Pyramid 2019/2020

[parsforlife]

There is absolutely no need for TJ to still be in a job at the end of this.

I understand that it might give some short term benefit that by giving him a job inside the pyramid it will temporarily stop his self-preservation but it just makes thing worse long-term.

We got David Langmuir out when the SFL and SPL merged, there's no reason why TJ can't fall on his sword as well.

[Enigma]

There probably is a tier 5 solution which could look a little something like this.



Even numbers tend to make things a bit easier when going regional and it’s clear LL-HL leaves things too lopsided. I expect the ‘West’ league in this scenario would be particularly strong but it seems generally quite sensible.

[Robert James]

14 hours ago, Burnie_man said:

15 hours ago, Robert James said:

A very good assessment.
Dundee & Angus clubs in the Lowland catchment area, is just WRONG.
The pyramid must be balanced, otherwise we will be arguing about it for the next 10 years.  Evolution NOT revolution is the way ahead.

The Pyramid wont be balanced by 16 clubs.

Correct. It is impossible to balance football leagues and geography. However putting Dundee and Angus in the Lowland area, would create further unbalance. I am surprised that you think otherwise. 

[Robert James]

13 hours ago, Burnie_man said:

Agree. Once you have the west feeding into the LL the chances of any Tayside club getting there also diminishes. I think you may get Lochee in there eventually if they get Licenced but they wont get anywhere near SPFL.

I agree that Tayside clubs should team up with NRJFA and feed the HL, but in reality if they feed the LL little will change, and as you say it gets the pyramid working.

Then again, the line may not move and/or nothing comes of the meeting and all this is immaterial. We'll see.

"No deal" to change the boundary, is better than a "bad deal" to do so. which will have problems at a later stage IMO. The pyramid doesn't need a quick fix. 

[Robert James]

12 hours ago, Burnie_man said:

That won't happen for the reasons you stated. Club finishes a point below the new cut off line for tier 7, and suddenly finds itself in tier 8, after having started the season in tier 6. Also Glenrothes are joining and think they are joining at tier 7, same with Strollers and potentially Syngenta.

I hope next season is that last one of conferences though.

A good explanation of club expectations BM.   Helpful.

[Robert James]

6 hours ago, Ginaro said:

Auchinleck only beat Wick 2-1 away in the Scottish Cup, I doubt that Dundee teams will be giving Wick a doing...

Spot on Ginaro.  I bet that Spryo has never seen Wick play (?). They are proud to be the only Caithness club in the HFL, and I don't here them complaining. Sorry but it is impossible to relocate the town nearer to Dundee or Angus........ and the pyramid isn't the "magic roundabout"  

"Time for bed" (said Florence).  Or was it Uncle Bob ?

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Robert James
additional question added

[GordonS]

7 hours ago, ForzaDundee said:

There's amateur teams in Dundee who would do well in the Highland League. 

They'd do well in the Juniors too but that's not the point. 

Who?

[Spyro]

22 minutes ago, Robert James said:

Spot on Ginaro.  I bet that Spryo has never seen Wick play (?). They are proud to be the only Caithness club in the HFL, and I don't here them complaining. Sorry but it is impossible to relocate the town nearer to Dundee or Angus........ and the pyramid isn't the "magic roundabout"  

"Time for bed" (said Florence).  Or was it Uncle Bob ?

 

I have seen them play, decent side in bursts but not consistent enough imo...

I lived a stones throw away from Clach for over 5 years and further north for 8 years before that. In that time never got the urge to go, the league is dead and boring af unfortunately. I’d go and watch County but trying to get my teeth into lower league football around Inverness was brutal.

The revival of the Inverness and District Amateurs looked interesting though, allowing some of the established Ross-Shire teams in has helped (‘mon Maryburgh!)

Even following Nairn St Ninians in a NoS was more inviting than the HL to a newcomer 

[Robert James]

6 minutes ago, Spyro said:

I have seen them play, decent side in bursts but not consistent enough imo...

I lived a stones throw away from Clach for over 5 years and further north for 8 years before that. In that time never got the urge to go, the league is dead and boring af unfortunately. I’d go and watch County but trying to get my teeth into lower league football around Inverness was brutal.

The revival of the Inverness and District Amateurs looked interesting though, allowing some of the established Ross-Shire teams in has helped (‘mon Maryburgh!)

Even following Nairn St Ninians in a NoS was more inviting than the HL to a newcomer 

Given the remoteness of Caithness, Wick Academy have performed above expectations, since joining the HFL from the NCL in 1994/95. The top 5 or 6 HFL clubs are strong (look at their recent results in the Scottish Cup), and I am surprised you find it dead and boring.  However integrating the North & Tayside Juniors, and the NCL clubs into the pyramid, would breath new life into the HFL.

Whilst on the subject of amateur football in Inverness, is there any news as to whether Inverness City Juniors will come out of abeyance, or will the club officially fold ?  And what happened to Inverness Citadel's brief re-emergence ?

[Spyro]

I’ve no idea about City. Citadel are just another attempt from a guy who creates a new amateur team every season in Inverness... I actually played briefly for his Caledonian incarnation!

They’ll either fold or be playing under ANOTHER sponsors name next season no doubt

[Spyro]

And my dislike of the Highland league came from Brora “throwing” that game at Montrose... with the dream of doing a “Huntly” and skinning the Highland League for the next 10 years, then blocking Bridge of Don as they came with intentions of moving up through the leagues, they killed their own league.

In saying that, Wick are probably my favourite from up that way! I totally admire the small pool of players and punching above their weight...but we are talking total reconstruction and no place for sentiment 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Spyro

[Burnie_man]

Correct. It is impossible to balance football leagues and geography. However putting Dundee and Angus in the Lowland area, would create further unbalance. I am surprised that you think otherwise. 

I don't, but neither do I think it's an insurmountable issue in order to get a pyramid in place in the east.

Whether we like it or not, these 16 clubs don't want to got north.

[GNU_Linux]

I don't, but neither do I think it's an insurmountable issue in order to get a pyramid in place in the east.

Whether we like it or not, these 16 clubs don't want to got north.

That and the HL dont want them either. Tayside clubs are in an awkward position of being a b*****d child of sorts where neither the HL or LL want them.

Hopefully though a solution can be found through the EOS/ERJFA meeting & the Professional Game Body who the decision rests upon.

[Robert James]

2 hours ago, Spyro said:

And my dislike of the Highland league came from Brora “throwing” that game at Montrose... with the dream of doing a “Huntly” and skinning the Highland League for the next 10 years, then blocking Bridge of Don as they came with intentions of moving up through the leagues, they killed their own league.

In saying that, Wick are probably my favourite from up that way! I totally admire the small pool of players and punching above their weight...but we are talking total reconstruction and no place for sentiment 

Thurso FC had aspirations to obtain SFA Membership, and eventually join the HFL, when they entered the NCL in 1998/99. The Vikings soon realised that there aren't enough quality players to  support 2 Caithness clubs in the Highland League, which is a shame as there is  rivalry between the two towns (of similar size), not just confined j to football..   

Have you been to The Dammies ?  Worth a visit.

[Spyro]

50 minutes ago, Robert James said:

Thurso FC had aspirations to obtain SFA Membership, and eventually join the HFL, when they entered the NCL in 1998/99. The Vikings soon realised that there aren't enough quality players to  support 2 Caithness clubs in the Highland League, which is a shame as there is  rivalry between the two towns (of similar size), not just confined j to football..   

Have you been to The Dammies ?  Worth a visit.

No I never saw them but there is a big appetite for football up there.

Between Thurso, Halkirk, Orkney and Wick they really want to play competitive football but there is (rightly!) not a hope in hell for a Pentland United thing... just a case of giving them all a chance to play each other!

 

Having Tain (before rejoining the NCL),  (what is left of) Dornoch, Golspie and Brora all playing different associations is madness!

Same with Caithness... and there seems to be a really decent Welfare/Amateur league up there too

Edited March 16, 2019 by Spyro

[FairWeatherFan]

1 hour ago, Snafu said:

I didn't know Bridge of Don Thistle had any intentions of moving up to the Highland League just yet, though the team has improved since the club took up playing at the Aberdeen Sports Village. That's a new one for me. When was there a vote to allow a 19th team to join the Highland League and why is it Brora Rangers fault that this failed, I'm sure the other 17 teams would have had their say?

Don't remember seeing anything about it. They usually just get talked up for the various name changes they've had Wilson's XI - Hillhead - Bridge of Don Thistle - Newburgh Thistle - Bridge of Don Thistle. They only just became Bridge of Don again last summer.

[vikingTON]

There probably is a tier 5 solution which could look a little something like this.



Even numbers tend to make things a bit easier when going regional and it’s clear LL-HL leaves things too lopsided. I expect the ‘West’ league in this scenario would be particularly strong but it seems generally quite sensible.

Being papped from a national league straight into one of four regional efforts is never going to happen. It would do nothing to assure clubs at the bottom of the national level that what they’d be entering wasn’t their own graveyard, and it’d scupper any chance of adding a proper relegation spot in League Two.

If people think that rejigging Tier 5 is going to be an easier and more sensible process than simply waiting for a few Tayside clubs to shuffle into their already designated box then they’re deluded.

[honestly united]

The problem with all the talk of re-construction and pyramid structures is that far too many people are only looking at the here and now rather than looking at the potential and how things could look in the future.

Granted you could start off with a HFL and the NCL/ North Juniors / EoS north of Tay feeding in, and any team (if they had a licence) may think thats a lot of travelling - however give it 5/10 years the league could be heavily East Coast biased and predominantly Aberdeen / Dundee clubs. Its the same argument in the west where the big junior clubs are whinging about not wanting in the LL as its unattractive to them and the clubs are all glorified boys clubs. Well if the west juniors are that good they will easily fill the LL and be the majority in a few years.

A bit of forward planning and looking to see what could be possible is what is required. Any team at the edge of a boundary is not going to be happy about travelling to the other side but unfortunately there are always some winners and losers.

[FairWeatherFan]

6 minutes ago, virginton said:

 

Being papped from a national league straight into one of four regional efforts is never going to happen. It would do nothing to assure clubs at the bottom of the national level that what they’d be entering wasn’t their own graveyard, and it’d scupper any chance of adding a proper relegation spot in League Two.

If people think that rejigging Tier 5 is going to be an easier and more sensible process than simply waiting for a few Tayside clubs to shuffle into their already designated box then they’re deluded.

I think you could get a North-West-East Tier 5 set up once there's enough clubs licensed. That's only because the HL/LL set up is going to see the continued requests for automatic relegation from the SPFL.

The compromise being that the 3 champions are in a playoff with SPFL42. Non-league get the 3 Region set up and SPFL continue to avoid automatic relegation.

[FairWeatherFan]

1 minute ago, Snafu said:

I haven't seen or heard anything either about the HL offering places in the league since the three Junior teams joined in 2009, I have no idea what he (Spyro) is on about.

The HFL have never really offered anything from what I can tell. The last time the 3 Juniors joined it was started off by Formartine United getting into a bit of huff with the Juniors following relegation. Then the other applications followed.

The HFL had been sitting at 15 clubs for 7 years at that point. Anyone could have applied to be the 16th club in that time. The closed shop idea that they get painted with is largely due to the fact they are at 18 clubs and nobody wants to be 19th. Until someone applies we'll never know how it will be treated.