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2021-22 Highland League Chat


Ray Patterson

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15 minutes ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said:

There are yellow and amber weather warnings galore for wind on Friday and Saturday, so I wouldn't be surprised to see all matches postponed in the HL.

Saturday's not too bad for Inverness, hopeful for the Clach game.

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"Licensed" Banks o Dee on course for a free swing of the bat come the play-offs possibly ??

NCL......"Unlicensed" Loch Ness top and by a fair margin from licensed Golspie Sutherland 

NRJFA......."Unlicensed" Culter top but licensed BoD not far behind with plenty of games in hand.

Midlands....."Unlicensed" Dundee East Craigie top with a few in the chasing pack who are actively chasing a licence.

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1 minute ago, TheScarf said:

The pyramid is all well and good but we need more clubs getting licensed for it to have any point.  Most of the NCL play on public parks or high school 4G pitches.

Everyone in the North has basically been denied the opportunity to get licensed for the last several years due to sitting outside the pyramid. This is really year one for a lot of clubs in having SFA membership as an aim.

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1 minute ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Everyone in the North has basically been denied the opportunity to get licensed for the last several years due to sitting outside the pyramid. This is really year one for a lot of clubs in having SFA membership as an aim.

It hasn't stopped Golspie.  I know the ground requirement is only part of what you need to obtain one, but how are the clubs who play on said public parks and in high schools ever going to play in the HL?  They can't ground share with Clach/Brora/Wick forever.

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3 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

It hasn't stopped Golspie.  I know the ground requirement is only part of what you need to obtain one, but how are the clubs who play on said public parks and in high schools ever going to play in the HL?  They can't ground share with Clach/Brora/Wick forever.

Golspie Sutherland are a historical member of the SFA predating licencing they've been able to plug away at keeping up with licencing requirements. While new applicants would have to meet those requirements from the initial application. Banks O'Dee were the one new applicant from the North to apply once licencing became a thing and before a commitment to the pyramid stipulation was introduced.

The NCL represents the only senior league that really covers the Highlands. Being a single division it represents a significant amount of diversity in the levels that the clubs operate under. It's not the aim of every single team to reach the Highland League.

Tain St Duthus have had a rep mention licencing is a long term aim of their club on FitbaNorth in the past. Halkirk United are a club  that have floated ambitions of entering the HL in the past. The traditional NCL teams are going to see some clubs get licenced over the next few years. Being part of the pyramid, the Tier 6 Playoff, and hopefully now a qualifying spot to the Scottish Cup for a non-licenced champion will see those clubs start to think about it.

 

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26 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

It hasn't stopped Golspie.  I know the ground requirement is only part of what you need to obtain one, but how are the clubs who play on said public parks and in high schools ever going to play in the HL?  They can't ground share with Clach/Brora/Wick forever.

Fort William managed.

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1 hour ago, TheScarf said:

It hasn't stopped Golspie.  I know the ground requirement is only part of what you need to obtain one, but how are the clubs who play on said public parks and in high schools ever going to play in the HL?  They can't ground share with Clach/Brora/Wick forever.

...they are not is the probable answer. Just as many smaller clubs in the SoS, EoS, WoS, Midlands and north region will probably never get around to doing licensing either given it's likely to be a moving target with extra hurdles like covered seating being added over time like floodlights were. If Tayside hadn't crashed the party at the very last minute nothing much was likely to happen any time soon in HL terms beyond Fort William getting replaced by BoD. Maybe another top north region club would find a way to do it in the next five years or so or Golspie would win a playoff but that's about it.

Edited by LongTimeLurker
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