NRJFA Leagues

[welshbairn]

27 minutes ago, Ginaro said:

Fortunately there is a liaison group, as I suppose they could scrap the play-off if only BOD are eligible - especially if there's fixture congestion - as it seems a bit pointless for the three winners to play each other with no reward.

Either that or make a big end of the season finale of it, with fireworks and all sorts. Maybe they could find someone in Balmoral without an ankle tag to present the Cup!

Edited December 4, 2021 by welshbairn

[GNU_Linux]

Just the 23 goals in 4 days for the Rechabites. Culter & BOD Thistle also get in on the cricket action.

[Dev]

Apart from B o' D which clubs are thought to be even considering trying for a Licence in the next few seasons?

? Culter, Bridge of Don, Hermes, Dyce , Montrose Roselea, Stonehaven, Aberdeen University come to mind as possibles one way or another.

Any likely surprises e.g. with clubs moving in to ground share? Could clubs like those based in current HL towns go for ground sharing as it would give them better facilities, make more use of good grounds with Floodlights, get them SFA cup entry and annual licence income?

There's quite a few of them:

Colony Park, Nairn St Ninian, Deveronside, Fraserburgh United, Buchanhaven Hearts (if Peterhead considered close enough), Islavale, New Elgin plus Aberdeen clubs with B o' Dee/Cove Rangers. Just a thought.  

[tellyboy]

4 hours ago, Dev said:

Apart from B o' D which clubs are thought to be even considering trying for a Licence in the next few seasons?

? Culter, Bridge of Don, Hermes, Dyce , Montrose Roselea, Stonehaven, Aberdeen University come to mind as possibles one way or another.

Any likely surprises e.g. with clubs moving in to ground share? Could clubs like those based in current HL towns go for ground sharing as it would give them better facilities, make more use of good grounds with Floodlights, get them SFA cup entry and annual licence income?

There's quite a few of them:

Colony Park, Nairn St Ninian, Deveronside, Fraserburgh United, Buchanhaven Hearts (if Peterhead considered close enough), Islavale, New Elgin plus Aberdeen clubs with B o' Dee/Cove Rangers. Just a thought.  

Montrose Roselea would struggle to compete in a town of 12,500 with a Senior Club as they do already as being the little team. To try and go to the HL with the added travel just wouldnt make sense even though there could be some extra revenue from the HL? Not even sure what that would amount to?? Angus seems to be an anomoly in Scottish Football where you have Senior and Junior clubs on each other doorsteps. Arbroath & Brechin Vics, Forfar West End and United all competing with bigger Senior clubs. Having looked around the old Juniors there are not many if none who compete in the same way all over the country Senior and Junior wise in towns and not cities. Could be argued however that the Highland League is splattered with the same, Keith, Inverurie, Banff, Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Peterhead and Fraserburgh all in the same boat to name a few. You would struggle to have two Highland League Teams in these places. Its all about survival and you cant rely on sugar daddies. I would say that a lot of Junior clubs deserve a big pat on the back these days for even surviving as we know how hard it is when you are living in the shadow  of a bigger club.  

[Stag Nation]

4 hours ago, Dev said:

Apart from B o' D which clubs are thought to be even considering trying for a Licence in the next few seasons?

? Culter, Bridge of Don, Hermes, Dyce , Montrose Roselea, Stonehaven, Aberdeen University come to mind as possibles one way or another.

Any likely surprises e.g. with clubs moving in to ground share? Could clubs like those based in current HL towns go for ground sharing as it would give them better facilities, make more use of good grounds with Floodlights, get them SFA cup entry and annual licence income?

There’s a lot more to licensing than ground facilities.

[FairWeatherFan]

6 minutes ago, tellyboy said:

Montrose Roselea would struggle to compete in a town of 12,500 with a Senior Club as they do already as being the little team. To try and go to the HL with the added travel just wouldnt make sense even though there could be some extra revenue from the HL? 

Nobody is expecting getting to the Highland League, just the potential to pursue a SFA Licence.

Which won't necessarily be the case as there's more that goes into that than simply ground criteria, and even on the ground criteria front Roselea might not have the same access to Links Park that would allow for licencing.

[welshbairn]

3 hours ago, tellyboy said:

Montrose Roselea would struggle to compete in a town of 12,500 with a Senior Club as they do already as being the little team. To try and go to the HL with the added travel just wouldnt make sense even though there could be some extra revenue from the HL?

Did you not start off in the Northern Leagues in the West Division below the Super League? The Highland League wouldn't make that much of a difference apart from a annual trip to Wick.

[FairWeatherFan]

8 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Did you not start off in the Northern Leagues in the West Division below the Super League? The Highland League wouldn't make that much of a difference apart from a annual trip to Wick.

By the time Roselea ever get to the Highland league I reckon it would look quite different. 

[theoriginalhedge]

8 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Did you not start off in the Northern Leagues in the West Division below the Super League? The Highland League wouldn't make that much of a difference apart from a annual trip to Wick.

It's not as simple as that. Montrose FC are the community club in the town . They have linked into most of the community groups to help obtain maximum funding . As well as the youth football they host many non football groups through the week . Their stadium is used constantly . 

 Montrose  Roselea though are a completely seperate entity altogether and  have to operate within that same community , trying to source funding and revenue from the same people / companies etc who are already contributing to the larger community body. 

I think they must be applauded for the progression they have made already under these circumstances but I agree with tellyboy in that the highland would be a step too far for them. 

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Without any evidence to back this up at all I always saw the Senior/Junior split in the four Angus towns being the junior side would be for local players whereas the senior sides would sign whoever made them better. Can't see folk travelling from the Central Belt to play for Brechin Vics for instance. 

[theoriginalhedge]

1 hour ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

Without any evidence to back this up at all I always saw the Senior/Junior split in the four Angus towns being the junior side would be for local players whereas the senior sides would sign whoever made them better. Can't see folk travelling from the Central Belt to play for Brechin Vics for instance. 

That's basically the way it is or has been until we joined Highland league . Our signing policies have altered  a bit now . 

[Dev]

Surely going for a Licence isn't the same thing as wanting promotion to the Highland League? There's entry into the SFA cup and annual Licence income for a start.

Can anyone find/post the Licencing criteria when it comes to having a ground which is suitable AND which has enough security of use. Ground sharing isn't an issue in itself as there are existing examples of such clubs with both having licences.

It would be interesting to see what it says. Thanks in advance!

[Cyclizine]

1 hour ago, Dev said:

Can anyone find/post the Licencing criteria when it comes to having a ground which is suitable AND which has enough security of use. Ground sharing isn't an issue in itself as there are existing examples of such clubs with both having licences.

It would be interesting to see what it says. Thanks in advance!

Quote

The club shall have the sole use of the ground or “shared” use (approved by the Scottish FA) and shall be in a position to establish security of tenure for the ground and to play matches as and whenever required.

In cases where the club shares a ground with a club that plays under a different league body, the club must provide a written agreement, to the satisfaction of the Scottish FA, between the respective league bodies which relates to the scheduling of fixtures at that particular ground.

To establish security of tenure the club shall own or have a lease in place for the ground or such other formal documentation that satisfies the security of tenure criterion. The lease shall run until at least the end of the season finishing in May following the end of the year to which the Licence award relates.

Fairly easy to find in the SFA licencing document.

[Dev]

54 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:

Fairly easy to find in the SFA licencing document.

Thanks.

[LongTimeLurker]

Checked into it a bit more and Bridge of Don Thistle's athletic stadium only has lights for the track, while Hermes have some severe access issues and a pitch that looks like it could be too narrow in an Ashfield sort of way so Aberdeen Uni, Montrose Roselea, Longside, Deveronside and Burghead Thistle might be the only ones that could do it reasonably easily (yes, I know Glencairn) in terms of already having floodlights of some description and ticking other significant ground related boxes, if they have the volunteer base to do the paperwork angle. Culter and Dyce aren't mission impossible in ground terms but may not be able to do floodlights as quickly as top former juniors clubs from the central belt and the Dundee area can in terms of finances.

[cowdenbeath]

On 05/12/2021 at 19:24, FairWeatherFan said:

Nobody is expecting getting to the Highland League, just the potential to pursue a SFA Licence.

Which won't necessarily be the case as there's more that goes into that than simply ground criteria, and even on the ground criteria front Roselea might not have the same access to Links Park that would allow for licencing.

They probably have as much access to Links as Broomhill have at Alloa

[FairWeatherFan]

1 minute ago, cowdenbeath said:

They probably have as much access to Links as Broomhill have at Alloa

I don't know what the set up is like. When Syngenta were tenants at Dunipace they never had access to the main changing rooms, and the secondary ones weren't meant to be up to licencing standards.

It's meant to be similar when teams have rented out Livingston, they don't use the main changing rooms there.

[cowdenbeath]

36 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

I don't know what the set up is like. When Syngenta were tenants at Dunipace they never had access to the main changing rooms, and the secondary ones weren't meant to be up to licencing standards.

It's meant to be similar when teams have rented out Livingston, they don't use the main changing rooms there.

Never thought about that. It’s like Edinburgh City don’t use the Spartans one at Ainslie Park.

[FairWeatherFan]

18 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said:

Never thought about that. It’s like Edinburgh City don’t use the Spartans one at Ainslie Park.

I don't know what exactly gets factored into the ground criteria. Out of the current licenced clubs that groundshare none are graded the same. There's no guarantees of anything on face value alone. It might prove more problematic if two 'Entry' ground graded clubs tried to do something without a solid working relationship.

[tellyboy]

On 08/12/2021 at 10:52, LongTimeLurker said:

Checked into it a bit more and Bridge of Don Thistle's athletic stadium only has lights for the track, while Hermes have some severe access issues and a pitch that looks like it could be too narrow in an Ashfield sort of way so Aberdeen Uni, Montrose Roselea, Longside, Deveronside and Burghead Thistle might be the only ones that could do it reasonably easily (yes, I know Glencairn) in terms of already having floodlights of some description and ticking other significant ground related boxes, if they have the volunteer base to do the paperwork angle. Culter and Dyce aren't mission impossible in ground terms but may not be able to do floodlights as quickly as top former juniors clubs from the central belt and the Dundee area can in terms of finances.

Bridge of Don Thistle have longer term plans to build a stadium as part of a 1,000 or so new housing scheme in Bridge of Don. Not sure how long that will take to come round though.