Lowland League 2020/21 General Chat

[FairWeatherFan]

5 minutes ago, Dev said:

Yes. I am aware of this stuff but he is also in a decent position to know if there are going to be any relaxations of the current football restrictions re covid.

It's because you threw in the bit about getting Tier 5 back up and running to allow for a play-off. When he's actively trying to prevent the play-off happening this year.

[Dev]

From superbigal on the coronavirus thread:

Daily Cases Update:   Another slight rise while the rest of the UK declines !  Clackmannanshire is off limits apart from Bible holding Rangers supporters.  Only Falkirk of the top 5 showing any sign of declines.

Very little  movement apart from the crossover in Dunbartonshire.  No new Cigars today.

Scotland peaked at 301.9 for figures 29th Dec to 4th Jan,    Cases that day were 16,496 and test rate was 11.9%

Total Cases 7 days from 1st March to 7th March were  3,476 now 3,485 now up 0.03%. Positivity was 3.2% and still 3.2%  Cases per 100k were 63.6 now 63.8

Home Nations Daily update: England  66.0 to 62.8 down 4.85% .  Wales 46.1 to 45.2 down 1.95%  , Northern Ireland 69.7 to 65.9 down 5.45%    UK Average  65.1 to 62.2 down 4.46%

The rate of cases in Wales was huge compared to Scotland but now they are down to 63.8 per 100,000 according to superbigal and in Scotland it's also coming down but from a lower level. However, today's figures for Wales are 42/100,000 NOT 63/100,000.

In Wales all club football stopped last Spring except for five full-time clubs playing in English leagues, the Womens top two divisions, and the Cymru Premier League which has only a dozen clubs. Clearly the amount of football played has made no difference either way to the spread of covid. 

Despite this clear evidence on Scotland's door-step (let alone all the football played in England) the SG still insists that it has to be treated like the acknowledged main sources for spreading the disease which are:

Shopping,  being at home with family, "receiving personal care (whatever that is), working in Health Care, eating out, visiting friends or relatives, going to childcare, school or other educational establishment, being in Social Care or Home Care and working in education. These account for over 70% of Track and Trace situations.

Maybe if those in the above situations had been subject to the rigorous treatment which football has received the epidemic may have been significantly reduced much earlier?

The SG has these stats. It knows it's got it wrong (just check the data) but they cannot bring themselves to deal with it. Being polite about I would label it procrastination. The longer this goes on the worse it is for Scotland let alone organised outdoor activities which are subject to rigorous controls.

“Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow.”   Mark Twain

Edited March 10, 2021 by Dev
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[San Starko Rover]

No leagues below the SPFL can play at the moment.

Ah that’s not good I thought it’d be same as L1 and L2, assume there’s no proposed future start date for tiers 5 and below? It’s the HL I can’t see being able to put forward a champion even if football resumes soon as they’ve only played a handful of games so perhaps LL will just have to play SPFL 42 this season (or the HL put forward last seasons Chsmpion). We really need to get leagues to a point where teams can move up and down as stopping promotion and relegation again is not good. I’d especially hate to see it happen to Kelty again as they were shafted last season from a chance to go up. Typical we finally start to see a Pyramid taking shape and trapdoors are being shut.

[craigkillie]

It's because you threw in the bit about getting Tier 5 back up and running to allow for a play-off. When he's actively trying to prevent the play-off happening this year.

This is a bit disingenuous. The proposal mentions two clubs being promoted from the Lowland and Highland Leagues, so while it would indeed technically be preventing the play-off from going ahead, it would actually be to the benefit of the Tier 5 clubs.

[FairWeatherFan]

15 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

This is a bit disingenuous. The proposal mentions two clubs being promoted from the Lowland and Highland Leagues, so while it would indeed technically be preventing the play-off from going ahead, it would actually be to the benefit of the Tier 5 clubs.

The full context being.

On 09/03/2021 at 21:42, FairWeatherFan said:

How else can they get the 4 non-league teams to add to the OF colts for the new look 16 team SPFL2

 

On 10/03/2021 at 11:28, FairWeatherFan said:

The reason I had a joke about it is because he's on the work group put together around expanding SPFL2

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-celtic-b-plan-returns-23273437

 

 

On 10/03/2021 at 12:31, FairWeatherFan said:

It's because you threw in the bit about getting Tier 5 back up and running to allow for a play-off. When he's actively trying to prevent the play-off happening this year.

What's disengious about saying he want's Tier 5 leagues back so he can get the Colt motivated expansion of SPFL2 off the ground rather than it being to allow for the SPFL2 Play-off?

[Ginaro]

Not entirely clear but going by the news stories, it seems League Two is finishing the 18 games by Friday 23rd April, and then playing another 5 matchdays to finish on 8th May. Presumably that would mean League Two play-off on 15th and 23rd May?

Could the LL get their Kelty champion crowned by on 8th May - assuming the HL don't crown a champion - and be ready for the play-off if the government give the go-ahead without testing on 26th April?

Edited March 12, 2021 by Ginaro

[Bundesliga Boy]

16 minutes ago, Ginaro said:

Not entirely clear but going by the news stories, it seems League Two is finishing the 18 games by Tuesday 23rd April, and then playing another 5 matchdays to finish on 8th May. Presumably that would mean League Two play-off on 15th and 23rd May?

Could the LL get their Kelty champion crowned by on 8th May - assuming the HL don't crown a champion - and be ready for the play-off if the government give the go-ahead without testing on 26th April?

I took it only slightly differently. After the 18 games, I believed the proposal to be just four further games - ie top/bottom 5 split. 
 

So I thought perhaps Tue 11th and Sat 15th May would be set aside for the play off semis. The following midweek and weekend would then the play off final.

My biggest hope is that the LL get to put forward a champion in time. As you say, can’t see any scenario where the HL can do that this season.

[Ginaro]

23 minutes ago, Bundesliga Boy said:

I took it only slightly differently. After the 18 games, I believed the proposal to be just four further games - ie top/bottom 5 split. 

So I thought perhaps Tue 11th and Sat 15th May would be set aside for the play off semis. The following midweek and weekend would then the play off final.

My biggest hope is that the LL get to put forward a champion in time. As you say, can’t see any scenario where the HL can do that this season.

It would be 4 games but 5 matchdays with the odd amount of clubs 

The L2 play-off has always been played on weekends but I suppose it could be 11th/15th - end result is still the same with the 8th being the cut-off.

The top half of the LL teams  could complete their 16 games each within 10-11 days if they get the go ahead at the end of April, while the other clubs continue with perhaps less of a hectic schedule.

Bit of a headache for the fixture secretary mind you 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Ginaro

[Bayviewboy]

Looking at the players leaving Lowland League clubs - Andy Geggan BSC Glasgow, Chris Erskine and Steven Bell EK all going to Patrick on loan. Sean Brown East Stirlingshire going to East Fife. Does this suggest that the clubs know that the League won’t restart or they reckon they won’t catch Kelty ? What happens regarding play offs if League doesn’t restart ? Brechin City will be hoping the Highland and Lowland Leagues are null and void

[FairWeatherFan]

I would have thought part of it are the wishes of the players. They want the certainty of playing rather than the constant waiting. In a  lot of these cases we're not talking spring chickens with a lot of football left to play.

 

[Big Dougie]

26 minutes ago, Bayviewboy said:

Looking at the players leaving Lowland League clubs - Andy Geggan BSC Glasgow, Chris Erskine and Steven Bell EK all going to Patrick on loan. Sean Brown East Stirlingshire going to East Fife. Does this suggest that the clubs know that the League won’t restart or they reckon they won’t catch Kelty ? What happens regarding play offs if League doesn’t restart ? Brechin City will be hoping the Highland and Lowland Leagues are null and void

It makes sense to have these players out playing and training, that way they are ready to go if their parent clubs get back playing.

[Bundesliga Boy]

37 minutes ago, Bayviewboy said:

Looking at the players leaving Lowland League clubs - Andy Geggan BSC Glasgow, Chris Erskine and Steven Bell EK all going to Patrick on loan. Sean Brown East Stirlingshire going to East Fife. Does this suggest that the clubs know that the League won’t restart or they reckon they won’t catch Kelty ? What happens regarding play offs if League doesn’t restart ? Brechin City will be hoping the Highland and Lowland Leagues are null and void

The deals I’ve read in press at the time had automatic clawback to parent club if the season restarted, so I wouldn’t read too much into your theory.

As Big Dougie alludes to, makes sense for these guys to be playing and keeping fit in the meantime.

[Bundesliga Boy]

2 hours ago, Ginaro said:

It would be 4 games but 5 matchdays with the odd amount of clubs 

The L2 play-off has always been played on weekends but I suppose it could be 11th/15th - end result is still the same with the 8th being the cut-off.

The top half of the LL teams  could complete their 16 games each within 10-11 days if they get the go ahead at the end of April, while the other clubs continue with perhaps less of a hectic schedule.

Bit of a headache for the fixture secretary mind you 

Yeah absolutely LL could continue if given green light. Slightly concerning that Bo’Ness may need to cram in 6 games in about a fortnight, but with their junior heritage they will be used to playing Sat, Mon, Wed, Sat towards end of the season so perhaps as a one off,  this could be accommodated.

As you say, complete fixture headache for the Secretary lol  

[San Starko Rover]

Yeah absolutely LL could continue if given green light. Slightly concerning that Bo’Ness may need to cram in 6 games in about a fortnight, but with their junior heritage they will be used to playing Sat, Mon, Wed, Sat towards end of the season so perhaps as a one off,  this could be accommodated.
As you say, complete fixture headache for the Secretary lol [emoji13] 

Could be a bit hard on A few clubs but it’s worth it if it means the LL can crown a champion and have a crack at promotion. Last season was unfair on a lot of teams with all playoffs being binned but understandable as no one really knew what we were dealing with. Hopefully it was a one off and this season we can get back to promotion and relegation playoffs taking place even if the league seasons are shorter.

[Thom & Gerry]

On 12/03/2021 at 21:53, Bundesliga Boy said:

I took it only slightly differently. After the 18 games, I believed the proposal to be just four further games - ie top/bottom 5 split. 
 

So I thought perhaps Tue 11th and Sat 15th May would be set aside for the play off semis. The following midweek and weekend would then the play off final.

My biggest hope is that the LL get to put forward a champion in time. As you say, can’t see any scenario where the HL can do that this season.

I have heard Div 1 and 2 are talking about Sat, Tue, Thur, Sat for play offs.

[San Starko Rover]

I have heard Div 1 and 2 are talking about Sat, Tue, Thur, Sat for play offs.

Let’s just hope we don’t have this again next season. Get this season finished with promotion, relegation and playoffs and let’s put it behind us and get back to what we all love.

[Guest The Phoenix]

5 hours ago, Thom & Gerry said:

I have heard Div 1 and 2 are talking about Sat, Tue, Thur, Sat for play offs.

They're not! 

[FairWeatherFan]

https://spfl.co.uk/news/press-release-47554

Quote

• In the event that all clubs in League 2 have completed 18 fixtures by Friday 23 April, the SPFL would produce post-split fixtures for League 2. If all League 2 post-split fixtures cannot be completed by Thursday 6 May, the final standings in League 2 will be calculated on a points-per-game basis. These standings will determine which League 2 clubs are promoted and which are to take part in the League 1 / League 2 play-offs as well as any potential Highland / Lowland League play-off.

At least they aren't trying to cancel the SPFL2 play-off...yet

[Thom & Gerry]

1 hour ago, The Phoenix said:

They're not! 

They have agreed a maximum density of 4 matches in an 8 day period, if necessary ie Sat, Tue, Thur, Sat but agree not specifically for playoffs.

[Guest The Phoenix]

21 minutes ago, Thom & Gerry said:

They have agreed a maximum density of 4 matches in an 8 day period, if necessary ie Sat, Tue, Thur, Sat but agree not specifically for playoffs.

Indeed.

The Play Offs will not involve more than 2 matches in a 7 day period.