the set-up and not interested in travelling long distances for not much better football. 

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Stick to that and don't engage me in conversation in future. Assuming all goes well on Monday at the SFA AGM there will no longer be a reason to fact check the drivel that was getting posted on here about the PWG process because the pyramid will finally be an established fact, so doubt I'll be wasting much time with this subforum in future.

Edited by LongTimeLurker
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2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Stick to that and don't engage me in conversation in future. Assuming all goes well on Monday at the SFA AGM there will no longer be a reason to fact check the drivel that was getting posted on here about the PWG process because the pyramid will finally be an established fact, so doubt I'll be wasting much time with this subforum in future.

Thank you for your service 

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On 15/06/2021 at 11:01, AsimButtHitsASix said:

Then I'd imagine players can play in the local league in the summer and NCL in the winter? Seems weird there'd be little appetite for a team in that sorta set up. Do Fort William get many players from Skye or Lochalsh? Obviously travel isn't the issue like it is for other islands. 

Mind you it's entirely sane that players just don't fancy travelling three hours once a fortnight for a game of football in the pissing rain and sleet of Caithness or Sutherland

Fort William have precious little local support and the players are split between Inverness and Lochaber.

I don't doubt Skye could support an NCL side, but I think these romantic ideas about Skye United are wishful thinking. The summer evenings and influx of younger, seasonal workers allows a short, intense amateur season to be played, but come the winter, as you say, it's a slog on a weekend to play in the pishing rain and gales of Thurso.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/06/2021 at 20:49, Cyclizine said:

Fort William have precious little local support and the players are split between Inverness and Lochaber.

I don't doubt Skye could support an NCL side, but I think these romantic ideas about Skye United are wishful thinking. The summer evenings and influx of younger, seasonal workers allows a short, intense amateur season to be played, but come the winter, as you say, it's a slog on a weekend to play in the pishing rain and gales of Thurso.

Surely it would be Team Skye?!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Having been to Oban, Skye, Ullapool and all points in between Perth and Inverness the last few days the only area I feel could sustain a team in the pyramid out of those is Oban. The rest are too isolated, small, or their population is scattered and its also shinty land. Not to mention they are all miles, absolutely miles from the other teams and secondary population centres to attract a better quality of player from. Even with Oban I feel it would probably just be in the NCL or slumming it in the bottom rung of the West without outside investment. 

 

Edited by Benidorm
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9 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Oban would surely be in the WOS section of the pyramid?

They're south of the Tay Bridge Line™, so I'd assume they'd go for WoSFL if they fancied it. They play in a predominantly west-based amateur league as it is.

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40 minutes ago, Benidorm said:

Having been to Oban, Skye, Ullapool and all points in between Perth and Inverness the last few days the only area I feel could sustain a team in the pyramid out of those is Oban. The rest are too isolated, small, or their population is scattered and its also shinty land. Not to mention they are all miles, absolutely miles from the other teams and secondary population centres to attract a better quality of player from. Even with Oban I feel it would probably just be in the NCL or slumming it in the bottom rung of the West without outside investment. 

 

I'd agree with that. Many places have had teams in the NCL or amateur/welfare leagues, but they often come and go depending on players and committees.

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6 hours ago, Benidorm said:

Having been to Oban, Skye, Ullapool and all points in between Perth and Inverness the last few days the only area I feel could sustain a team in the pyramid out of those is Oban. The rest are too isolated, small, or their population is scattered and its also shinty land. Not to mention they are all miles, absolutely miles from the other teams and secondary population centres to attract a better quality of player from. Even with Oban I feel it would probably just be in the NCL or slumming it in the bottom rung of the West without outside investment. 

 

Oban is shinty land. Ullapool isn't 

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Wouldn't be surprised if an Ullapool team could be competitive at least at NCL level, maybe drawing in players from Lewis and Harris. More chance than Scourie anyway, though I hope they give it a go again this season.

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Where Oban would wind up depends only on which league would accept them into membership. The line of latitude is only applicable to a relegated Club 42 and appears nowhere else in the various rules and regulations. It would be nice to think a WoS AGM will always do the right thing on accepting remote Argyll & Bute clubs but that hasn't actually been put to the test yet where Campbelltown Pupils are concerned. They are only in a temporary division four through provisional board level approval. WoS Division 4 may not be around next season and its member clubs still need to receive AGM approval to be accepted into the fold at Division 3 level next season.

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Have Oban Saints ever joined in any discussions about joining a more 'mainstream' league?  They've been on the go for years and given theirs that unusual tournament in the town you'd imagine they would be able to sustain something.  Do they not have an old timey stand at their ground as well?  

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Just now, Highland Capital said:

Have Oban Saints ever joined in any discussions about joining a more 'mainstream' league?  They've been on the go for years and given theirs that unusual tournament in the town you'd imagine they would be able to sustain something.  Do they not have an old timey stand at their ground as well?  

They haven't. A lot of people in the WoSFL forum have though 🤣

With their connection to the Glasgow/Central area amateurs and Campbeltown Pupils in the WoSFL. It seems safe to say they'd end up there if they ever make the step up.

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