Clyde01 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 That is still the case (perhaps along with some other benefits, I found it interesting how East Stirlingshire received Ladbrokes sponsorship for their first season down). Of course, that payment dries up very soon after, whilst the relegated club needs to finish top of their league, then beat the champion of the other league, and then overcome the bottom SPFL team (who might have their shit together, unlike Rovers/Berwick this season) to claw their way back up the ladder. Those are some bad odds to me.Shire have not even been close to winning the lowland league since they went down. Which suggests it is the correct level for them. In fact it looked like they might be drawn into the relegation battle a month or so ago. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Muzza81 said: How do you decide who comes up? You have a play off and the loser then plays SPFL2 ‘team 9’? That's how I would do it. Doesn't effect anything scheduling wise either. But I doubt the SPFL would be keen on it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB_Bino Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Whoever finishes last, I have a bad feeling they'll go down and never come back up again. Much like how East Stirlingshire has been a mostly anonymous LL club for a while now, I'm fearful the next few teams to be relegated will be lucky to survive. Must admit, I feel sorry for fans of any club that goes down to the LL. I’m a firm backer of the pyramid system, and actually believe that Club 42 should be automatically relegated to the winner of a HL v LL Play Off, but that’s not to say that I don’t think the fans suffer. Players come and go, but the novelty of the fans watching their side being visited by University teams, Cumbernauld Colts, Edusport, BSC Glasgow....would be very short lived and verging on depressing. That’s nothing against those sides, they are in the senior game on merit but it’s just not that appealing to me. Do they still get the SPFL parachute payment if they do go down though ? Not now, I’m sure the original plan was that the relegated team would get a payment the 1st year, half that payment for the 2nd year and then nothing thereafter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 25 minutes ago, BB_Bino said: Must admit, I feel sorry for fans of any club that goes down to the LL. I’m a firm backer of the pyramid system, and actually believe that Club 42 should be automatically relegated to the winner of a HL v LL Play Off, but that’s not to say that I don’t think the fans suffer. Players come and go, but the novelty of the fans watching their side being visited by University teams, Cumbernauld Colts, Edusport, BSC Glasgow....would be very short lived and verging on depressing. That’s nothing against those sides, they are in the senior game on merit but it’s just not that appealing to me. Not now, I’m sure the original plan was that the relegated team would get a payment the 1st year, half that payment for the 2nd year and then nothing thereafter. Better than no visitors at all... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Macguire Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, BB_Bino said: Must admit, I feel sorry for fans of any club that goes down to the LL. I’m a firm backer of the pyramid system, and actually believe that Club 42 should be automatically relegated to the winner of a HL v LL Play Off, but that’s not to say that I don’t think the fans suffer. Players come and go, but the novelty of the fans watching their side being visited by University teams, Cumbernauld Colts, Edusport, BSC Glasgow....would be very short lived and verging on depressing. That’s nothing against those sides, they are in the senior game on merit but it’s just not that appealing to me. Not now, I’m sure the original plan was that the relegated team would get a payment the 1st year, half that payment for the 2nd year and then nothing thereafter. I can understand your view Bino but as a former season ticket holder of an Premiership team and now a regular at BSC’s games, I think supporters might be pleasantly surprised with the standard of football in the LL, especially if their teams win column is empty season after season. Shire are great example of this, they were relegated a few seasons ago and their attendances whilst perhaps not as high as they once were have been pretty decent. The point is for years their supporters watched their team getting beat pretty much week in, week out. Finishing bottom every season. That cannot be fun. Now they compete, finished 2nd in their first season down and although they haven’t quite hit those heights since, their prospects are looking good. New ground share closer to their fan base, new manager. They win games, compete with best and have built new rivalries. I think the majority of their fans want their team back amongst the big boys but are quite happy with where they are at the moment. I suppose what I’m trying to say is I don’t think the fans will suffer. Edited January 31, 2019 by Jerry Macguire 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzza81 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I agree with Jerry here. In a few years you’ll, likely, have trips to Linlithgow, Penicuik, Bonnyrigg, Bo’ness, the Shire, Spartans, Civil Service etc all in the lowland league. If fans won’t go and watch their team be competitive against these teams but they will against Annan, Elgin, Berwick then that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Totally agree that the bottom of League 2 needs opened up, within the not too distant future. It can only be good for Scottish football to have a fully functioning pyramid system. The highland league still needs a bit of work though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogs Grog Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Therein lies the issue for me still.The LL is looking to be a good league to drop into and with the East juniors moving across (and hopefully the West) it promises to be a quality league in time.The Highland League for the 4 Angus clubs is not an attractive place to be. Serious work needs doing with the Tayside juniors coming in somewhere but the HL don't want change.I'm not against automatic relegation from the SPFL but they need to get tier 5 right North and South. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde01 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I agree with Jerry here. In a few years you’ll, likely, have trips to Linlithgow, Penicuik, Bonnyrigg, Bo’ness, the Shire, Spartans, Civil Service etc all in the lowland league. If fans won’t go and watch their team be competitive against these teams but they will against Annan, Elgin, Berwick then that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Totally agree that the bottom of League 2 needs opened up, within the not too distant future. It can only be good for Scottish football to have a fully functioning pyramid system. The highland league still needs a bit of work though.Once the lowland league has all those sides working their way up it will arguably be a more interesting league than League 2. Not least because you don’t have the tedium of playing each side 4 times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginaro Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 23 minutes ago, Gogs Grog said: Therein lies the issue for me still. The LL is looking to be a good league to drop into and with the East juniors moving across (and hopefully the West) it promises to be a quality league in time. The Highland League for the 4 Angus clubs is not an attractive place to be. Serious work needs doing with the Tayside juniors coming in somewhere but the HL don't want change. I'm not against automatic relegation from the SPFL but they need to get tier 5 right North and South. Fortunately none of the Angus clubs are close to being club 42 at the moment, and the HL clubs in League Two both look safe as well for the near future. However that in itself is an issue because it leaves a big void in the area between Dundee and Aberdeen for non-league clubs. Long term, the HL membership will have to become more southern. The Tayside and North (mainly Aberdeen-based) juniors should merge to form a tier 6 league, as it's likely no one except Banks o'Dee will have a licence in the near future, so those clubs can build up their infrastructure. It might be that in a few years that HL changes as one or two clubs drop down and one or two come up from the Juniors, changing the spread of clubs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzza81 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 That will take a bit longer but you will could easy end up having a league with Cove, Montrose Roselea, Bank O’ Dee, Culter, Hermes, Tayport, Lochee, Broughty, The Broch, Inverurie, Formartine, Bridge of Don and Brora. Of course there’s a bit of travelling there and it’s very east coast centric but it’s a pretty decent line up and certainly one which could/would draw decent crowds. Or you could end up with Wick, Nairn, Strathspey... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 On 31/01/2019 at 23:42, Muzza81 said: I agree with Jerry here. In a few years you’ll, likely, have trips to Linlithgow, Penicuik, Bonnyrigg, Bo’ness, the Shire, Spartans, Civil Service etc all in the lowland league. If fans won’t go and watch their team be competitive against these teams but they will against Annan, Elgin, Berwick then that doesn’t make a lot of sense. And hopefully Auchinleck Talbot, Pollok, Cumnock, Beith and others too. Personally I'd rather follow a team in a league like that, facing opponents only twice a season and with admission prices at £6, than in SPFL2 as it stands now. There's maybe an assumption forming that Cove will win the tier 5 play-off, but I wonder how much that's based on their league results. I think the standard in the HL isn't great at the moment so I wouldn't be so sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzza81 Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I could be wrong but I was under the impression a lot of the West junior clubs are happy where they are. They look forward to their local derbies and cup finals but aren’t particularly progressive. I don’t think anyone is assuming Cove will win. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Burton Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 I could be wrong but I was under the impression a lot of the West junior clubs are happy where they are. They look forward to their local derbies and cup finals but aren’t particularly progressive. I don’t think anyone is assuming Cove will win. The rest of the juniors are supposed to be joining the pyramid from next season. The west structure fits neatly into the existing setup but the issue is with the remaining east juniors and how they fit in. Some of the remaining east juniors should feed into the Highland league going by the dividing line.There are threads on it in the junior and EOS forums but majority is the usual junior vs senior nonsense. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_&_T Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Can someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the HL and LL champions play-off to decide who will face the bottom placed League Two side? If that is the case, then the quality of the HL compared to the LL wouldn't really matter, as presumably the LL champion would invariably the tie and, even if the HL did fluke a victory (over two legs?!), they would still face League Two opposition. The pyramid structure is difficult in Scotland, because 1/3 of the country is barely inhabitable, relatively difficult to access and thus sparsely populated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandcowden Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 On 01/02/2019 at 18:23, Muzza81 said: Or you could end up with Wick, Nairn, Strathspey... imagine a highland league having such teams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde01 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Can someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the HL and LL champions play-off to decide who will face the bottom placed League Two side? If that is the case, then the quality of the HL compared to the LL wouldn't really matter, as presumably the LL champion would invariably the tie and, even if the HL did fluke a victory (over two legs?!), they would still face League Two opposition. The pyramid structure is difficult in Scotland, because 1/3 of the country is barely inhabitable, relatively difficult to access and thus sparsely populated. The top couple of teams in the HL are probably as strong as the LL top end so that play off is not as much of a formality as you suggest. However over the next 5 years or so there is no doubt the lowland league will become far stronger than the highland league with the influx of all the top (former) junior sides. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 It's not the case at all. There's been 2 HL winners and 2 LL winners making it through to face SPFL42. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastle broon Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 EK sign Owen Bell on loan from Queens further strengthening their squad. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastle broon Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 16 minutes ago, gogsy said: ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PELE Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 On 04/02/2019 at 12:38, Muzza81 said: I could be wrong but I was under the impression a lot of the West junior clubs are happy where they are. They look forward to their local derbies and cup finals but aren’t particularly progressive. I don’t think anyone is assuming Cove will win. I was under that impression too. However, it only takes a few of the bigger junior teams to look at joining the pyramid and the others will maybe have little choice but to join as well. They won't want to get left behind in a less attractive set up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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