It seems that the SPL clubs are due to meet again to discuss whether any consensus can be reached on any of the individual elements of the proposals recently rejected as a 'take it or leave it' package.

 

Most prominently, they are to discuss and possibly vote on the introduction of play offs between the SPL and First Division. While clearly not the whole answer, it must be a step in the right direction. Personally, I have not spoken to a single fan who doesn't think that play offs are a good idea.

 

They will, on their own, increase excitement and interest both at the foot of the SPL and the top of the First Division thus increasing the interest of fans and income of clubs towards the end of the season when often there is very little to play for. For those clubs who are involved there will be meaningful games with large crowds after the end of the regular season and it is bound to be of appeal to the broadcasters with any additional income spread among all clubs not just those directly involved in the play offs.

 

I realise that out of self interest some clubs are not enthusiasts as it will increase the chances of demotion but surely that will be balanced by the fact that, if relegated, they also stand a better chance of going back up the following season.

 

Not the whole answer by any means but please please let us take what can only be a sensible step in the right direction.

I seem to remember that  the author of the original proposal said that this was to be the only proposal, without recourse or alterative. ( or words to that effect )

 

There should surely now be a new committee formed with fresh blood running the set up. The present lot appear to have the right to chop and change their minds willy nilly regardless of whether it is in the interest  of Scottish football or not i. e.  as long as it pleases them.

 

Step in SFA and get some real restructuring done that throws a more honest approach to the Scottish game and let the world see us in a new light.

One league body is a must but who's going to be left jobless and how will they decide who's running the league?

 

I believe the process is that the members must first work out how to select a Board for the new league body, and then the Board will appoint a Chief Executive.

Another stride in the right direction. Somewhat surprisigly, the SFL clubs have voted for reconstruction. From next season we will have a single league body, play offs between all divisions, a better financial distribution and a ' Lowland League' with, at last, a route for ambitious non league clubs to progress other than taking advantage of the demise of another club.

 

Not ideal yet but very encouraging progress. Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for Scottish football after all.

Edited June 12, 201312 yr by Kingsmills

The introduction of a pyramid system is, for me, an exciting but overdue development. It's something that I've wanted to see ever since I went to my first Highland League game back in 1982 at 'Thistle Park'. It might not have the same resonance for younger fans due to having always had a team to follow on a national level, but having been brought up following a team that couldn't progress further due to the narrow-minded closed-shop of the Scottish League is something I've always found unjust and an affront to meritocracy.

This is truly historic. Despite Inverness having long since been accepted and have flourished spectacularly since their admission to the National set-up, I have still yearned to see the opportunity afforded for other clubs to progress.

We can look forward, over the years, to clubs like East Stirlingshire being replaced by progressive outfits like Cove, Spartans or Formartine.

I would certainly go to see Clach playing off against Albion Rovers for a place in the Third Division and imagine the boost that fixture would give to sales of Buckfast......

 

We can look forward, over the years, to clubs like East Stirlingshire being replaced by progressive outfits like Cove, Spartans Whitehill or Formartine.

Spartans are sooo yesterday     

Granted Mantis, Spartans missed out on the East of Scotland League this season to Whitehill Welfare! They've come good again after a few years of under performing. In all seriousness though, there's a large geographical area of Scotland unrepresented in the national leagues down in the South East of Scotland.

 

No teams from Midlothian, East Lothian or the Borders. A club like Whitehill (Rosewell, Midlothian), Preston Athletic (Prestonpans, East Lothian) or Gala Fairydean (Galashiels, Borders) would be welcome.

 

And the planned railway from Waverley to the Borders can only help. But the days of having to apply for membership to the leagues, once in a blue moon, are hopefully now gone.

So if a Highland team beats say Albion Rovers in a play off final, who then replaces the Highland team in the Highland League? Surely Albion Rovers would go into the Lowland League.

One very alarming point is that the Lowland League will only have ten teams. Does this mean that the Highland League will be reduced to ten teams? Priority should be given to the actual Highland clubs - Clach, Fort William, Brora, Wick, Nairn and Strathspey Thistle. But I fear IF it is reduced to ten teams we shall lose some of these teams. Unfortunately priority will probably be given to Lowland teams such as Cove. Unless the Lowland teams playing in the Highland League right now are invited to join the Lowland set up.

Has anyone heard about the number of places available for the ‘new‘ Highland League?

Why would the Highland League need to change?  Why?

The champions go into the play off.  Done.

As I said on P and B I am glad that this has gone through. The figures there are a sad indictment of how we have shafted our second tier clubs for so long. At least there will be some correction to this.

My questions are that if the governing bodies have merged does this mean the end to an 11-1 vote? If all the clubs are operating under the same banner then surely any future vote will be between all 42 clubs?

Does this have any effect on sponsorship/TV deals. If pre existing deals were for seperate organisations (SFL/SPL) then do they have to re-negotiate?

How long until a pyramid system is in place? I saw the start of 2016/17 season on Twitter. I think its one of the key areas that we need to improve but I have a feeling this is where the problem will lie.

I don't think the Highland League needs to change. If any tweaking is to be done then I could go along with a 16 team set up. It might not need to change at all. But if so, that would mean, for example, Strathspey Thistle and Rothes dropping into the league below. Or whoever it maybe! Fort William or Lossiemouth, perhaps. All hypothetical.

 

Conveniently, the 'level' below the Highland League is the North Juniors Premier division which has 14 teams; that would effectively make them a 16 team Highland League 2 (or some similar name).

 

Effectively:

 

Highland League          (as it is less 2)    16

North Juniors Premier  (as it is plus 2)    16

North Juniors First       (as it is plus 2)     16

North Juniors Second (as it is plus merge with North Caledonian League)

 

Amateur & Welfare feeder leagues into tier 4

 

Even though it is the right thing to do do you think they will have a complete pyramid with the Juniors and Amateur Leagues?

There won't be a 'new' Highland league, It will just be the champions of the current set up who will play the Lowland league champs in a play off. The winner of that game will automatically get promoted. As far as I'm aware the reason the Lowland league will only have 10 teams to begin with is because a lot of the semi-pro teams down in the central belt don't have the adequate ground facilities to make the jump to the SPFL.

Will their be tiers below the Highland/lowland league?

There won't be a 'new' Highland league, It will just be the champions of the current set up who will play the Lowland league champs in a play off. The winner of that game will automatically get promoted. As far as I'm aware the reason the Lowland league will only have 10 teams to begin with is because a lot of the semi-pro teams down in the central belt don't have the adequate ground facilities to make the jump to the SPFL.

Im pretty sure that I read in the press when it was first announced that there will be ten from HL invited into the new set up. That would indeed be a new league. I am not 100% sure however and it may have just been lazy journalism.

Edited June 12, 201312 yr by CapitalCaley

Lets face it - change is required but there will always be pros and cons, agreement and doubt about any if not every option. Fer once there are some positives coming out of organisations that have fer some time being nothing but a divided embarrassment.

Forget all my concerns! My bad :)

Regan has confirmed all 18 HL teams will remain. There will be 10 initially in Lowland League with the view to making it bigger.

In regards to the relegation scenario, there may be occasions where one league is imbalanced. i.e. 1 HL team promoted but a Lowland team relegated. In that case, they will look at opening membership up to any fitting team or simply have an odd number of teams in the L/H league that season.

Edited June 12, 201312 yr by CapitalCaley

The hope is that the Lowland League will eventually expand to 16 or even 18 but, with most Junior teams likely to want to remain in their own set up, the expectation is that they will start with just 10. There is also a hope that in the future there might be promotion and relegation from the Highland and  Lowland leagues to a system of leagues below so that one day, in theory, Ardersier could have a side in the SPL.

Not perfect but a definite significant step in the right direction.  Having some concession to a pyramid system is a massive step forward.  It has certainly vastly improved the English game and it is interesting to see just how many teams there are in the Football league which were lower level teams 20 years ago.

 

As for what happens when a North team gets promoted and a South team gets relegated there are a number of options.  In England a particular league division can look very different from one season to the next depending of the geographical location of the clubs being promoted or relegated into that particular tier of the pyramid.  Clubs in the English Midlands playing in regional leagues at level 3  for instance could find themselves staying at level 3 for 3 years but being placed in a league with Truro one year, Penrith the next and Maidstone the next. Other teams sited more securely in the geographical heartland of a particular league won't be shifted to a different league.  It's just the price you pay for ensuring teams stay at the right level.  It is far better than saying you won't promote or relgate certain teams because it upsets the geographical balance. 

 

A scottish scenario for this could be if Montrose were relegated from division 3  and Whitehill Welfare were promoted then Montrose could be placed in the Lowland league.  However if the following season East Stirling were relegated and Cove promoted, East Stirling could be put into the Lowland leage and Montrose transferred to the Highland League to replace Cove.

Funnily enough there are only 2 teams in Div 3 right now that would go into the Highland League if they were relegated. Elgin and Peterhead. (Albeit they aren‘t actually in the Highlands but their former HL status would probably see them go there rather than the Lowland League).

The problem with the Lowland league is that it'll be set up with a bunch of East of Scotland and South of Scotland sides.  It has been proven time and time again (more so the south of scotland league) that the East and West Juniors are superior.  Auchinleck or Linlithgow should be in the lower league or it's not worth having IMO.  The last 4 HL sides that Auchinleck met in the Scottish they have beaten, that to me shows they have one of the best non-league sides in Scotland.

 

The Lowland league should have 2 or 3 South of Scotland teams only, they really are garbage! Fill it with more teams from the Juniors and set up a pyramid system below that but in regions like it is just now.

The problem with the Lowland league is that it'll be set up with a bunch of East of Scotland and South of Scotland sides.  It has been proven time and time again (more so the south of scotland league) that the East and West Juniors are superior.  Auchinleck or Linlithgow should be in the lower league or it's not worth having IMO.  The last 4 HL sides that Auchinleck met in the Scottish they have beaten, that to me shows they have one of the best non-league sides in Scotland.

 

The Lowland league should have 2 or 3 South of Scotland teams only, they really are garbage! Fill it with more teams from the Juniors and set up a pyramid system below that but in regions like it is just now.

That's really no different from what we have now - the top juniors still turn their noses up at the SFL3 clubs. If a pyramid comes about, it won't matter whether the SOS clubs are garbage, they will find their level.

You can't 'fill it with Juniors' as long as they resist. Neither can you criticise clubs like Dalbeattie and Threave for showing ambition.

 

The feeling on P&B seems to be that once a few top Juniors jump ship to the LL, the Juniors will more or less implode. As much as playing standards are high in the Juniors, the organisation off the park is antidiluvian IMO.

It's most pleasing to think that Elgin are one bad season away from getting punted back to the Highland League!

 

I don't think the Highland League needs to change. If any tweaking is to be done then I could go along with a 16 team set up. It might not need to change at all. But if so, that would mean, for example, Strathspey Thistle and Rothes dropping into the league below. Or whoever it maybe! Fort William or Lossiemouth, perhaps. All hypothetical.

 

Conveniently, the 'level' below the Highland League is the North Juniors Premier division which has 14 teams; that would effectively make them a 16 team Highland League 2 (or some similar name).

 

Effectively:

 

Highland League          (as it is less 2)    16

North Juniors Premier  (as it is plus 2)    16

North Juniors First       (as it is plus 2)     16

North Juniors Second (as it is plus merge with North Caledonian League)

 

Amateur & Welfare feeder leagues into tier 4

i believe theres plans to regionalise the north juniors first and second divisions into east and west starting this coming season.

We are having a party when Elgin go down