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Formation Of Lowland League


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When the Lowland league was formed a huge question mark hung over my head. I asked myself why are no top Junior sides being asked to participate. I was taken aback by the way the league was formed. We had top sides in Ayrshire, Central, The East, Tayside, Fife and the north that were not include in its formation. Perhaps it was something to do do with the word Juniors.

Who made the decision to form this feeder league? as a stepping stone to possible Scottish league football and to introduce the pyramid system .I have nothing against the Pyramid system but question the way the Lowland league was set up.

Today I look at the Lowland league and I see Tranent JUNIORS sitting proudly at the top of the  league  I saw Tranent play last year and they are a very good side. They beat Darvel to secure their place in the Lowland league. I honestly believe that a number of very good JUNIOR sides were ignored and denied status when the Lowland league was set up . Perhaps somebody can explain why

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Just now, sweep said:

Why would it not be when we have so many good teams that were ignored

 

Ok, im going to take you at your word, but you seem to have been a member here since 2010, this has all been covered loads. 
But long story short, they werent overlooked, Tom Johnson did his very best to put clubs off leaving, some in the juniors sneered at the Lowland league and for others it simply wasnt the right move. The applications were open and no one applied. £120k toilets etc etc. 

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7 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Ok, im going to take you at your word, but you seem to have been a member here since 2010, this has all been covered loads. 
But long story short, they werent overlooked, Tom Johnson did his very best to put clubs off leaving, some in the juniors sneered at the Lowland league and for others it simply wasnt the right move. The applications were open and no one applied. £120k toilets etc etc. 

What has my membership to do with this?

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8 minutes ago, sweep said:

When the Lowland league was formed a huge question mark hung over my head. I asked myself why are no top Junior sides being asked to participate. I was taken aback by the way the league was formed. We had top sides in Ayrshire, Central, The East, Tayside, Fife and the north that were not include in its formation. Perhaps it was something to do do with the word Juniors.

Who made the decision to form this feeder league? as a stepping stone to possible Scottish league football and to introduce the pyramid system .I have nothing against the Pyramid system but question the way the Lowland league was set up.

2011 SFA AGM changes were voted through to enact parts of the McLeish Report such as the creation of the Professional Game Board and Non-Professional Game Board. Part of this was the intention to create a pyramid in Scotland. Professional Game Board starts working on it once it starts up.

Quote

League Restructuring and a Pyramid Structure for Scottish Football

At its meeting on 29th September,2011, the Professional Game Board agreed a five point plan to formally develop proposals for League restructuring: -

  • The merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League to create a single league structure

  • An all through distribution model covering all 42 league clubs

  • The creation of an additional relegation / promotion place between the top division and the division below it

  • Enhanced parachute payments to soften the financial blow of relegation for clubs relegated out of the top division

  • A 'pyramid structure' that will open up access to SFL Division Three from below


Subsequent discussion by the Scottish FA Board of Directors, related to point 5 above, has reached broad consensus on the following "pyramid principles" -

 

  • The creation of a new Scottish FA "Highland" and "Lowland" Super League structure immediately below the SFL Third Division, comprising clubs from the existing structures of Scottish Highland Football League, East of Scotland League, South of Scotland League and Scottish Junior FA

  • Maintenance of the existing SHFL, ESL, SSL and SJFA League structures, immediately below the dual Super Leagues, with provision for existing Leagues to open membership to clubs within the Scottish Amateur FA

  • Promotion and relegation based upon sporting merit and the achievement of "club" standards as defined by National Club Licensing and the Scottish FA Quality Mark system


ln order to formally progress the development of the key principles above, the Professional Game Board is requested to approve the following actions: -

 

  • The commencement of formal consultation between the Scottish FA, SPL, SFL, Scottish Highland Football League, the East of Scotland League, the South of Scotland League and Scottish Junior FA regarding the composition and launch of a new dual "Super League" structure with effect from season 2014-15 (with club applications being sought from 2013-14)

  • An internal review of the National Club Licensing and Scottish FA Quality Mark services and resource supporting the proposed pyramid structure

  • The completion of a signed "Memorandum of Understanding" by all relevant League bodies and stakeholders giving formal commitment to the agreed principles of the new Pyramid Structure for Scottish Football

Stewart M. Regan
Chief Executive
October,2011

By March 2013 and consulting with the SPL, SFL, SJFA, EoSFL, SoSFL, Highland League you get to the attached PDFs.

Thanks to Rangers going bust and the SPL/SFL merger on the horizon the Lowland League was pushed through for 2013/14. Otherwise the newly formed SPFL might well shut the door since the SFL clubs were getting the financial redistribution that they were seeking.

During the consultation period where notes of interests were asked from clubs. Some Junior clubs did put them in. but the message from the SJFA was that they would have to start at the bottom if they were relegated from the Lowland League. There was also scare stories around Licencing requirements and the 2 year requirement to be fully compliant. In the end no Junior clubs applied.

TLDR no one was asked because you had to apply. No Junior clubs applied.

 

2013 PWG.pdf Chart of Pyramid structure 2013.14.pdf

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4 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

2011 SFA AGM changes were voted through to enact parts of the McLeish Report such as the creation of the Professional Game Board and Non-Professional Game Board. Part of this was the intention to create a pyramid in Scotland. Professional Game Board starts working on it once it starts up.

By March 2013 and consulting with the SPL, SFL, SJFA, EoSFL, SoSFL, Highland League you get to the attached PDFs.

Thanks to Rangers going bust and the SPL/SFL merger on the horizon the Lowland League was pushed through for 2013/14. Otherwise the newly formed SPFL might well shut the door since the SFL clubs were getting the financial redistribution that they were seeking.

During the consultation period where notes of interests were asked from clubs. Some Junior clubs did put them in. but the message from the SJFA was that they would have to start at the bottom if they were relegated from the Lowland League. There was also scare stories around Licencing requirements and the 2 year requirement to be fully compliant. In the end no Junior clubs applied.

TLDR no one was asked because you had to apply. No Junior clubs applied.

 

2013 PWG.pdf 109.21 kB · 0 downloads Chart of Pyramid structure 2013.14.pdf 90.47 kB · 1 download

Oh! The McLeish report and am I meant to adhere to an individuals report and not a consensus of opinion

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11 minutes ago, sweep said:

I will now ask the question are there not far more capable teams in lower divisions

 

Yeah probably, but those clubs have to be promoted as they decided to stay as a big fish in the small junior pond. It was only when Kelty and Dalkeith left in the East to join the EoS in 2018 that those clubs became suddenly interested in joining the pyramid.

Can an argument be made to increase promotion and relegation between tier 5 and tier 6? Sure.

But there's no reason to have a go at the Lowland League clubs that first took the plunge into the unknown in 2013, when all the Junior clubs were dismissive of the Lowland League and many ridiculed it.

Funny how times change.

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1 minute ago, Ray Patterson said:

Yeah probably, but those clubs have to be promoted as they decided to stay as a big fish in the small junior pond. It was only when Kelty and Dalkeith left in the East to join the EoS in 2018 that those clubs became suddenly interested in joining the pyramid.

Can an argument be made to increase promotion and relegation between tier 5 and tier 6? Sure.

But there's no reason to have a go at the Lowland League clubs that first took the plunge into the unknown in 2013, when all the Junior clubs were dismissive of the Lowland League and many ridiculed it.

Funny how times change.

Billy you are correct but in no way  I am having a go at Lowland league clubs I respect  all clubs. I question the way the league was set up .

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It was set up by ambitious East of Scotland clubs like Whitehill Welfare, Spartans and Edinburgh City who were fed up with some of the less ambitious clubs dragging them back. 

To prevent it being seen as EOSL II invitations were made to ambitious West of Scotland clubs to join. I believe Clydebank showed interest but stuck with the West Juniors. Thus Cumbernauld Colts and BSC came aboard, although they weren't the only clubs to apply. If Pollok, Petershill, Talbot or whoever had applied at the time they would likely have been welcomed in with open arms.

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2 hours ago, sweep said:

I will now ask the question are there not far more capable teams in lower divisions

 

Of course there are - right from the start I don't think the LL has been the strongest group of non-league sides south of the Tay.

That being said, it was never a case of joining the thing by invite...it was by application, and very few of the strongest non-league sides applied initially, partly because of the stalling tactics of the SJFA who were assuring clubs year after year that progress was being made when in reality it wasn't at all and they were hoping the whole issue would go away and they could carry on as they always had.

Another important factor was that the set-up of the LL favoured new-build startup clubs who had very little to lose if the whole thing went tits up...in the west due to the lack of a pre-existing alternative senior league an East Kilbride or BSC could go all-in in the way that a long-standing club couldn't, especially considering the fact that anyone who jumped ship was being unequivocally told they'd need to start from scratch if they ever came back. The whole debacle has set the west of the country back a good five years behind the east.

As for Tranent, they're a senior club who has elected to retain the word Junior in their name as a nod to their past...nothing more, nothing less. It's similar in the WOS league; some have kept the "Junior" in the name of the club, while others have ditched it and yet others never had it in their club name at all. Hamilton have chosen to keep "Academical" in their name for similar reasons, but they're as much a school team these days as Tranent are a junior one.

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8 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:

Yeah probably, but those clubs have to be promoted as they decided to stay as a big fish in the small junior pond. It was only when Kelty and Dalkeith left in the East to join the EoS in 2018 that those clubs became suddenly interested in joining the pyramid.

Can an argument be made to increase promotion and relegation between tier 5 and tier 6? Sure.

But there's no reason to have a go at the Lowland League clubs that first took the plunge into the unknown in 2013, when all the Junior clubs were dismissive of the Lowland League and many ridiculed it.

Funny how times change.

To be fair we still dismiss and ridicule it. B sides FFS. 

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10 hours ago, sweep said:

When the Lowland league was formed a huge question mark hung over my head. I asked myself why are no top Junior sides being asked to participate. I was taken aback by the way the league was formed. We had top sides in Ayrshire, Central, The East, Tayside, Fife and the north that were not include in its formation. Perhaps it was something to do do with the word Juniors.

Who made the decision to form this feeder league? as a stepping stone to possible Scottish league football and to introduce the pyramid system .I have nothing against the Pyramid system but question the way the Lowland league was set up.

Today I look at the Lowland league and I see Tranent JUNIORS sitting proudly at the top of the  league  I saw Tranent play last year and they are a very good side. They beat Darvel to secure their place in the Lowland league. I honestly believe that a number of very good JUNIOR sides were ignored and denied status when the Lowland league was set up . Perhaps somebody can explain why

I’m struggling to follow what you are saying.
But I think that I gave up with the Junior reference to TJFC. Agreed, they’ve got the word in their name, but they’re a big pro club and destined for higher things. Much higher.

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The year Kelty departed the SFJA top table sneered at them at the SJFA AGM for doing so. Heard that from multiple sources.

CLubs were told that should they leave for the LL but choose to come back, they'd start at the bottom, i.e. a 4 division demotion for the likes of Pollok. We were interested but fear and tradition was used to stop dissention.

TLDR: Tom Johnston is the answer to all your questions.

It will take another 20 years to undo this 5 years of messing about as the waves lapped Tom Canute's feet.

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48 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:

The year Kelty departed the SFJA top table sneered at them at the SJFA AGM for doing so. Heard that from multiple sources.

CLubs were told that should they leave for the LL but choose to come back, they'd start at the bottom, i.e. a 4 division demotion for the likes of Pollok. We were interested but fear and tradition was used to stop dissention.

TLDR: Tom Johnston is the answer to all your questions.

It will take another 20 years to undo this 5 years of messing about as the waves lapped Tom Canute's feet.

I was at this meeting representing my club and at that time kelty were slaughtered for daring to break the ranks and were living in a fantasy world of grandeur with the good plated bogs . And at that time myself and every club were nodding our heads and agreeing with T.J and others making similar speeches . 

 

 

 

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