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1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

As you are aware the new Scottish Cup broadcasting contract includes televised fixtures in rounds 1, 2 and 3 which will provide an excellent platform for the lower levels of the game in this country. The BBC have the right to choose matches at variable kick off times, which may well require floodlighting at venues given the time of year, meaning that the number of games available for selection could be severely limited.

To be fair to the SFA, this is a legitimate concern - televised games can't kick-off on a Saturday at 3pm, so they might take place on a Friday evening given the BBC's liking for that slot on the new channel. But the solution to that is to change the rules so those clubs without floodlights chosen for TV must play at a venue with floodlights, just as the LL stipulates for midweek games.

The other problem is that allowing 6 more clubs in without lights means there's too many for the Preliminary Rounds, though again that just needs a bit of reorganisation of the format (put all the Championship clubs in together) and you have enough space in the earlier rounds.

There are solutions for everything, but only if the governing body has sensible people in charge with some problem solving skills. Especially as they've had 5 months since the new tv deal was announced to figure it out. 

Around 9 or 10 clubs in the Preliminary Rounds won't have floodlights - those rounds will produce 6 or 7 teams to go forward into the First Round, so would it matter if an extra club without lights was added since all 6 or 7 qualifiers might not have lights anyway?

We could be in the bizarre situation where Bonnyrigg install their floodlights, win their two preliminary round matches, and then have an exciting first round match at home to say, Auchinleck, selected for BBC TV on a Friday night! 

Edited by Ginaro
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Roll up, roll up, roll up. Come and join the EOS. Get your licence here. Only two grand a ticket, everyone's a winner.

Upgrade your pitch and facilities, join the pyramid and shoot for the stars, get your money back no problem, join the elite.

Enjoy your epic journey through the Lowland league and the SPFL  on your way to the top of Scottish football.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your kind donations, all the best and good luck.

Now f**k off and don't come back.

Scottish Football Association.

If something is  too good to be true in appearance, it probably is too good to be true in reality.

You have been conned big style guys.

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1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

Bonnyrigg Statement

http://www.bonnyriggrosefc.co.uk/teams/118321/news/club-statement-sfa-membership-application-update-2427081.html

Direct appeal to SFA rejected.

As an update to our statement released last week we received a reply from SFA CEO Ian Maxwell yesterday to our direct appeal and are disappointed but not altogether surprised to reveal that it has also been rejected. (Full reply to direct appeal at the foot of the page). This is despite testimonials sent on our behalf by MSPs, our council and not least the platinum Quality Mark Community Club of which we are an associate who have previously represented the SFA at the Scottish Parliament.
We have invested upwards of six figures in ground and facility improvements at New Dundas Park over the past four seasons, not counting the work completed and substantial capital purchases made by our two main sponsors (The McDermott Group & Grant Fitzsimmons & Son) as part of their sponsorship. It also doesn't count the labour costs which a lot of the friends of the club have given free gratis. A significant element of that investment was with licensing criteria in mind, for example when we had to make several costly adjustments to our changing rooms in order to meet the criteria.
This is however not the end of the road for us, as despite the labyrinthine nature of the different articles and licensing documents, there is still one option open to us which we are seeking guidance on from parties outside of the club whether to pursue. We owe it to our players and supporters to explore every available option open to us until each of those options have been exhausted. We sold a vision to our supporters at our EGM last March of what the future would look like if we joined the East of Scotland league after 120 years of Scottish Junior Football membership, but the stark reality at present is that we have swapped one glass ceiling for another.
In parallel we are pleased to announce that we have received planning consent from Midlothian Council today for our floodlights installation. We agreed several months ago to acquire floodlights from Midlothian Council which were previously used at the old Newbattle High School campus and have concluded that purchase as a result of receiving planning consent today. Work will commence early next week on the installation of these floodlights, which means that we will have to forego some grant funding which we could have availed of had we stuck to our original plans. We feel however that it is imperative we have these in place as soon as is possible. G Fitzsimmons and Son are covering a significant portion of the costs as part of their sponsorship for next season and we are extremely grateful for their continued support of the club. There is still a substantial figure to cover so we are asking our supporters and local businesses, indeed any supporters for their help with this by donating to our funding page that we have set up this evening on this link. We are indebted to our supporters for the response received in our fundraising efforts so far.
People can draw their own conclusions on the reasons given for our direct appeal rejection but at a very high level:
- On the subject of the Scottish Cup there are seven clubs with National Club License awards that currently don’t have floodlights. In addition there are several other clubs who will enter the preliminary rounds as winners of other leagues/cups who also don’t have floodlights, based on the current Scottish Cup format. We are one of those having won the East of Scotland League (but we will have lights by then)
- Still on the Scottish Cup the last time an actual game was held on a midweek afternoon was eight years ago. Also under the current format Scottish Cup replays up to and including round 3 are played the following Saturday.
- Changes made at short notice to the Licensing system is one of the reasons the derogation procedure exists. We were given an undertaking as recently as April at a meeting of Lowland League & East of Scotland League delegates at Easter Road by the SFA VP that derogation requests would be reviewed and assessed based on the requests submitted; i.e. if there were plans in place to meet the criteria. This is completely contrary to what has actually taken place.
- The biggest concern for all clubs at our level should be paragraph four, where it appears that the board of our national association have taken proactive steps in order to curtail a membership ‘influx’. This has meant that five clubs along with ourselves were denied membership by the actions of the SFA board. This is despite scope to allow up to 200 members, with only 90 member clubs at present. This is completely at odds with the SFA values and their overarching principle to help develop clubs at all levels.
We should be celebrating our league title, looking forward to a cup final next Sunday against the Lowland League champions and promotion to that league, wondering along with the rest of the country who the next manager of the men’s national team will be and getting ready to cheer on Shelley Kerr’s side at their first World Cup.
What we shouldn’t be doing is this – it isn’t right, fair or proper.

Reply to direct appeal
“Having checked internally, I can confirm that there is no appeal route available for clubs going through the application process.

The Board rejected all applicant club derogations as a matter of policy. All applications must be treated equally with the minimum criteria being met in full rather than the Board subjectively deciding which clubs have met ‘enough’ of the criteria enough to allow approval.

Additionally, in the build up to a new season, leagues and clubs require certainty around their membership to allow proper planning on and off the pitch. Situations where league membership requires to be changed last minute are impractical and must be avoided.

I appreciate that the floodlighting criteria was added during your application process. We found ourselves in the unusual position of having 12 clubs apply for membership at roughly the same time and had to consider the impact this influx would have.

One major consideration is the Scottish Cup and we receive consistent feedback from members that postponed/replay fixture dates which, due to a lack of floodlighting, are required to be Saturday afternoons as opposed to midweek evenings are hugely problematic. Clubs are required to cancel league fixtures, with associated hospitality and match income being severely impacted. We have also had issues – one such this season – which meant that a 5th round tie would have to have been played on a midweek afternoon had it gone to a replay, which would have had a serious impact across a number of areas.

As you are aware the new Scottish Cup broadcasting contract includes televised fixtures in rounds 1, 2 and 3 which will provide an excellent platform for the lower levels of the game in this country. The BBC have the right to choose matches at variable kick off times, which may well require floodlighting at venues given the time of year, meaning that the number of games available for selection could be severely limited.

Please be assured the decision wasn’t taken lightly. We were aware of the implications for your club in particular and I understand the frustration and disappointment you must feel, however the Board must take decisions considering the impact on the Scottish game as a whole, rather than considering individual circumstances.

I appreciate this is not the reply you were hoping for however trust you can appreciate the Boards position.”

 

 

Updated 18:31 - 17 May 2019 by Brendan Parkinson

FUCKIN SHOCKIN should actually be an illegal decision by SFA 

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Additionally, in the build up to a new season, leagues and clubs require certainty around their membership to allow proper planning on and off the pitch. Situations where league membership requires to be changed last minute are impractical and must be avoided.

Presumably all of the SPFL play-offs are in the process of being cancelled by the SFA as it's now too late for league membership to change. :rolleyes: Maxwell, what a clown.

Edited by Ginaro
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1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

Additionally, in the build up to a new season, leagues and clubs require certainty around their membership to allow proper planning on and off the pitch. Situations where league membership requires to be changed last minute are impractical and must be avoided.

I gave the SFA the benefit of the doubt over cancelling the February board meeting considering the circumstances. With clubs on the hook for 3 months, the SFA have a real cheek to say that it's too close to the new season. It's their fault this is happening last minute.

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Every point raised by Maxwell in that response can be refuted and easily resolved. The leadership in the SFA are beyond incompetent. Its fairly obvious the SFA knew the outcome of the license decision before their meeting with the EOS in April and just strung them along.

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Much of that explanation just doesn't make sense, IMO.

Saying it is necessary to maintain standards does not take in to account that the criteria was altered midseason with no notice, that a mechanism for derogation exists, and (most importantly) that Bonnyrigg will have the new standard in place imminently anyway. Meanwhile a substantial number of existing clubs - in the Lowland League and Scottish Cup - will not be complying any time soon.

Saying it is too close to next season to alter course is only because SFA put off making a decision for months. It's also illogical because playoffs higher up don't finish until tomorrow or actually next weekend in the case of the Scottish Premiership. Were it not for the fact Berwick took a tanking last week the Lowland League couldn't even know how many clubs it had until tomorrow evening.

Saying it is necessary for Scottish Cup replays seems to miss the fact that up to and including R3 such replays take place the following Saturday... it's very rare for unlit non-league sides to get to R4 or beyond. Citing the fact an unnamed club reached R5 this season and would have had to replay midweek conveniently side-steps the fact it was Auchinleck, who entered as a qualifier, and will do so again next season. Other qualifiers and at least half-a-dozen members will also be participating.

Saying it's necessary for Scottish Cup TV ties only applies to any being shown on Friday nights. There will also be a substantial number of existing clubs and qualifiers without floodlights. BBC showed a tie at unlit Auchinleck only 4 months ago. If a club hasn't lights, and BBC want a Friday night tie, they just won't pick a club without lights? If not... what if it's Whitehill v Bonnyrigg?

It is also concerning any process operates with "no appeal route". That is very undesirable.

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54 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

Saying it is necessary for Scottish Cup replays seems to miss the fact that up to and including R3 such replays take place the following Saturday... it's very rare for unlit non-league sides to get to R4 or beyond. Citing the fact an unnamed club reached R5 this season and would have had to replay midweek conveniently side-steps the fact it was Auchinleck, who entered as a qualifier, and will do so again next season. Other qualifiers and at least half-a-dozen members will also be participating.

I think that what Maxwell is saying (otherwise why mention it?), is that they would like replays to be midweek to avoid rescheduling league games - but can't due to the fact some of the clubs don't have floodlights. But even if everyone had floodlights, would teams in the early rounds want to play replays midweek given longer distances are more likely with the HL teams?

Of course the Auchinleck situation of an afternoon replay is surely avoided by simply changing the rules so that from round 4 all midweek games must be played at grounds with floodlights?

Edited by Ginaro
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4 hours ago, wullie robb said:

Reading that statement from the SFA is almost identical to Reading a statement from Theresa May. 

Wants you to believe it but knows it's a lie.... 

Interesting!

There is an illness which may match these symptoms which are known as Confabulation. Check it out on the internet.

Thinking that there are striking similarities between an un-named politician and the behaviour of some in a certain nations' football organisation.

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I think Maxwell is a dead man walking after that - he’s going to get ripped by the members who have some power.

petrie just wants his job, and the duplicitous fecker will do and say anything to get it.

shades of the Jorge cadete affair. I hope the result is the same.

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Don't the SFA realise how bad this makes them look? Flabbergasting stuff.

It's also a joke to say that clubs need certainty over which league they will be playing in the following season so they can plan appropriately. It's because of the SFA suspending license applications and then dragging their feet over making decisions on awarding them that Bonnyrigg didn't even know if they would be promoted or not before the round robin.

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10 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Much of that explanation just doesn't make sense, IMO.

Saying it is necessary to maintain standards does not take in to account that the criteria was altered midseason with no notice, that a mechanism for derogation exists, and (most importantly) that Bonnyrigg will have the new standard in place imminently anyway. Meanwhile a substantial number of existing clubs - in the Lowland League and Scottish Cup - will not be complying any time soon.

Saying it is too close to next season to alter course is only because SFA put off making a decision for months. It's also illogical because playoffs higher up don't finish until tomorrow or actually next weekend in the case of the Scottish Premiership. Were it not for the fact Berwick took a tanking last week the Lowland League couldn't even know how many clubs it had until tomorrow evening.

Saying it is necessary for Scottish Cup replays seems to miss the fact that up to and including R3 such replays take place the following Saturday... it's very rare for unlit non-league sides to get to R4 or beyond. Citing the fact an unnamed club reached R5 this season and would have had to replay midweek conveniently side-steps the fact it was Auchinleck, who entered as a qualifier, and will do so again next season. Other qualifiers and at least half-a-dozen members will also be participating.

Saying it's necessary for Scottish Cup TV ties only applies to any being shown on Friday nights. There will also be a substantial number of existing clubs and qualifiers without floodlights. BBC showed a tie at unlit Auchinleck only 4 months ago. If a club hasn't lights, and BBC want a Friday night tie, they just won't pick a club without lights? If not... what if it's Whitehill v Bonnyrigg?

It is also concerning any process operates with "no appeal route". That is very undesirable.

What Hibee said. What a shambles. 

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Couldn’t any clubs without floodlights hire them if needed for a Friday night? We’re not re inventing the wheel here.

Stop with ‘helpful’ suggestions. Maxwell has made his mind up no amount of logic or ethics is going to change that.
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2 minutes ago, BS7 said:

Couldn’t any clubs without floodlights hire them if needed for a Friday night? We’re not re inventing the wheel here.

Correct.it was accepted a couple of seasons ago.it was to bring our existing lights up to standard though.

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Every point raised by Maxwell in that response can be refuted and easily resolved. The leadership in the SFA are beyond incompetent. Its fairly obvious the SFA knew the outcome of the license decision before their meeting with the EOS in April and just strung them along.


It’s a fucking joke. All Bonnyrigg should have had to do is say to the SFA: Look we have arranged/agreed a temporary ground-share with *insert club* who have floodlights, should we be given a tie that requires them. This will give us the time to install ours which we expect will be done by *insert date*.

SFA are a bunch of inept, sponging, self-serving clowns. It’s a pity this couldn’t go higher than the SFA to another governing body or the like who could come in and audit the SFA’s auditing, which would no doubt tear them up for arse-paper and show them up to be totally incompetent and unfit for purpose.
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Saying it's necessary for Scottish Cup TV ties only applies to any being shown on Friday nights. There will also be a substantial number of existing clubs and qualifiers without floodlights. BBC showed a tie at unlit Auchinleck only 4 months ago. If a club hasn't lights, and BBC want a Friday night tie, they just won't pick a club without lights? If not... what if it's Whitehill v Bonnyrigg?


Here's hoping Whitehill have to borrow Bonnyriggs ground to play their Scottish Cup 1st round tie that the BBC want to show on a Friday night!
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39 minutes ago, 8MileBU said:

 


It’s a fucking joke. All Bonnyrigg should have had to do is say to the SFA: Look we have arranged/agreed a temporary ground-share with *insert club* who have floodlights, should we be given a tie that requires them. This will give us the time to install ours which we expect will be done by *insert date*.

SFA are a bunch of inept, sponging, self-serving clowns. It’s a pity this couldn’t go higher than the SFA to another governing body or the like who could come in and audit the SFA’s auditing, which would no doubt tear them up for arse-paper and show them up to be totally incompetent and unfit for purpose.

 

Yes indeed.   Who is going to execute the executioner?

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