FairWeatherFan Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 3 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said: How far off are the NCL champions likely to be from the Midland and Grampian champions? Hopefully it'll turn out to be like that mental EoS three-way play off a couple of seasons ago and not a "we missed out on goal difference because we took it easy against Zaire" situation. Going by Golspie's performances in the Scottish Cup and other NCL teams in the North of Scotland Cup, the NCL champion shouldn't be much of a problem for the North & Midlands. They're in the same sort of situation as the South of Scotland Champion in the Lowland League Play-off. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 BoD doing what BoD do,smashing everything in sight......,latest victims are Montrose Roselea....6-1 Defo that Lochee Utd look like BoD's main threat but they have to get a SFA license first,the clock is ticking......... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbigal Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Has the Highland league never been told by the beaks that it should be 16 teams ? Pretty sure this was a directive to the LL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marten Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 17 minutes ago, Whitburn Vale said: BoD doing what BoD do,smashing everything in sight......,latest victims are Montrose Roselea....6-1 Defo that Lochee Utd look like BoD's main threat but they have to get a SFA license first,the clock is ticking......... I went to the Montrose Roselea v BoD game at Broomfield Park. Before the 100 or so in attendance have all found a place to watch the game from it was already 0-2, it was all too quick and easy. After about 35 minutes it was 0-6, shortly before HT Roselea scored a consolation goal. The second half BoD firmly took their foot off the gas and nothing much happened. It was just too easy for them. As a comparison to Lochee United it's difficult to say something because the difference between the 2 sides was just too big. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 29 minutes ago, superbigal said: Has the Highland league never been told by the beaks that it should be 16 teams ? Pretty sure this was a directive to the LL Nope, original plan was 10 team Highland and Lowland leagues. That would have cut adrift 8 teams if no one else was interested, so the Highland kept a united front. The Highland already had floodlights as a requirement, while that only became demanded of the Lowland with the change to licencing. The pressure has been more internal to meet the SPFL Play-off deadline which is why there was the couple of attempts at splitting into divisions. With the new Highland League Play-off in place it's looking like they're set on 18 forever now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 2 hours ago, DiegoDiego said: How far off are the NCL champions likely to be from the Midland and Grampian champions? Hopefully it'll turn out to be like that mental EoS three-way play off a couple of seasons ago and not a "we missed out on goal difference because we took it easy against Zaire" situation. I would assume it will be the same format as the EoS/WoS/SoS play-off where they have a penalty shootout at the end of any draws in case it's needed as a potential tiebreaker. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tellyboy Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 20 minutes ago, Marten said: I went to the Montrose Roselea v BoD game at Broomfield Park. Before the 100 or so in attendance have all found a place to watch the game from it was already 0-2, it was all too quick and easy. After about 35 minutes it was 0-6, shortly before HT Roselea scored a consolation goal. The second half BoD firmly took their foot off the gas and nothing much happened. It was just too easy for them. As a comparison to Lochee United it's difficult to say something because the difference between the 2 sides was just too big. That is a fair assesment but it was 4-1 at one point. BoD were 2-0 up in 4 minutes but deservedly so as they started like a rocket and never let up the whole first half and could have been more come half time. Whether Roselea upped their game or BoD took their foot off the pedal is hard to tell but they will take some beating that is for sure. They seemingly had 5 players who may have started missing as well so a strong squad and rumour has it they are in the hunt to sign a striker from a SPL Div 1 side so will be strong all round. Biggest question will not be will they win the Title and compete with any Midland club in a play off but will they want to go up? They never give much away and most of their squad are probably there as dont want the Highland League travel and also nice to win trophies. You can only hold them back so long though and when you see the power that they have compared to the likes of Fort Wllliam it must be a consideration. The draw might be the Senior Scottish Cup but maybe they dont need that either? Sometimes you just have to appaud what the oppositon do to you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginaro Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 39 minutes ago, tellyboy said: Biggest question will not be will they win the Title and compete with any Midland club in a play off but will they want to go up? They never give much away and most of their squad are probably there as dont want the Highland League travel and also nice to win trophies. You can only hold them back so long though and when you see the power that they have compared to the likes of Fort Wllliam it must be a consideration. The draw might be the Senior Scottish Cup but maybe they dont need that either? Sometimes you just have to appaud what the oppositon do to you! Well if BoD go up then it probably means FW will have come down, so that's one less long away trip. The following year it's likely a Midlands club will replace the bottom HL club, so that's another shorter journey added, etc. HL would mean entering the Scottish Cup one round later. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marten Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 50 minutes ago, tellyboy said: That is a fair assesment but it was 4-1 at one point. BoD were 2-0 up in 4 minutes but deservedly so as they started like a rocket and never let up the whole first half and could have been more come half time. Whether Roselea upped their game or BoD took their foot off the pedal is hard to tell but they will take some beating that is for sure. They seemingly had 5 players who may have started missing as well so a strong squad and rumour has it they are in the hunt to sign a striker from a SPL Div 1 side so will be strong all round. Biggest question will not be will they win the Title and compete with any Midland club in a play off but will they want to go up? They never give much away and most of their squad are probably there as dont want the Highland League travel and also nice to win trophies. You can only hold them back so long though and when you see the power that they have compared to the likes of Fort Wllliam it must be a consideration. The draw might be the Senior Scottish Cup but maybe they dont need that either? Sometimes you just have to appaud what the oppositon do to you! Yeah, you're right, it was 4-0 then 4-1, got the order mixed up! A few individual errors cost Roselea too, that didn't happen in the second half. I haven't seen either team play before so for me the impression was that BoD took their foot off the pedal. And they could very well have, but I should have added that Roselea were better in the second half too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 4 hours ago, DiegoDiego said: How far off are the NCL champions likely to be from the Midland and Grampian champions? Hopefully it'll turn out to be like that mental EoS three-way play off a couple of seasons ago and not a "we missed out on goal difference because we took it easy against Zaire" situation. They'll be miles off them IMO. The NCL is a glorified amateur league really in terms of quality. BoD and the winners of the ML will swat aside he NCL winners with ease. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsimButtHitsASix Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, DiegoDiego said: How far off are the NCL champions likely to be from the Midland and Grampian champions? Hopefully it'll turn out to be like that mental EoS three-way play off a couple of seasons ago and not a "we missed out on goal difference because we took it easy against Zaire" situation. In their last four Scottish Cup appearances Golspie have lost twice to Banks O'Dee 2-0 and 4-0. Now maybe BoD had the cigars out before the match even started but those results are pretty much what BoD get in league competition. NCL looks like a good fit for some of the weaker Highland League teams so the standard will improve and the standard in NRJ/Midland leagues will drops as their better teams make it to the HL. The best teams in the NCL might be a bit behind the best ex-Junior teams but, I dunno, in five years time the play off might be something like Clach v Forfar WE v Hall Russell United and I think there'll be decent parity between teams/leagues Edited July 28, 2021 by AsimButtHitsASix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert James Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 On 28/07/2021 at 20:10, AsimButtHitsASix said: In their last four Scottish Cup appearances Golspie have lost twice to Banks O'Dee 2-0 and 4-0. Now maybe BoD had the cigars out before the match even started but those results are pretty much what BoD get in league competition. NCL looks like a good fit for some of the weaker Highland League teams so the standard will improve and the standard in NRJ/Midland leagues will drops as their better teams make it to the HL. The best teams in the NCL might be a bit behind the best ex-Junior teams but, I dunno, in five years time the play off might be something like Clach v Forfar WE v Hall Russell United and I think there'll be decent parity between teams/leagues I agree with your view. The top 4 or 5 NCL clubs are stronger than many of the lower ex junior North clubs, and have better support. Inverness Athletic, Thurso and Orkney for example, have a 'catchment area' population that is higher than many of the HFL clubs, so there is some potential. However, there is a problem with facilities, which will hold ambitious NCL clubs back, in the short to medium term. Pyramid status will over time, shake up the current status quo, between the HFL, and all 3 of the Tier 6 leagues. It promises to be very interesting. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 On 28/07/2021 at 13:04, superbigal said: Has the Highland league never been told by the beaks that it should be 16 teams ? Pretty sure this was a directive to the LL Yes that was the plan at one point and it may even have been as low as 10 clubs in the Gordon Smith era, but eventually Stewart Regan & co stopped pushing that and let them do their own thing on the league size issue and the possibility of ever having tier 6 feeder leagues to help persuade them to clamber on board. Getting to where things are now has involved a major sea change of opinion amongst HL member clubs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbigal Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Yes that was the plan at one point and it may even have been as low as 10 clubs in the Gordon Smith era, but eventually Stewart Regan & co stopped pushing that and let them do their own thing on the league size issue and the possibility of ever having tier 6 feeder leagues to help persuade them to clamber on board. Getting to where things are now has involved a major sea change of opinion amongst HL member clubs.I'm pretty sure all leagues in the pyramid were told to not exceed 16. Think covid causing temporary problems in both the new wosfl and as the eosfl tries to establish its full ongoing structure. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclizine Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, superbigal said: 2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said: Yes that was the plan at one point and it may even have been as low as 10 clubs in the Gordon Smith era, but eventually Stewart Regan & co stopped pushing that and let them do their own thing on the league size issue and the possibility of ever having tier 6 feeder leagues to help persuade them to clamber on board. Getting to where things are now has involved a major sea change of opinion amongst HL member clubs. I'm pretty sure all leagues in the pyramid were told to not exceed 16. Think covid causing temporary problems in both the new wosfl and as the eosfl tries to establish its full ongoing structure. I thinkthe sixteen maximum rumour is just that, a rumour. It's only ever been on here that it's been mentioned - it was a target to reach for the Lowland League, 16 clubs being the number that gives you a reasonable length of league season. With floodlights, there's no reason clubs shouldn't be able to complete 34 rounds of fixtures, unless you have a pitch like Claggan Park, that is. Edited July 31, 2021 by Cyclizine 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 25 minutes ago, Cyclizine said: I thinkthe sixteen maximum rumour is just that, a rumour. It's only ever been on here that it's been mentioned - it was a target to reach for the Lowland League, 16 clubs being the number that gives you a reasonable length of league season. With floodlights, there's no reason clubs shouldn't be able to complete 34 rounds of fixtures, unless you have a pitch like Claggan Park, that is. 16 has never been mentioned for the Highland League, Highland Regional Division, or any other version the SFA cooked up. As seen by the creation of the Highland Pyramid play-off the Highland League looks set to be an 18 team league from now on as a minimum. Most of the 16 league stuff comes from the creation of the LL and lack of floodlights that existed at the time. Then all the Conference permuations that saw the SFA react against anything other than 16 at Tier 6. A large part of it probably boils down to the SFA trying to minimise the commitments of their JPP. Which is a point they referenced multiple times during the PWG meetings. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 Of course, a sixteen team league structure can be cast aside if two clubs decide they want in. As long as those clubs aren't the deserving Jeanfield and Tranent but a ramshackle collection of bodies not talented enough to be loaned out to East Fife. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Inverness Athletic are no longer playing at Muir of Ord. No word on where they are going to play this season. https://invernessathleticfc.co.uk/news_article.php?id=514 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said: Inverness Athletic are no longer playing at Muir of Ord. No word on where they are going to play this season. https://invernessathleticfc.co.uk/news_article.php?id=514 Probably back to the Academy by ASDA, and Loch Ness still renting Canal Park and playing Friday nights when there's rugby on? Inverness is really shit for intermediary clubs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Athletic are moving to Ardersier. I know that pitch is well used by welfare teams in the summer, so I assume they have decent enough facilities. https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/inverness-football-club-announce-they-are-moving-to-ardersie-246439/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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