I was just reading that Nairn County have been awarded a 'Bronze' license for their ground - well done to them. Upgraded from 'entry level.'  

I think they're the first Highland League club to achieve that. I don't pretend to understand the criteria but it does goes beyond a ground just looking nice!

Disabled facilities, toilets for women, accessibility, first-aid availability, press facilities, floodlight brightness etc. - the requirements are many and varied.

The following table shows their (SFA) latest findings, which shows the Premiership clubs alongside my selected others. It clearly shows that administration has affected Hearts.

Rangers are also rated as an 'entry level' club, and obviously I delight in this. It proves, that despite their pathetic fans' protestations to the contrary, the Scottish Football Association deem they ARE a new club.

 

 

 

Station Park is the only ground I've ever been to that has different types of soaps and moisturisers and stuff in the toilets!  No, really!

^^^ Went into the ladies by mistake.

Delighted we have a better football academy than C*unty. Not sure about them having better first team developments.

^^^ Went into the ladies by mistake.

 

^^^ Doesn't wash his hands.

Rangers are also rated as an 'entry level' club, and obviously I delight in this. It proves, that despite their pathetic fans' protestations to the contrary, the Scottish Football Association deem they ARE a new club.

 

It does and it doesn't....... The overall level is always taken as the lowest level the club is at out of all categories. In the case of sevco it's their finances that let them down - but the same goes for Hearts who aren't a new club.

Overall it looks like a fairly fair reflection of where a club is in general. Couldn't really argue that the facilities and set up of the clubs above us are superior to ours and likewise with those below us.

 

Dens Park and Tynecastle being graded the same (Bronze) as Borough Briggs, Station Park or Balmoor? I don't pretend to understand that one!

Is it not a little worrying that our administration etc is rated lower than that of Peterhead and Elgin?

Is it not a little worrying that our administration etc is rated lower than that of Peterhead and Elgin?

Worrying ? Yes . Surprising ? Not to me .

Dont have a clue how this all works but how often are clubs assessed. Do they request to be assessed or what

Dont have a clue how this all works but how often are clubs assessed. Do they request to be assessed or what

It seems to be mandatory and conducted on an annual basis. Levels awarded can go down as well as up - reviewed on an annual basis.

From 2016/17 clubs that aren't at least at 'entry-level' will be refused entry into the Scottish Cup. At present, the highest 'casualty' would be Cove Rangers, as their ground fails on a number of criteria - although they're not throwing any money at rectifying it as they're seeking to relocate.

 

With the introduction of the prospect of relegation from SPFL League Two, many of the clubs at the bottom end of Scottish football are getting a real wake up call from their decades of living in a comfort zone!

 

I haven't read all the documents but they're on the SFA website. http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football_document_libraries.cfm?page=2570

 

From 2016/17 clubs that aren't at least at 'entry-level' will be refused entry into the Scottish Cup.

I believe that clubs also have to reach a certain level before they can be promoted out of the Highland/Lowland Leagues into League Two. There's a strange contradiction here in that on the one hand the SFA/SPFL want to open access to national leagues potentially to everyone but at the same time they are creating barriers and hoops which potential national league clubs have to jump through.

On the other hand, given that a number of clubs in the Highland League don't actually want to become involved in the pyrmaid system, the easy way to duck the problem is simply to ensure that you "fail" in one of the criteria.

I think that's right. Clubs aren't allowed to refuse progression into the SPFL but could indeed simply not comply with the criteria! As it stands, Brora are very close to meeting the requirements with minimal improvements needed - minor upgrades like the luminosity (!?) of their floodlights. It's probably more involved than sending a bloke up a ladder to change the bulbs, but I understand that there's really 'nothing' preventing Brora from easily reaching the required standards. Whether they want to progress into the national league is another question - depending on who you believe!  

Obviously it's no formality beating Spartans/Whitehill Welfare/Edinburgh City or whoever, and then seeing off the bottom SPFL club over two-legs. Who interestingly, at present, happen to be Elgin City!

You won't get into the playoffs unless your ground has bronze level, and you won't get bronze level unless you have floodlights to 300 lux. So there's no chance of winning the HL/LL then taking part in the playoffs just for the gate money, knowing you can't be promoted.

 

I don't think there's any contradiction in the set up at all. One thing the advent of the LL has done for the game is to raise standards so that all the clubs are playing in what is recognised as a 'football stadium'. Just as the separate leagues in the English pyramid have their standards at each level. It's all very well saying that progressive clubs should be able to rise, but not if they are concentrating all their resources on the first team at the expense of developing the rest of the club. The more you look at the licensing criteria, the more sense they make.

 

Some of the clubs left behind in the EOSL are playing in public parks or schools so they will be barred from the Scottish Cup. In the HL you're used to clubs having a proper stadium of their own but down here it's different.

For my club, Whitehill, floodlights will be a massive problem to finance, but I accept that they are necessary to play in a national league with midweek fixtures (even though I think a national league for part time clubs is nonsense).