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Formation Of Lowland League


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3 hours ago, PossilYM said:

Kelty Hearts blew the whole thing wide open 

It was weirdly Dalkeith that blew it up. They were miles past the deadline to switch leagues IIRC, but with the weight of the avalanche it all happened within days leaving only Fife and West Lothian left. 

Everyone was watching Ketly and still thinking, "ah but they've got a shit load of money behind them, it's not for us". Don't think anyone wanted to pull the trigger first unless they all went together, Dalkeith maybe had less to lose taking the leap. 

Edited by Spyro
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7 hours ago, wow-wee said:

I'm surprised to hear about this I thought at the time every West team was buying into TJs dont do it your better of where you are and if we do go to we all go under the SJFA banner. Suppose if more club's had spoken more loosely amongst them selves the pyramid maybe would have kicked in earlier . My club The buffs were at the forefront to break away from the junior setup and it took a lot of debate and some really heated ones at that to get it started then the bankies and rutherglen came on board  and the rest is history.

TBF I am talking about the formation of the LL and the next 4/5 years after (I left my then role at Arthurlie in 2017)

The SJFA brought a proposal to combat the LL to form a 2 league Junior super league, it would have been placed alongside (if that was to be believed) with a play off to see who would go forward to the play off with the HL (again if that was to be believed) and had the backing of the SFA . This was to to be done by bring together the top tier east and west clubs together by splitting the leagues into 2 with the leagues below that remaining regional and being promoted to the top league. There was a meeting at Hampden (which I attended) where all clubs from those 2 leagues met and discussed and at the end of the night there was an indicative vote of each league to see if further discussions took place. The east voted 100% to move forward the west voted against by around 7 to 5 with most of the 5 coming from the old central clubs and 1 former Ayrshire junior club also voting. I am sure this was the 2014/15 season but not completely sure. The main issue was about travelling for clubs.

A couple of years later the East clubs resigned and went to the EOS but with no alternative it obviously took the clubs that did take it forward (mainly Bankies and subsequently yourselves) Incidentally, I was asked by the then Arthurlie committee to speak to Clydebank about the process of moving to the EOS with them and it would have been likely that the club would have taken a proposal to the AGM to move to the EOS but with the WOS coming around it was moot. 

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1 hour ago, Spyro said:

...Dalkeith maybe had less to lose taking the leap. 

Before the mass exodus started to gather steam both them and Blackburn who were the next to announce they were doing it AFAIR would probably have fancied their chances of reaching the LL not long after becoming licensed and having regular first round Scottish Cup access through that.

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Still think the SFA could have done a lot more to speed up the process, including threatening to the bar junior clubs from the Scottish Cup.

I suppose the club licencing ban for clubs outwith the pyramid (somehow Banks O'Dee and Linlithgow Rose skipped the queue) was also a large push for some clubs.

Anyway, we've eventually found a system that's about right - still kinks to workout with the South and Increased Promotion and Relegation, but it's nearly there.

Just need to get shot of those bloody B Teams now...

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On 28/01/2023 at 22:02, 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

Where gave you been for the last 10 years?

Cove Rangers and Spartans were at the forefront of all LL plans. 

The rest has been answered on the previous 2 pages and countless threads around the forum. 

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2 hours ago, newcastle broon said:

Where gave you been for the last 10 years?

Cove Rangers and Spartans were at the forefront of all LL plans. 

The rest has been answered on the previous 2 pages and countless threads around the forum. 

I have been watching games  as I do as often as possible Tomorrow I will be at Cove. Then it will be back to the west of Scotland league I have been at Tranent., Newtongrange, and I have also seen Forfar United this year and ken whit there are at least six or seven west league sides that are as good if not better than most teams from the Lowland league

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7 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:

I suppose the club licencing ban for clubs outwith the pyramid (somehow Banks O'Dee and Linlithgow Rose skipped the queue) was also a large push for some clubs.

Wasn't much of a queue. 2014-15 both Linlithgow and Banks O'Dee played in the Scottish Cup as members. Linlithgow played in the previous Scottish Cup but think that was just a qualifier otherwise they would have been invited to join the Lowland League.

It would take a couple years before Auchinleck Talbot and Kelty Hearts came looking for a licence. At that point the Lowland League was at capcity at 16, which meant applying to the SoS and EoS if interested.

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6 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

Were Ormiston not even away ahead of them?

Preston moved junior to senior in 1994. The current Ormiston moved in 1999 via a merger with nearby Pencaitland of the EOS under the name Pencaitland & Ormiston before becoming just Ormiston in 2003.  Revived the Primrose part of the name for this season.

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3 hours ago, sweep said:

I have been watching games  as I do as often as possible Tomorrow I will be at Cove. Then it will be back to the west of Scotland league I have been at Tranent., Newtongrange, and I have also seen Forfar United this year and ken whit there are at least six or seven west league sides that are as good if not better than most teams from the Lowland league

If youve watched games as often as youve stated youll know exactly the reasons behind the pyramid.

You asked the question about how the LL originated I gave you a simple answer. 

As has been mentioned to you a few times now all these West teams had plenty chances to get further up the ladder but for one reason or another remained as they were. 

Good luck to your 6 or 7 West sides that you think are better than current LL sides,they'll have to get past the East champions to grant you yer wish but do bear in mind last seasons West champions were beaten for a place into the league itself by the East champions.

Until the leagues open up you might be in for a long wait to get your 6 or 7 teams into the LL. 

 

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24 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:

 

Until the leagues open up you might be in for a long wait to get your 6 or 7 teams into the LL. 

 

I'd expect most of the 6 or 7 to be in the LL by the summer of 2030.

Even allowing for the joke playoffs that are in place.

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43 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:

...they'll have to get past the East champions to grant you yer wish but do bear in mind last seasons West champions were beaten for a place into the league itself by the East champions...

Tranent have strong financial backing and are currently top of the LL. After Linlithgow Rose who's left in the east at this point that could be expected to compete with the likes of Darvel, Pollok and Auchinleck Talbot financially and potentially challenge for promotion to the SPFL the following season in an LL context? 

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3 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Tranent have strong financial backing and are currently top of the LL. After Linlithgow Rose who's left in the east at this point that could be expected to compete with the likes of Darvel, Pollok and Auchinleck Talbot financially and potentially challenge for promotion to the SPFL the following season in an LL context? 

That's going off topic but as long as there's a 3 way play off there's always going to be a chance. 

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Something to watch is if Bonnyrigg Rose get relegated and Brechin City are promoted that will almost certainly mean that both Edinburgh Uni and Dalbeattie Star are relegated from the LL at the end of this season (you'll remember what the implications of Cove Rangers up and Berwick Rangers down were obviously), which could have interesting implications on the numbers balance on issues like the pro/rel playoff and OF colts because a league officeholder from Bonnyrigg Rose was very strongly pushing for change on the playoff format before they got promoted.

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17 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:

Anyway, we've eventually found a system that's about right - still kinks to workout with the South and Increased Promotion and Relegation, but it's nearly there.
 

Glasgow Wellington's possible application to the SOSL could finally be the start it needs to become a stronger league and thus worthy having a three way play off to the LL. 

Edited by zenon
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22 minutes ago, zenon said:

Glasgow Wellington's possible application to the SOSL could finally be the start it needs to become a stronger league and thus worthy having a three way play off to the LL. 

No chance IMO. Unless existing WoS clubs switch over (not going to happen) then what is the source for new clubs? If they accept a large number of non-Dumfries and Galloway clubs then surely the existing members wouldn't be happy and would be better off merging with the WoS as a regional league at the bottom of the pyramid.

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