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Lowland League 2020/21 General Chat


FairWeatherFan

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I'm not saying there was a vote. I just don't remember part time clubs being particularly against colt involvement in the CC more than full time clubs. My point about voting was a general point about the SPFL. Nothing can really get through without the support of the majority of PT clubs.

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On 30/04/2021 at 13:00, LongTimeLurker said:

The main problem with a Brechin and the SPFL board were in cahoots all the way through narrative is why Brechin City would have needed to send the letter after Ken Ferguson had already stepped down that got leaked and reported about in depth by STV and the Daily Record:

I seriously doubt that most full-time clubs care in the slightest whether Brechin City are in the SPFL next season or not. The interests of the full-time clubs will tend to dominate in SPFL board terms. Having colt teams in the Challenge Cup being an example of how the full-time clubs can set the tune in a way that lower division clubs and their fans are not keen on. Looks to me more like it took an immense amount of lobbying behind the scenes by Brechin and Cowdenbeath to push things to arbitration rather than it being something that was carefully choreographed all the way through by Ken Ferguson and the SPFL board.

I must have dozed off while we were doing this immense amount of lobbying and missed it.  Colt teams in essence was a simple trade off for the enhanced structure and financial rewards of the Betfred Cup - there was no full time clubs setting the tune.  Your conjecture radar seems way off

Edited by Cowden Cowboy
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1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

I was just imagining Donald Findlay's various media appearances then? 

The media phones him up or sees him at a game and asks for his opinion.  That’s how that works - it’s the media that is driving that 

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On 29/04/2021 at 15:40, LongTimeLurker said:

We'll probably never hear all the gory details but Brechin City may well have burned the bridges that they needed to keep intact to have any hope of winding up in the LL catchment in future with what happened last year on the playoff. They had a legally valid get out of jail card due to the lockdown last year but using it and not volunteering to participate in a delayed set of playoffs through a spirit of Corinthian fair play severely antagonised at least one and probably both of the tier 5 leagues.

Longtime, I agree with a lot you have said regarding Brechin but Brechin never had any hope of going to the Lowland league as their location makes them a Highland league outfit and if relegated then that's where they go.  I will say, yeah 100% agree with the chairman's comments the previous season even if they applied to the LL I would hazard a guess and think that not one team in the LL would vote for Brechins inclusion.   Brechin looks like being club 42, why, because they deserve to be there due to their points total in the league, does that mean the club have been mismanaged in terms of trying to be at the other end of the table, yeah probably, others will know more than me in regards to that but again, Brechin deservedly are the bottom team due to league results.

The club was always going to protest about the HL and the LL but at the end of the day, Brechin do not have any control over the LL and HL as they cannot vote on them except vote with the SPFL 2 clubs to stop relegation etc..   They have certainly burned their bridges and any neutral who is following all of this I would expect they think Brechin's committee are desperate and only thinking of staying in the SPFL2 and don't give a feck about the process of the Pyramid.

I will say, this is probably more important for Brechin to win the playoff why, not just the relegation but dropping into the HL, they will lose players as ive read that a lot fo the players are Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow based, (someone please confirm) and if this is true most will think, (feck travelling to the Highland league for games and get a feeling Brechin coudl be in it for a number of years.

regarding the playoff, if any SPFL2 team who is in the playoff then this year is their best chance of winning, why as they are all match fit while Brora and Kelty are not so if the winners of the HL/ LL playoff beat Brechin then they most certainly deserve everything that comes their way but if they win, then well done to them

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3 minutes ago, bluearmyfaction said:

Would it be ungalant of me to suggest that Brechin, should they get relegated, have more of a chance of coming back via the Highland rather than the Lowland League?

Undoubtedly. 

But the point is moot because they simply could not be admitted to the LL in any case.

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Brechin City lobbied very hard behind the scenes last season for the Tay Bridge line of latitude Club 42 boundary rule to be axed and credible sources (including George Fraser AFAIR) have told us that the SPFL board even threatened to remove League and Challenge Cup participation from LL clubs in future if the LL did not comply. Ken Ferguson was no doubt using his SPFL board membership at that point to push a Brechin City agenda.

The LL voted against a Club 42 playoff rule change at their 2020 AGM. I was speculating above that last season's playoff saga definitively burned some very important bridges at the point. A Club 42 boundary shift isn't even on the radar as an issue now and the Highland League has actively moved towards having a tier 6 Midland League feeder that would have Brechin Vics as one of its members.

Brechin City posters on P&B have generally been sensible in their posts but it's difficult not to be very much hoping that their club winds up in the HL after the playoffs and becomes intimately acquainted with the Midland League in the years ahead after all of Ken Ferguson's shenanigans. Many seasons revolving around away games against East Craigie and Coupar Angus would help pay off the Karmic debts that have accumulated.

Edited by LongTimeLurker
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1 hour ago, bluearmyfaction said:

Would it be ungalant of me to suggest that Brechin, should they get relegated, have more of a chance of coming back via the Highland rather than the Lowland League?

Easier to reach the play offs, yeah, but ultimately they'll still have to beat whatever comes out of the LL if they are to make it back. 

Not likely that they will do that, for a very long time. Maybe why Ken is trying everything right now to prevent it coming to that.

1 hour ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

Undoubtedly. 

But the point is moot because they simply could not be admitted to the LL in any case.

Where else to discuss a moot point than on a forum.

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1 minute ago, theboke said:

Easier to reach the play offs, yeah, but ultimately they'll still have to beat whatever comes out of the LL if they are to make it back. 

Not likely that they will do that, for a very long time. Maybe why Ken is trying everything right now to prevent it coming to that.

Where else to discuss a moot point than on a forum.

Do you understand what a moot point is?

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2 hours ago, Bestsinceslicebread said:

 I will say, this is probably more important for Brechin to win the playoff why, not just the relegation but dropping into the HL, they will lose players as ive read that a lot fo the players are Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow based, (someone please confirm) and if this is true most will think, (feck travelling to the Highland league for games and get a feeling Brechin coudl be in it for a number of years.

And how much of a loss would those players be?

Brechin's strategy of recruiting players from the central belt has hardly been a success. Time for a rethink, prehaps?

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6 hours ago, Stag Nation said:

And how much of a loss would those players be? (a)

Brechin's strategy of recruiting players from the central belt has hardly been a success. Time for a rethink, prehaps?  (b)

(a) none of us will know as the right manager might be able to get more from those lads

 

(b) you maybe right, I haven't seen enough of Brechin to make my mind up. I remember reading a few places where it stated most of Brechin's playing staff came from.
One thing for sure, the club needs a rethink even if they avoid getting beat in the playoffs

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George Fraser was recently on the (last ever) Scottish Football Marketing Podcast: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football-development/club-services/developing-your-club/scottish-football-marketing-podcast/lowland-league/

Talking about ventilation in the pyramid, thought the telling quote was "maybe we as a league have to recognise that we have to do something and be proactive" - hopefully that means the LL finally realise they can't keep moaning about the SPFL not opening up the pyramid if they don't do the same. Has to be 2 down in a 16 team league.

Fortunately if Brechin go down later this month then it's unlikely a HL team will be club 42 next season, which means the bottom LL club won't escape relegation.

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21 minutes ago, energyzone said:

When is the AGM?

No idea but it's usually mid-end May, and the rules say between 15th May - 30th June. I would assume they'd wait until after the L2 play-offs at least, but not too much longer given the 17th July proposed season start date.

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16 hours ago, Ginaro said:

George Fraser was recently on the (last ever) Scottish Football Marketing Podcast: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football-development/club-services/developing-your-club/scottish-football-marketing-podcast/lowland-league/

Talking about ventilation in the pyramid, thought the telling quote was "maybe we as a league have to recognise that we have to do something and be proactive" - hopefully that means the LL finally realise they can't keep moaning about the SPFL not opening up the pyramid if they don't do the same. Has to be 2 down in a 16 team league.

Fortunately if Brechin go down later this month then it's unlikely a HL team will be club 42 next season, which means the bottom LL club won't escape relegation.

Even 2 in a 16 team league isn't enough. Get 3 or 4 down.

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