Which Clubs in the Lowland League in Five Seasons' Time?

[RampantFM]

2 hours ago, Marshmallo said:

Hahaha 

Coming from a Falkirk fan as well. Surprised you have much to laugh about except the state of your own club. 

[Dev]

With a current SPFL2 club heading into the end of season play-off and being able to nominate HL or LL the obvious position is that, provided it wishes to regain its place back in SPFL2 as soon as possible, then it will nominate the weaker league. Stranraer in the HL? Elgin in the LL? Of course that would be absolutely ridiculous to many football supporters but this "could" happen. Perhaps Cowdenbeath in the HL might be more likely though (sorry Cowdenbeath fans!).

[ian44wood]

Let's not forget who got the ball rolling with the B teams.

George Fraser.

[AlansHotBath]

I think the desire to nominate a league from Club 42 is less about what is easier and more about being able to continue a model of having players based in the central belt and just travelling for games, rather than relying on a more local base. Whether that is sustainable or sensible is another debate, but in any case it's not something the league structure should be amended to facilitate. 

Although I would be funny to see a lowland club go for the HL thinking it was easier, they finish 3rd and are then stuck there forevermore.

[realmadrid]

In a way this is already happening.

Letham FC in Perth, who's ground is a goal kick from the McDiarmid Park car park tried to enter the East of Scotland league were turned down due to the distance of the club house to the pitch. They wanted to enter conference X so tier 8. They then chanced an entry to the midland league at tier 6 in the north and were accepted.  

Not that they ever expect to be in tier 5 but should they get a promotion they would need to enter the Highland league where as Jeanfield Swifts, Kinnoull and Luncarty who are further North would enter the Lowland league.

[vikingTON]

Good to see that the fat grass who tried to get Morton a points deduction for playing a game back in the spring while his tinpot Alloa franchise were on the sidelines is apoplectic about this as well.

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by vikingTON

[FairWeatherFan]

16 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

In a way this is already happening.

Letham FC in Perth, who's ground is a goal kick from the McDiarmid Park car park tried to enter the East of Scotland league were turned down due to the distance of the club house to the pitch. They wanted to enter conference X so tier 8. They then chanced an entry to the midland league at tier 6 in the north and were accepted.  

Not that they ever expect to be in tier 5 but should they get a promotion they would need to enter the Highland league where as Jeanfield Swifts, Kinnoull and Luncarty who are further North would enter the Lowland league.

On the face of it nothing really changes. The LL has an agreement with the WoS, EoS, and SoS. The HL has an agreement now with the NCL, North, and Midlands. Elgin will go to the HL and the Angus SPFL clubs don't look like an immediate risk of being Club 42.

There needs to be a wider reconstruction or some secondary shenanigans. On the secondary shenanigans front something like the LL can stay at 18 with Brechin being an "applicant".

[LongTimeLurker]

17 minutes ago, realmadrid said:

In a way this is already happening.

Letham FC in Perth, who's ground is a goal kick from the McDiarmid Park car park tried to enter the East of Scotland league were turned down due to the distance of the club house to the pitch. They wanted to enter conference X so tier 8. They then chanced an entry to the midland league at tier 6 in the north and were accepted.  

Not that they ever expect to be in tier 5 but should they get a promotion they would need to enter the Highland league where as Jeanfield Swifts, Kinnoull and Luncarty who are further North would enter the Lowland league.

The reality was always that the boundary only ever applied to Club 42 in terms of the rules so there was never any problem with Luncarty being north of it or Letham and Scone being south of it as long as the other feeder league members involved were fine with letting them in. The line of latitude was only the boundary if feeder leagues chose to make it the boundary not because they actually had to.

Now the Tay Bridge boundary is completely gone the LL and HL would have no basis for complaint if either the EoS or Midlands league pushed significantly further north or south of where their teams are based now. Think in practical terms though that it's unlikely to happen in the case of the EoS when the entry point is tier 9 and there is no geographical split in the lower tiers unlike what happened in the east region. That in turn means it is probably only really Brechin City that are a potential issue right now in LL terms.

[Dev]

48 minutes ago, ian44wood said:

Let's not forget who got the ball rolling with the B teams.

George Fraser.

The normal number of first team clubs in the LL is 16, and that's still the number now and will be until the rules are changed - if they ever are - to allow additional first teams into the league. No first teams have been kept out of the LL.

I don't care if SPFL "B" teams are added on or not. It was supposed to be for one season only - although no-one seems to believe that!

Why do people on this forum love to beat up young teams of kids i.e. B teams? They aren't responsible for alleged past wrong doings by others. Is it because they cannot reply?

[Ranaldo Bairn]

8 minutes ago, Dev said:

The normal number of first team clubs in the LL is 16, and that's still the number now and will be until the rules are changed - if they ever are - to allow additional first teams into the league. No first teams have been kept out of the LL.

I don't care if SPFL "B" teams are added on or not. It was supposed to be for one season only - although no-one seems to believe that!

Why do people on this forum love to beat up young teams of kids i.e. B teams? They aren't responsible for alleged past wrong doings by others. Is it because they cannot reply?

Absolutely mindblowing posting going on here. Sensational.

Ye're all jist bulleez, so yeez ur!

[jamamafegan]

Why the f**k do Brechin appear to have so much leverage over the Scottish Pyramid system? They got relegated to the Highland League, their rightful place, and that is the end of it as far as I’m concerned. It’s unbelievable we are still discussing this.

[LongTimeLurker]

1 minute ago, jamamafegan said:

Why the f**k do Brechin appear to have so much leverage over the Scottish Pyramid system? They got relegated to the Highland League, their rightful place, and that is the end of it as far as I’m concerned. It’s unbelievable we are still discussing this.

Assuming the question isn't rhetorical it's probably mainly related to Ken Ferguson having been on the SPFL board.

[invergowrie arab]

 

28 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

Why the f**k do Brechin appear to have so much leverage over the Scottish Pyramid system? They got relegated to the Highland League, their rightful place, and that is the end of it as far as I’m concerned. It’s unbelievable we are still discussing this.

The ghost of David Will.

They don't though. It's all conspiracy theories and paranoia from people who can't articulate exactly why a pyramid system that has existed in its current form for about 6 months is fatally compromised if Forfar Athletic join the Lowland League.

The piecemeal development of the pyramid, for which lots of clubs now stuck below share much of the blame has led to serious flaws.

The SOSL shouldn't be at Tier 6 and anyone who doesn't want to travel to Berwick or the other Wick shouldn't be at Tier 5.

Should have been, and still should be, a clearing of the decks and all clubs who want to play at a national level should be able to.

Edited November 3, 2021 by invergowrie arab

[TheScarf]

2 hours ago, ian44wood said:

Let's not forget who got the ball rolling with the B teams.

George Fraser.

I thought it was him who was the one behind it.  Fuck knows why he is/was getting white knighted a few months back when he quit.

[LongTimeLurker]

If it's all clubs getting to choose the Midlands League (SJFA east region) effectively becomes an LL feeder whether the EoS likes it or not. Would be very surprised if it went that far because the EoS, WoS and SoS have a say on changes to the playoff format into the LL and that's probably legally binding. On the Club 42 playoff my understanding is that all the other parties (SFA, HL and SPFL) wanted the change and the LL was the only holdout. Once clubs are established in tier 5 though I guess any transfer between leagues would be a matter for only the HL and LL at that point but how do you deal with keeping the leagues at their optimal number of 16 or 18?

Edited November 3, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[leomessi1984]

10 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Could you expand on what you meant by this? Are you implying that Fort William will be able to do a flit to the LL if they avoid getting relegated this season? That's a bit more than Club 42 getting to choose.

Implying would be a strong word Lurker.  In a very unlikely scenario, the mighty Fort would steam roll the Highland league after investment from a mystery backer, blast Albion Rovers in the play off (Cowden already away this season in this fantasy world) and find themselves in L2.  Mystery backer then pulls out and the Fort find themselves relegated and choose the LL given their love of travel

[Burnieman]

On 02/11/2021 at 22:49, RampantFM said:

The Lowland League clubs voted against the boundary change twice, however, it became crystal clear that SFA would not be dropping the issue after trying to push Brechin into the league when they were relegated from League 2.

So vote against a third time, no?

[LongTimeLurker]

The LL were always likely to cave on this eventually if the SFA were persistent enough and made a strong enough threat or provided a large enough inducement.

Looks like making themselves dependent on SFA approval of a rushed set of rules changes to facilitate colt team entry gave the SFA the leverage required to make a sufficiently dire threat.

It was pleasantly surprising that everything slid neatly into place on having a fully functional pyramid before the LL caved on this. The whole colt team saga shows how easily a majority of LL clubs can be influenced with a depressingly small financial carrot.

Having Brechin City as Club 42 for a cancelled set of playoffs may have helped shore up the level of resolve. As Invergowrie Arab suggests above if it only winds up being a single Angus club as the anomaly it isn't the end of the world. We still haven't seen all the gory details though.

Edited November 4, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[Buddie Holly]

falkirk must be a good bet for lowland league

[Dev]

17 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

If it's all clubs getting to choose the Midlands League (SJFA east region) effectively becomes an LL feeder whether the EoS likes it or not. Would be very surprised if it went that far because the EoS, WoS and SoS have a say on changes to the playoff format into the LL and that's probably legally binding. On the Club 42 playoff my understanding is that all the other parties (SFA, HL and SPFL) wanted the change and the LL was the only holdout. Once clubs are established in tier 5 though I guess any transfer between leagues would be a matter for only the HL and LL at that point but how do you deal with keeping the leagues at their optimal number of 16 or 18?

There is, as pointed out above, the clear potential for clubs from the current LL area being relegated in order that current SPFL2 clubs may pick and choose which Tier 5 league to play in.

For example, a club winning promotion from the WoS/SoS/EoS only to be relegated in future if they end up one position above the relegation place in the LL - i.e. in order to keep the number of teams in the LL at the agreed number according to the LL rules.

Does the SFA even understand the implications of the alleged proposal? Wondering if there's a Constraint of Trade issue there (don't know).

Edited November 4, 2021 by Dev
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