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East Region Juniors


ballermk

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13 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

To paraphase Dave Baikie of Tayport on a recent podcast:

"...the Highland League dinnae want them, the East of Scotland League dinnae want them..."

Applications can be made in either direction by either the clubs or league in a Tayside context but it is as clear as mud what the outcome would be because other league memberships get to vote on these issues as well who will have their own selfish self-interest agendas.

Who in the very same interview said he wasn't involved with it and doesn't know what's going on. 

As a quote Its up there in the credibility stakes as the long standing Glasgow Perthshire manager talking about midweek trips to Elgin. 

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Those of us that regularly visit P&B pick up certain vibes and I can now see a very interesting scenario developing which relates to the East Region clubs and the way that the WOSFL / EOSFL boundary issue is handled.

The EOSFL in my view has always been a very progressive league and has allowed clubs outwith its main catchment area to participate in the league. We have seen clubs from the South of Scotland play in the EOSFL including Annan Athletic, Dalbeattie Star, Threave Rovers and Gretna 2008. We have recently seen a place offered to Clydebank that was not taken up. The administrative boundaries of the league has remained flexible which allowed such moves.

A situation has arisen in the context of the West Lothian clubs where the EOSFL boundary would not be flexible but would be fixed. This would represent a major shift in policy. There would appear to be two options that can be followed:


Fixed Boundary:

This would define the WOSFL/ EOSFL boundary. The expectation is that West Lothian would be within the EOSFL catchment area. Justification would be on the basis of history using the same boundary that defined the West Region and East Region of the Junior grade. Clubs like Armadale Thistle, Bathgate Thistle, Fauldhouse United, Livingston United, Pumpherston Juniors, Stoneyburn Juniors, West Calder United and Whitburn Juniors would all be included in the administrative area of the EOSFL. Harthill Royal might be treated as an exception / anomaly given their geographical position.

At the same time the Tayside / EOSFL boundary would also need to be fixed for Tier 6 and below. The delineation of the boundary using the existing LL / HL Tay definition would allow Scone Thistle and Tayport to join the EOSFL. The rest of the 15 Tayside clubs that are located north of the Tay boundary would be outwith the EOSFL administrative area and would not qualify for inclusion in the East of Scotland under any circumstances.

If the above boundaries are being sorted out it will also become necessary to address the EOSFL /  SOSFL boundary and the WOSFL/ SOSFL boundary in order to ensure a consistent approach. This is where the Fixed Boundary position becomes more confusing and possibly could hamper the future development and progression of clubs that fall within the SOSFL administrative area.


Flexible Boundary:

This approach enables clubs to choose what league they prefer to participate in and their acceptance would be dependent on the votes cast by existing members.

This approach would mean that the West Lothian clubs can apply to either the EOSFL or WOSFL (or for that matter the SOSFL).

The approach would provide a “mix and match” formula that avoids hard boundaries. The approach may sound a little odd but has been consistently followed by the EOSFL and SOSFL.

The approach would mean that the Tay boundary can be challenged by the the 15 Tayside clubs north of the Tay who can make a case either as a group or individually for membership of the EOSFL.


The Crossroads:

I believe that we are currently in a fascinating position witnessing the latest episode how Non League / Semi-Professional football is going to evolve over the next couple of months.

1. If Fixed Boundaries are established we are likely to see the West Lothian clubs participating in the EOSFL along with possibly Scone Thistle and Tayport. The 15 Tayside clubs north of the Tay will be excluded. The administrative area of the EOSFL will of course need to be subject to the final approval of member clubs. I suppose that ratification would also be necessary by the WOSFL and SOSFL for their respective administrative areas.

2. If Flexible Boundaries are retained it will enable the West Lothian clubs to apply (successfully?) to the WOSFL. It also opens the doors for the 17 Tayside clubs to apply as a group and individually to join the EOSFL. Such a movement of clubs would of course be dependent on the willingness of the existing membership to accept the influx. 

3. The inclusion of the Tayside clubs is a challenging issue that brings both positive and negative aspects. It also introduces the need for regionalisation rather than a “tower“ pyramid.

4. In my book if the West Lothian clubs are allowed to join the WOSFL there is every justification for the Tayside clubs to make a case for inclusion within the the EOSFL in order to avoid being left in the equivalent of the “badlands” which Senior football is reluctant to settle.


NB: I hope that I have interpreted the “smoke signals” correctly!

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31 minutes ago, Junior_Arab said:

Heard on the grapevine today that the sjfa had decided to scrap this season and start up again in the summer. Can anyone confirm or deny that rumour? 

I've heard the rumour too, but nothing has been confirmed yet. It kinda makes sense though, there is no promotion/relegation to other leagues to take into account, about the only advantage of not being in the pyramid...

Just scrap this season and if possible start early July for next season. That sounds good to me. :) 

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50 minutes ago, Junior_Arab said:

Heard on the grapevine today that the sjfa had decided to scrap this season and start up again in the summer. Can anyone confirm or deny that rumour? 

No idea if it's true but this season is basically meaningless - no time for the Junior Cup and results in the leagues won't have any affect on next season (West Lothian going senior, North going back to their previous division) - so it wouldn't surprise me.

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15 hours ago, Ginaro said:

No idea if it's true but this season is basically meaningless - no time for the Junior Cup and results in the leagues won't have any affect on next season (West Lothian going senior, North going back to their previous division) - so it wouldn't surprise me.

I must have missed that about the north, so what's happening there?

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4 minutes ago, Marten said:

I must have missed that about the north, so what's happening there?

They split into regionalised groups to minimise travel without changing rooms - presumably they will return to the same divisions as before when things go back to normal, so this season won't have any affect. https://northregion-jfa.pitchero.com/nrjfa-looking-to-restart-on-21st-november-64289

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1 hour ago, Ginaro said:

They split into regionalised groups to minimise travel without changing rooms - presumably they will return to the same divisions as before when things go back to normal, so this season won't have any affect. https://northregion-jfa.pitchero.com/nrjfa-looking-to-restart-on-21st-november-64289

Ah, thanks, I get what you mean. :) 

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On 05/08/2020 at 11:31, ballermk said:

Looking forward to taking in as many junior games in the region as possible .

So many good non league junior clubs in the region with great history with fine people involved thankfully away from the utter shambles and laughing stock that is senior football .

A breath of fresh air .

Good luck to all here's to a great junior season whenever it begins. 

 

 

How is that going for you pal?

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1 hour ago, LoonsYouthTeam said:

Don't know if this has been posted before but that's Forfar West End applying to join the East of Scotland league. Will many other East Juniors be doing the same?

Remaining Lothian junior clubs in majority have either applied or strongly rumoured to be applying to East of Scotland League, with a few unkown. Harthill have applied to West of Scotland League.

It's unclear what's going on in Tayside as there's conflicting opinions around regulations, particularly in terms of if clubs north of the Tay are eligible for promotion to the Lowland League, given clubs coming down from League 2 in the area would go to the Highland League.

Problem is there's no defined route info the senior pyramid for most Tayside clubs other than the Highland League at the moment. It will be interesting to see what happens with Forfar WE's application. At least it might spur on a resolution.

There's a whole thread on this in the East of Scotland League forum if you can stomach it.

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8 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

Remaining Lothian junior clubs in majority have either applied or strongly rumoured to be applying to East of Scotland League, with a few unkown. Harthill have applied to West of Scotland League.

It's unclear what's going on in Tayside as there's conflicting opinions around regulations, particularly in terms of if clubs north of the Tay are eligible for promotion to the Lowland League, given clubs coming down from League 2 in the area would go to the Highland League.

Problem is there's no defined route info the senior pyramid for most Tayside clubs other than the Highland League at the moment. It will be interesting to see what happens with Forfar WE's application. At least it might spur on a resolution.

There's a whole thread on this in the East of Scotland League forum if you can stomach it.

Of all the tayside juniors you’d have thought West End (and Forfar United & Brechin too) were best placed to join the Highland rather than Lowland set up, but of course there’s no actual way to do that presently. Maybe this is just to test the waters and set the ball rolling and see what response they get? 

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Following today’s update from the Scottish Government stating that adult contact training/football will not be allowed until 17th May 2021, the management committee of the Scottish Junior FA have decided to end season 2020/2021 and declare all competitions null & void.

We can now set our sights on moving forward and hopefully welcoming fans back at some point in the new season.

This decision gives us all some clarity and the opportunity to look at starting next season a bit earlier than normal. Further details will be announced in due course.

Please continue to follow the Scottish Government guidelines and Stay Safe.

 

Alex McDowall

Chief Operating Officer

 

Scottish Junior FA

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sensible decision imo, start the new season earlier providing that's possible, also based on the SG information yesterday, games can have attendances again from June, so with an early start you basically play as soon as fans are allowed again which is a big plus.

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15 hours ago, Junior_Arab said:

Of all the tayside juniors you’d have thought West End (and Forfar United & Brechin too) were best placed to join the Highland rather than Lowland set up, but of course there’s no actual way to do that presently. Maybe this is just to test the waters and set the ball rolling and see what response they get? 

Is that really the case? AFAIK there is nothing to stop any of those clyubs applying to join the HL.

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1 hour ago, Stag Nation said:

Is that really the case? AFAIK there is nothing to stop any of those clyubs applying to join the HL.

Well they could perhaps apply to directly join the HL but they’d be as well applying to join Serie A - they’d never be accepted straight in. 
 

As the tweet above shows, there are currently no feeders you could join with the intention of winning promotion to the HL. That’s what I mean by suggesting that this may only be an opening gambit by West End exploring their only possible route into the pyramid at present.
 

If they apply to the EOS/LL and get accepted then great. But if they apply and get knocked back then they can go to the SFA and ask them where they go from there which might lead to a bit of pressure to open up the HL route. 

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7 minutes ago, Junior_Arab said:

Well they could perhaps apply to directly join the HL but they’d be as well applying to join Serie A - they’d never be accepted straight in. 
 

As the tweet above shows, there are currently no feeders you could join with the intention of winning promotion to the HL. That’s what I mean by suggesting that this may only be an opening gambit by West End exploring their only possible route into the pyramid at present.
 

If they apply to the EOS/LL and get accepted then great. But if they apply and get knocked back then they can go to the SFA and ask them where they go from there which might lead to a bit of pressure to open up the HL route. 

There is nothing to stop them and any other clubs interested in joining the pyramid to go to the Highland League and engage with them directly. It was once the Lowland League had been contacted by West Region clubs that a WoSFL got off the ground.

Going by what the likes of Forfar WE have said on their tweets and Tayport's chairman said on a podcast any talks that are going on don't involve them directly. Which means they're dealing with everything second hand.

 

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