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Play Offs Looming Down to the nitty gritty now as we enter the last two games still in the danger zone and just one point ahead of Queens Park who, as it happens, face Arbroath, the very club that Big Dunc said might have downed tools by now! You couldn't write it, could you. In fairness, Dunfermline have nothing to play for but pride, and a few shekels, does that mean that they will also down tools? Have a word with yourself if you answered yes. The final day of the season next Friday night has Queens Park at home to Airdrie and Inverness at home to Morton. It's going to the wire. At the moment, it's still in our own hands, but it's not over until the fat lady sings. (sit down Michelle...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Pars Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 10 10 5 31 22 +9 Away 25 9 11 5 30 27 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 52 19 22 11 64 53 +11 We have a pretty hefty advantage over the Pars since we first locked horns with them in the First Division (Championship) back in August, 1999. Our first encounter was at East End Park after we had gained promotion. That didn't end well, a 4-0 defeat, an early injury to Barry Wilson after 6 minutes, a Pars penalty before half time and a red card for Andrew Allan after 66 minutes. Ian Broadfoot's summary of that game: The reality of the First Division hit Caley Thistle hard in this opening league fixture as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat. They were hit by an early injury to Barry Wilson and Andrew Allan was ordered off in the 66th minute for a tackle on Brian Reid. Caley Thistle were only one down at half time to an Andy Smith penalty, but were overwhelmed in the second half. A Brian Reid low drive in 61 minutes made it 2-0 then came the ordering-off. Scott Thomson made it three in 81 minutes and Stewart Petrie completed the rout on the final whistle. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Pars 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) The stats show six draws from the last ten meetings with all three this season ending all square. That's where the smart money will be going. However, this is a different beast with more than just relegation at stake. Given our financial plight, the mere existence of our club functioning as it is just now is a growing concern. Going down may well be the catalyst for part time football and seasons in the doldrums should we survive. The ultimate price to pay for failure is plain for all to see. LAST TIME OUT The Caley Jags battered Raith Rovers to a 0-1 defeat at the Caledonian Stadium last Friday night, thanks mainly to a worldy performance by Raith keeper Kevin Dabrowski and his woodwork. Ably assisted by our inability to stick the ball into the net, we snatched defeat from the jaws of a comfortable victory. In terms of performance, everything was positive. In terms of result, it was a disaster. We can't fault the players for effort, but the season long issue of not taking our chances reared it's ugly head big time. It certainly looks likely that some familiar faces will not be here next season. LAST SIX: L D L W W L Dunfermline drew 0-0 with Queens Park at EEP last week as Queens showed plenty of resilience to deny their hosts. The Pars saw the better of the game in a dour scoreless encounter that ensured they have nothing left to play for and QP remained below us in the table. I'm sure Pars' aim will be to finish with a flourish especially at home in front of their own fans and of course the extra £££ for places. LAST SIX: W W W D L D Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Airdrie v Dundee United on Friday night. 1. Dundee Utd 34 21 8 5 69 22 71 2. Raith Rovers 34 19 8 7 53 42 65 3. Partick Thistle 34 14 12 8 62 50 54 4. Airdrieonians 34 15 6 13 44 42 51 5. Morton 34 12 8 14 42 43 44 6. Dunfermline 34 11 10 13 39 44 43 7. Ayr United 34 12 6 16 50 58 42 8. Inverness CT 34 9 11 14 37 38 38 9. Queens Park 34 9 10 15 43 56 37 10. Arbroath 34 6 5 23 35 79 23 Friday 26th April Airdrieonians v Dundee United Saturday 27th April Arbroath v Queens PK Dunfermline v Inverness CT Morton v Rovers Partick Th v Ayr United LATEST TEAM NEWS Aaron Doran looks likely to have pulled on the Caley Jags strip for the last time after limping off against Raith Rovers last Friday. Sean McAllister returning was a bonus though but the mystery deepens as to why Roddy MacGregor, Austin Samuels and Nikola Ujdur are not featuring either on the injury list or the team list. Baffling to be honest as Roddy has the midfield attributes required, Austin has the speed and potential and Nikola in my opinion, if fit, would be my first choice on the team sheet. Are these guys on the way out? Add to that seven or eight loan players, then next season will see a massive restructure and rebuild at the Caledonian Stadium. I imagine the board members are squirming in their seats like Angela van den Bogerd at a Post Office inquiry. Here's Dunc isn't it>>> No changes, Doran Out with a knee injury... Dunfermline have former St Johnstone striker Chris Kane available and he is a handful, a sort of taller version of Alex Samuel but with less hair. They also have the human battering ram in the shape of the powerful Alex Jakubiak. Pars v QP last week @ EEP Mehmet Fisher (Breen 86) Benedictus Fagan-Walcott Welch-Hayes (Jakubiak 68) Hamilton Ritchie-Hosler Edwards Todd Kane McCann (Holmes 80) Subs Not Used: Little; Sutherland, Chalmers, O'Halloran, Benjamin, Moffat

It's the penultimate weekend folks, not sure if I am more exited about not being disappointed every weekend because of my terrible predictions or for getting a break from posting Can @Gringo maintain his lead into the final weekend or will CDN Girl take the mantle? Maybe @Caleyjag can get close and put on more pressure. On the other side of this, can only but feel sorry for @The Mantis who has crumbled more than a rich tea biscuit in hot tea. Championship League 1 League 2

Just like when they fiddled it and put Brechin in the Highland League, I hope other teams keep beating them!

Substitute Airdrie, Cove and Peterhead for Annan, Bonnyrigg and Spartans. They tightened the rules this season so the established clubs have some time to comply.

Man U lucky to be in the final. My hometown team from the Championship ran MU all the way and were denied a famous win by VAR.

You mean SPFL central belt favoritism?.....no....never!! Let me guess...Edinburgh City, The Spartans, Bonnyrigg Rose, Kelty Hearts and Annan

It would appear that Buckie's Club President has a very different understanding of yesterday's meeting to that of the SFA! It is interesting that the Buckie statement makes no reference to challenging the decision. if what they say in their statement is true, then they surely have a cast iron case for appeal. It does, however sound as though there are issues they should have had in place before now if they have aspirations to climb the pyramid. It also sounds as though the powers that be would rather have East Kilbride in Division 2 than Buckie.

A very long time to read the manual .... https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/9978/sfa-club-licensing-manual-2023.pdf

So no HL clubs are currently eligible for promotion or even to participate in the playoffs. I wonder if they realised they could not participate or if they thought that they could win the playoffs and then have a couple of months to meet the criteria? Can sort of understand why clubs would be reluctant to make the efforts and spend the money needed if it would be to no avail.

Wow! What does a club need to have to get Bronze status?

I agree with your vision and see Div 1 as a great opportunity to blood the youngsters and form a squad of mostly Highlanders, hopefully capable of promotion to the Championship and beyond. Trouble is, for most of them, the Championship is just a level too high so Div 1 is a better opportunity for 1st team football. There's something awfully false about following a team of Englishmen, foreigners and Central-belters, supposedly representing your town, when your own town/area can't produce a team capable of playing at that level. Just look at the cup-winning squad of 2015 - how many Invernessians were in that team? How many Scotsmen?

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/scottish-fa-statement-pyramid-play-off-tie/?rid=13929&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1NnVIgh8yUal59BwiWflH0AB8i74OfeAVNgUWFZ9pDZL74Cr5WyLXVcbs_aem_AZU07FZkzxUMgikF2qzIQkc-lM_vxmB6IAHElYN-FThdcBJBjbcBarHxCnuPN54rLsEI5Oa__TmTJTm87yHlob-N Thursday 25 April 2024 The Scottish FA regrets to announce that Buckie Thistle FC will not be eligible to participate in the Pyramid Play-Off tie between the champions of the Scottish Highland and Lowland Football Leagues this weekend. Under Pyramid Play-Off Rules, it is a prerequisite for participants to comply with SPFL Membership Criteria, specifically in this instance a Bronze-level club licence award from the Scottish FA. Buckie Thistle does not comply with this criterion following its failure to obtain an award by the Licensing Committee yesterday. Consequently, the match will no longer take place and East Kilbride FC, who were granted a bronze licence by the committee, will proceed to the cinch League Two play-off final against eventual Club 42. Scottish FA spokesperson: “The Licensing Committee considered a range of eligibility criteria in respect of Buckie Thistle’s application. Unfortunately, the submission did not meet the requirements for the award of a Bronze licence. “All SHFL and SLFL clubs were written to in December last year to advise that the audit process would be accelerated for those clubs with a chance of promotion, in light of the SPFL’s updated membership criteria requirements. "The Scottish FA’s club licensing department has been in regular dialogue with Buckie Thistle since then to notify the club of, and provide ample time to address, issues highlighted in their Club Licensing Report. “Unfortunately, these issues were not addressed by the club prior to yesterday’s licensing committee decision.” SPFL spokesperson: “Every club was made aware in summer last year of the need to have a Scottish FA Bronze Licence to participate in the SPFL. Regrettably, Buckie Thistle failed to respond to any of the three subsequent follow-up letters sent in October, February and March. “They are not compliant with SPFL Rules and failed to apply for a period of grace by the 31 March 2024 deadline. The SPFL Board has huge sympathy for Buckie and their fans, but has no option but to enforce our Rules.”

It’s also odd that there are 5 teams already in the SPFL who do not have Bronze status!

Their statement sheds a bit more light and portrays a very different picture to the SFA’s suggestion that Buckie just ignored the requirement. At 5pm today, Buckie Thistle FC received an email from the SPFL, stating that because the club do not comply with the SFA Bronze Licence criteria, and did not apply for a waiver or period of grace in respect of this non-compliance by the deadline of 31st March 2024, there will be no Play-Off Tie between Buckie Thistle FC and East Kilbride FC, and East Kilbride will automatically go forward to the Pyramid Play-Off Tie with Club 42. However, we can confirm that the club has been in regular contact with the SFA in regard to the Bronze Licence criteria items, and we were in fact asked by the SPFL to ask for a period of grace for four of these items on Tuesday 23rd April, which we duly did. Our Club President Garry Farquhar attended a meeting with the SFA on Wednesday 24th April, and we were granted Derogations for 3 items - Floodlights, Safety Officer and Diversity & Inclusion. One item - Medical – has been deferred until the 15th of May, but the club has committed to resolving the matter by May 10th. It goes without saying that everyone at the club is stunned and devastated by the timing of this decision. It’s particularly harsh on the players and management, who put so much hard work into winning the Highland League title, that they don’t get the opportunity to go for promotion.

This: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11172/sfa-club-licensing-manual-2024.pdf Enjoy the read! This gives the current classifications: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/11752/240424-club-licensing-awards.pdf Reading the SPFL announcement, Buckie ignored the issue and could have made the standard had they acted. All very poor.

found out if man city beat us in the fa cup final this year man utd will get a champions league spot for being in 6th place for next season so looking forward to next season going be back in the champions league