Most clubs have their squads assembled by now. You make it all sound very easy. Its far from it.
**Decision overturned** Help Needed Bears - 483 talented boys thrown out of Football by the SFA - #letthe483play
- Thread starter clubdeckcharlie
- Start date
iaatpies
Well-Known Member
So they waited to try and sort out development football rather than look for a full age tier 6 team?
Who is 'they'? The SFA were asked to make a temporary rule change 5months ago. They waited until the start of the season after all the squads were assembled and preseason games played, to say no. In the interim, the Professional Game Board met three times but declined to address it.
Jeema
Well-Known Member
It's not amateur, the rules clearly state that the U20s are part of the professional set up. The players sign professional forms not amateur.
Majority of these boys would fall out of pro game after their final season, in this instance though, the boys have missed a year's development, which may have helped some to make it to their senior teams.
The timing of the decision is the issue, with the league due to have started in a couple of weeks, preparation was well under way, almost complete. This decision has set many clubs back and recruitment will now need to happen all over again.
Yes they are indeed, part of the professional game, but they have to pay their own way.
However, when it came to the first lockdown and their respective senior teams were allowed to continue playing, the U20's were also allowed to keep going as they were signed to their respective clubs and were also part of the professional game setup.
However, the U21s objected to this and suddenly Ian Maxwell decided that they weren't part of the professional game after all and stopped them playing. They have been treated abysmally.
BlueSevenTwo
Well-Known Member
And still people wonder why Scotland do not progress on the national stage.
Jeema
Well-Known Member
Yes I’m aware of that too. However paying their own way is no different to, Morton academy for example, where parents are asked for a minimum donation of £30pm and then hammered for fundraising.
Also, sign pro forms at academies too, but cannot play professional till 16.
Lowland league website still clearly identifies them, u20s as professional.
We have the SYFA run U21s and below objecting, perhaps the SYFA have too much say? When you have busybodies like that committee running things, we are truly fd in this country, especially if they are carrying so much sway with the pro game.
Perhaps a wee visit to the court of session for them would put them back in their box
Thing about the SYFA is that they are getting rid of the U21s next season as they are too old an age group for a youth association. The u21s will be taken under the amateur umbrella.
BluenoseAL
Well-Known Member
Done, these useless clowns have zero clue how to run our national game at every single level.#letthe483play
My son, who was born in 2001, along with many others, plays in the Scottish Lowlands Development Football League.
This Under 20's league was established recently as an elite amateur league for players who are good enough to make the progression from there to the Lowlands League pyramid. There are 88 teams throughout Scotland and 483 of the players were born in 2001.
Given the Covid outbreak, the league did not get underway last year and everything was simply put on hold.
The league was fully aware that, due to the lockdown, the 483 boys born in 2001 would miss out completely on Development Football that season and be too old by the next. On 5th February 2021, they wrote to the SFA and asked for a temporary rule change which would grant those boys who were already signed for their clubs that season (but didn't play) an extension for one season only. This was the right thing to do and they were confident that it would be granted.
Despite repeated requests for a decision, they heard nothing back from the SFA. Pre season has now started and the 483 boys have prepared accordingly. As a matter of interest, they each pay £40 a month to train and play, like many other age groups. Its an expensive business. All coaches and other staff are volunteers and do this for the love of the game.
On Tuesday 22 June 2021 (last Tuesday), FIVE MONTHS LATER, The SFA simply refused to grant the extension for these players and they are now destined for the scrap heap. This means that the vast majority of these 483 boys will, through no fault of their own have to give up football at that level. They have already been deprived of their football all year and for many, their mental health will also have suffered significantly. Frankly its a disgrace.
It is a sad indictment that the SFA are willing to condemn talented players with very high potential, to the scrapheap.
There is no right of appeal against this decision. The only recourse is for the League to seek arbitration which would costs many thousands of pounds, which they simply don't have. Canvassing has now begun to try and make them change their mind. Clubs will rely on every means available to achieve this and the newspapers ,politicians, mental health groups etc have been contacted for support.
The following hashtag has been created on Twitter and it would be great if Bears on here could Retweet it to gather some momentum and see if we can get it trending.
It is:
#letthe483play
The following graphic has also been created to accompany it. Can those who are willing to offer support, please also tag your local elected members as well as the usual suspects, Sturgeon, Yousaf, etc, etc.
Thank you for your help. We are doing all we can to overturn this and your help will be invaluable. Finally here are the members of the SFA Professional Game Board who made this decision.
Professional Game Board
Chair: Michael Mulraney (Scottish FA)
Members: Ian Maxwell (Scottish FA), Neil Doncaster (SPFL), Leslie Gray (SPFL), Michael Nicholson (SPFL), Ken Ferguson (SPFL), Duncan Fraser (SPFL), Finlay Noble (SHFL) and Tom Brown (SLFL).
Thank you very much for any support you can offer.
Jeema
Well-Known Member
The u20s sign professional contract, my son has just done so.
The form signed allows them to play in 1st team and u20s, but not syfa or amateur teams within club set up
There is also talk of dual contract with syfa, presently they can he registered with syfa and play 12 league games at u20 before signing pro contract. No Cup games.
The 01s are the ones at risk, concentrate on them, instead of trying to point score on what type of contract they sign.
I answered another poster's comment explaining that the u20s are deemed to be professional, hence the reasons behind these protests about the boys involved missing a year!
The form signed allows them to play in 1st team and u20s, but not syfa or amateur teams within club set up
There is also talk of dual contract with syfa, presently they can he registered with syfa and play 12 league games at u20 before signing pro contract. No Cup games.
The 01s are the ones at risk, concentrate on them, instead of trying to point score on what type of contract they sign.
I answered another poster's comment explaining that the u20s are deemed to be professional, hence the reasons behind these protests about the boys involved missing a year!
robo2
Well-Known Member
thats an absolute disgrace and evidence of the poor planning of our governing bodies#letthe483play
My son, who was born in 2001, along with many others, plays in the Scottish Lowlands Development Football League.
This Under 20's league was established recently as an elite amateur league for players who are good enough to make the progression from there to the Lowlands League pyramid. There are 88 teams throughout Scotland and 483 of the players were born in 2001.
Given the Covid outbreak, the league did not get underway last year and everything was simply put on hold.
The league was fully aware that, due to the lockdown, the 483 boys born in 2001 would miss out completely on Development Football that season and be too old by the next. On 5th February 2021, they wrote to the SFA and asked for a temporary rule change which would grant those boys who were already signed for their clubs that season (but didn't play) an extension for one season only. This was the right thing to do and they were confident that it would be granted.
Despite repeated requests for a decision, they heard nothing back from the SFA. Pre season has now started and the 483 boys have prepared accordingly. As a matter of interest, they each pay £40 a month to train and play, like many other age groups. Its an expensive business. All coaches and other staff are volunteers and do this for the love of the game.
On Tuesday 22 June 2021 (last Tuesday), FIVE MONTHS LATER, The SFA simply refused to grant the extension for these players and they are now destined for the scrap heap. This means that the vast majority of these 483 boys will, through no fault of their own have to give up football at that level. They have already been deprived of their football all year and for many, their mental health will also have suffered significantly. Frankly its a disgrace.
It is a sad indictment that the SFA are willing to condemn talented players with very high potential, to the scrapheap.
There is no right of appeal against this decision. The only recourse is for the League to seek arbitration which would costs many thousands of pounds, which they simply don't have. Canvassing has now begun to try and make them change their mind. Clubs will rely on every means available to achieve this and the newspapers ,politicians, mental health groups etc have been contacted for support.
The following hashtag has been created on Twitter and it would be great if Bears on here could Retweet it to gather some momentum and see if we can get it trending.
It is:
#letthe483play
The following graphic has also been created to accompany it. Can those who are willing to offer support, please also tag your local elected members as well as the usual suspects, Sturgeon, Yousaf, etc, etc.
Thank you for your help. We are doing all we can to overturn this and your help will be invaluable. Finally here are the members of the SFA Professional Game Board who made this decision.
Professional Game Board
Chair: Michael Mulraney (Scottish FA)
Members: Ian Maxwell (Scottish FA), Neil Doncaster (SPFL), Leslie Gray (SPFL), Michael Nicholson (SPFL), Ken Ferguson (SPFL), Duncan Fraser (SPFL), Finlay Noble (SHFL) and Tom Brown (SLFL).
Thank you very much for any support you can offer.
For SFA ....read Sinecure.....they don't and never have done given a flying fcuk about anything else than their excessive salaries.Their silence and inactivity on the CSA scandal in itself is unacceptable then we have this . They are quick to punish and converse negatively , anything to do with the Rangers , and should be removed from their position immediately , Problem is the chance of getting change along with the SPFL imo has passed due to spineless club members who were /are happy to bend over.
For what it's worth, I found out that the Rangers representative on the Pro Gaming board voted in favour of the proposal to extend.
I'm absolutely delighted to advise that the SFA have overturned their initial decision.
Thanks to everyone on here for their support.
The Scottish FA can confirm that agreement has been reached across the game to allow the Scottish Lowland Football Development League to extend the age group limit to Under-21 for season 2021-21.
The decision enables around 400 players who would otherwise have become ‘over-age’ to remain eligible to participate in the coming season’s development league. The Scottish Youth FA will also extend their age limits to include Under-22 players for the coming season only.
Initially, concerns were raised about the potential negative impact on the player pathway should an extension be permitted to one element of the game in isolation. Due consideration and discussion was required to ensure that no other age groups across the game were adversely affected by any changes.
The Scottish FA would like to thank the Scottish Youth FA and SLFL for their collaborative approach to reaching an amicable solution.
Thanks to everyone on here for their support.
The Scottish FA can confirm that agreement has been reached across the game to allow the Scottish Lowland Football Development League to extend the age group limit to Under-21 for season 2021-21.
The decision enables around 400 players who would otherwise have become ‘over-age’ to remain eligible to participate in the coming season’s development league. The Scottish Youth FA will also extend their age limits to include Under-22 players for the coming season only.
Initially, concerns were raised about the potential negative impact on the player pathway should an extension be permitted to one element of the game in isolation. Due consideration and discussion was required to ensure that no other age groups across the game were adversely affected by any changes.
The Scottish FA would like to thank the Scottish Youth FA and SLFL for their collaborative approach to reaching an amicable solution.
Theres a lot of clubs not happy about this change of decision including some under 20s such as Cambuslang Rangers. It looks to me that only teams from last season can have the overage players and no new ones. So guys now playing in the same league but different rules depending on the team.
My views are already on the thread. Essentially that I don't think clubs are that concerned about the boys as players and more about other factors such as increased finance.
The timing of the decision and subsequent reversal are the real problems here. Not the fact some boys unfortunately became too old.
This is even worse than the original decision.
That was the request made on 5th February to the SFA - that only players already registered to their clubs on that date should be granted that dispensation. I don't see how it could have been any other way. The extension also applies to the U21 age group.
It's not really fair that only the boys of that age group who were already at a team can play but none of the other, new teams can sign a player of the same age nor can any of the existing teams.
It's taken a mess and made it even worse.
Now got an under 20s league where some teams are allowed to play a selection of boys who are older than the others.
Why not just turn it into an under 21s league for one season?
There's only two clubs out of 88 complaining as far as I can see: Ardeer and Cambuslang. Presumably they took the decision last season to fill their squads with 2003 age group, otherwise any 2001s in their squads as at 05/02/21 would have benefitted from the ruling. The SFA wouldn't allow the Lowlands League to operate an under 21s league as one already exists, under the auspices of the SYFA.
The argument is that there are numerous new clubs in the Lowland Development League this year and none of these teams will be able to sign anyone of that age group whilst others will....but only the boys who were already there.
It shouldve been under 21s or the original decision still stands. The SFA/Lowland League have negotiated with the SYFA over this and these negotiations could've went further to allow this. As it now is, it's a halfway house and a bit farcical.
Some of these 21year olds are now going to actually have their development stunted as they will be playing almost entirely against young boys in certain games. Whilst other, younger players, now won't get into squads as the places are taken up by 21 year olds. It's the worst of both worlds.
Yet another SFA mess.
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I totally disagree. They knew when they were applying to join that the rule change had been asked for months beforehand.
Yeah. It all seems like it has been very clear and not handled farcically at all and everyone knew where they stood at all times.
Can I ask, do you think it's fair that some teams can have 21 year old players in the league but other teams can't? Just in a sporting and developmental sense?
It was very clear. At present, they're only 20.Yeah. It all seems like it has been very clear and not handled farcically at all and everyone knew where they stood at all times.
Can I ask, do you think it's fair that some teams can have 21 year old players in the league but other teams can't? Just in a sporting and developmental sense?
Bluethruandthru
Well-Known Member
Seriously, a comprehensive clear out and a re think required without delay.
You didn't answer the question so I can infer that you know it's not right mate. I get that it suits your boy with the way it's worked out but there were other,fairer ways that would've done the same.
Listen, I don't want to argue over it. I'm delighted for the boys involved but I think that this decision from the SFA is now even worse than the original one. It's the SFA I'm having a go at and certainly not you who is a dad looking out for his boy
And some of the bigger clubs such as Auchinleck are now stating similar to myself.
It shouldve been 21s for a year or kept as is. Not a halfway house that is no good for anyone other than stopping the negative publicity. There's now effectively a significant portion of the league playing under 20s while another portion of it are having under 21s. It's ridiculous. And it will also impact players at the younger end of the scale as well as the boys who would've been the oldest this year but are now maybe in and out the team because there are a few 21s in their way.
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BlueSevenTwo
Well-Known Member
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I do believe it's right. I'm also the club secretary, so my son is only part of the equation. In any decision there will always be some who take an alternative view, which is absolutely fine. You and I disagree, so that's just the way it is.
The sfa from top to bottom are not fit for purpose and instead of developing the game in scotland the exact opposite is true
it needs scrapped and completely Redeveloped from the base levels up
it needs scrapped and completely Redeveloped from the base levels up
Fair enough mate. I didnt have a strong view on this until yesterday's decision which I find completely unfair and typical of the SFA to take something that so many people were unhappy about and make it even worse simply to try and kill the negative publicity they were getting.
The rules and eligibility must be the same for all teams in any competition from a sporting and a developmental point of view.
At the very least, they could've put all the teams who are allowed the older players into the same conferences and the other teams into other conferences.
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