Lowland League agreement reached

Main Stand

Main Stand

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In another thread about the stand off with the three clubs, and the LL clubs, I said I didn’t see anyway this wouldn’t go ahead.

Seems that’s happened here, as all three clubs will be in the LL next season.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1534113308835553280

Was previously unsure about what the LL would do to continue to promote youth development, and having seven of the starting 11 as required to be eligible for Scotland is pretty fair IMO.

The rules previously laid out were a big ambiguous with regards to the age of players, or if players could be transferred from B-Team to first team, for the coming season.

Glad it’s all sorted.
 
Main Stand said:
In another thread about the stand off with the three clubs, and the LL clubs, I said I didn’t see anyway this wouldn’t go ahead.

Seems that’s happened here, as all three clubs will be in the LL next season.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1534113308835553280

Was previously unsure about what the LL would do to continue to promote youth development, and having seven of the starting 11 as required to be eligible for Scotland is pretty fair IMO.

The rules previously laid out were a big ambiguous with regards to the age of players, or if players could be transferred from B-Team to first team, for the coming season.

Glad it’s all sorted.
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Won't that hurt Celtic pretty bad? Most of their best players are English or Irish.

Who do we have Weston (though he may go on loan) and Lindsay. Talk of signing Lovelace and Matondo. So we will be fine.
 
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William Cutting said:
Probably end up 4 teams the season after, 5 beyond that.

Don't understand why LL teams agreed to expand beyond us and them being in there but there's probably money involved.
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That’s why I never expected to be an issue, the three PL clubs put in a combined £120k directly to the league. That’s before tickets sales etc.

I imagine a part of that goes fo the clubs.

The LL were advertising for more ‘guest’ clubs to join, obviously expecting Hibs to apply and have been left in the silly situation of having 19 clubs now.
 
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The main issue for me is only one down to the regional leagues, and three regional champions trying to get into the Lowland League.

Tranent won the play off this year, but it will be a while before you see Pollok, Auchinleck or any other former "junior" teams make the step up - and eventually getting into the 3rd division.
 
Mac72 said:
Won't that hurt Celtic pretty bad? Most of their vest players are English or Irish.

Who do we have Weston (though he may go on loan) and Lindsay. Talk of signing Lovelace and Matondo. So we will be fine.
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At U18s most of our players are Scottish aye, bit vague with what players will play in it this season for us due to age and who will go out on loan.

Weston, Lindsay, Ciobutaru, Mulindwa - would be the ones likely to play, even then the former two may go out on loan.

Then older guys like McCausland, Mackinnon, Yfeko - may go out on loan. Then guys older than them like Alegria, KRH, Cervantes and Miller. Who you’d imagine will go out on loan.
 
Main Stand said:
At U18s most of our players are Scottish aye, bit vague with what players will play in it this season for us due to age and who will go out on loan.

Weston, Lindsay, Ciobutaru, Mulindwa - would be the ones likely to play, even then the former two may go out on loan.

Then older guys like McCausland, Mackinnon, Yfeko - may go out on loan. Then guys older than them like Alegria, KRH, Cervantes and Miller. Who you’d imagine will go out on loan.
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Lindsay will probably be first choice CM.

Ciobutaru looks likes he good be very good. I really liked the look of him in the games I seen.

Mulindwa I actually have no idea about. What's he like?

With Weston it's hard to say what will happen. He is clearly far too good for the lowland league, but isn't physically ready for the first team. Would a loan do him good? Or would another year here at B level be better for him. I think B level but training more with the first team might be the better option for him.

McCausland looks ready for his next step which is probably a loan out. At 19/20 you'd think a loan was the better option.

Mackinnon I'm not sure about tbh. Not seen enough to judge.

I can see Yfeko remaining and being first choice CB at B level. It would probably serve him better than a loan.

Miller is eligible for Scotland.

Cervantes seems to be behind most our Scots keepers, so I expect he'll be loan.

KRH surely will be going out on loan as well. He'll be 20 in September.

Alegria would be a loan or sold aswell. He seemed to struggle at Thistle, so I'm not sure how he'll fair.
 
Mac72 said:
Lindsay will probably be first choice CM.

Ciobutaru looks likes he good be very good. I really liked the look of him in the games I seen.

Mulindwa I actually have no idea about. What's he like?

With Weston it's hard to say what will happen. He is clearly far too good for the lowland league, but isn't physically ready for the first team. Would a loan do him good? Or would another year here at B level be better for him. I think B level but training more with the first team might be the better option for him.

McCausland looks ready for his next step which is probably a loan out. At 19/20 you'd think a loan was the better option.

Mackinnon I'm not sure about tbh. Not seen enough to judge.

I can see Yfeko remaining and being first choice CB at B level. It would probably serve him better than a loan.

Miller is eligible for Scotland.

Cervantes seems to be behind most our Scots keepers, so I expect he'll be loan.

KRH surely will be going out on loan as well. He'll be 20 in September.

Alegria would be a loan or sold aswell. He seemed to struggle at Thistle, so I'm not sure how he'll fair.
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Pretty much how I see it going. Looking forward to seeing more Ciobutaru and Mulindwa.
 
tcbuzz said:
The main issue for me is only one down to the regional leagues, and three regional champions trying to get into the Lowland League.

Tranent won the play off this year, but it will be a while before you see Pollok, Auchinleck or any other former "junior" teams make the step up - and eventually getting into the 3rd division.
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They really need to rejig the league and start a proper pyramid system from the 3rd tier, with proper relegation and promotion. No point in a pyramid starting in the 5th tier with barely any chance of promotion.

Given the current system. It would take about 15-20 years to get teams to their proper levels.

Change the system to 3rd tier 2 leagues, 4th tier 3/4 leagues. Then regionalised from 5th tier onward. With 2/3 up and down per league, you'd probably find most clubs find their level within 5 years.

But alas no club will vote for it, due to their own self interest.
 
tcbuzz said:
The main issue for me is only one down to the regional leagues, and three regional champions trying to get into the Lowland League.

Tranent won the play off this year, but it will be a while before you see Pollok, Auchinleck or any other former "junior" teams make the step up - and eventually getting into the 3rd division.
Click to expand...

Yup, and the top teams in the WoSFL are better teams than a lot of the current Lowland league teams
 
Hearts look like they are really trying to cement third place in Scotland by bringing a youth team in to the LL, signing players to build on their position this season. Fair play to them, not enough clubs with relative ambition in the country.

Also relating to lower divisions I seen Sam North (Footy Adventures vlogger) was saying that if division winners don’t go up automatically then the pyramid is still broke, which I completely agree with. The SPFL should genuinely be interested in his comments, he seems to have more belief in the game than they do.
 
Lowland League statement on the development

slfl.co.uk

Lowland League welcome SFA Pyramid review - Scottish Lowland League

Following positive and collaborative discussions between the board of the Scottish Lowland Football League, representatives from the Scottish FA and the Scottish Professional Football League, plus Celtic, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers, a revised proposition for season 2022/23 has been agreed...
slfl.co.uk slfl.co.uk
 
GF1 said:
Lowland League statement on the development

slfl.co.uk

Lowland League welcome SFA Pyramid review - Scottish Lowland League

Following positive and collaborative discussions between the board of the Scottish Lowland Football League, representatives from the Scottish FA and the Scottish Professional Football League, plus Celtic, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers, a revised proposition for season 2022/23 has been agreed...
slfl.co.uk slfl.co.uk
Click to expand...

Following positive and collaborative discussions between the board of the Scottish Lowland Football League, representatives from the Scottish FA and the Scottish Professional Football League, plus Celtic, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers, a revised proposition for season 2022/23 has been agreed.

This proposition allows the three guest clubs to participate in the Lowland League for season 2022/23. In addition, the respective league bodies have agreed to participate in the Scottish FA’s pyramid working group discussions aimed at providing a longer-term solution to optimise the structure and aid the transition of talented players between the ages of 17 and 21.

Following a positive vote, the plan commits to the following:

Celtic, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers will join the Lowland League for season 2022/23, creating a 19-team league for one season only. This will result in a 36-game fixture calendar.
Guest clubs are required to field seven players eligible for Scotland national teams in the starting line-up.
Each guest club will provide funding to help develop the league and its clubs.
The Scottish FA will lead on a review of the pyramid structure, with recommendations proposed ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Ian Maxwell, Chief Executive Scottish FA: “We are delighted that the Lowland League clubs have approved the participation of three guest clubs for the forthcoming season. The Scottish FA supports the principle of elite player development and particularly providing opportunities for talented players in the key transition years from 17 to 21.

“The Scottish FA will oversee a discussion in parallel to propose and implement a long-term plan with the objectives of optimising the pyramid, which has been a resounding success in Scottish football, harnessing the player pathway and accelerating the development of the country’s most talented young players through the national youth teams to the full international stage.”

Thomas Brown, Chairman, Lowland League, said: “We were always open to the inclusion of guest clubs for a further season given the successful player development outcomes from last year’s pilot. We want to be a modern and progressive league and we are excited to be playing our part in the eco system that develops Scotland’s talent.

“Importantly we now look forward to working with the Scottish FA, the SPFL and our friends in the pyramid to create some new solutions to some existing challenges which will provide a bright future at all levels of our game.”

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive, SPFL, said: “It is hugely encouraging to see such a joined-up and collaborative approach being adopted in such a vital area of our game.

“There are few more exciting things in football than watching the development of home-grown talent and it’s extremely encouraging that the Lowland League has agreed to assist our clubs on a temporary basis for Season 2022/23.

“The SPFL will commit our energies to a process that will explore options and, hopefully, allow us to move forward various aspects of our game for the benefit of our 42 member clubs and Scottish football as a whole
 
GovanFront4 said:
How can that be?
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Was actually going to ask the same. Not on site today so cant see if their tune has changed now they're involved as well. I would assume that our players last season were being developed at a better level than the rest of the league due to playing competitive football. They also moaned that for a few thousand ££ the league's competition was diluted by having our team there that could prevent other teams from promotion.
 
Main Stand said:
In another thread about the stand off with the three clubs, and the LL clubs, I said I didn’t see anyway this wouldn’t go ahead.

Seems that’s happened here, as all three clubs will be in the LL next season.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1534113308835553280

Was previously unsure about what the LL would do to continue to promote youth development, and having seven of the starting 11 as required to be eligible for Scotland is pretty fair IMO.

The rules previously laid out were a big ambiguous with regards to the age of players, or if players could be transferred from B-Team to first team, for the coming season.

Glad it’s all sorted.
Click to expand...
Don't see how they are getting away with that.
 
Mac72 said:
Won't that hurt Celtic pretty bad? Most of their best players are English or Irish.

Who do we have Weston (though he may go on loan) and Lindsay. Talk of signing Lovelace and Matondo. So we will be fine.
Click to expand...
If we did sign Matondo he’d be first team squad, no danger of B level.
 
andy17x said:
Yup, and the top teams in the WoSFL are better teams than a lot of the current Lowland league teams
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Some of the teams in the West of Scotland league are indeed better than some of the teams in the Lowland League but they are no better than the top teams in the equivalent East of Scotland league as Tranent proved by winning promotion. East of Scotland tier seven team Bo’ness Athletic also managed to comfortably beat Darvel at Darvel in the King cup then they were soundly beaten by East Kilbride from the Lowland league in the next round. The East of Scotland teams had foresight and joined the pyramid while the West teams stayed junior which has hindered their progress.
 
Drum Road Ranger said:
Some of the teams in the West of Scotland league are indeed better than some of the teams in the Lowland League but they are no better than the top teams in the equivalent East of Scotland league as Tranent proved by winning promotion. East of Scotland tier seven team Bo’ness Athletic also managed to comfortably beat Darvel at Darvel in the King cup then they were soundly beaten by East Kilbride from the Lowland league in the next round. The East of Scotland teams had foresight and joined the pyramid while the West teams stayed junior which has hindered their progress.
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Talbot are comfortably the best team in the juniors
 
Brian Laudrup said:
Rangers need to play their home games somewhere more central as Dumbarton was too far west

May i suggest Broadwood :shh::shh:
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The stadium and the fixture clashes with the first team (at least early on in the season) put me off.

I’d prefer Airdrie but I think that other lot play there.
 
Brian Laudrup said:
Rangers need to play their home games somewhere more central as Dumbarton was too far west

May i suggest Broadwood :shh::shh:
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We want to play on grass

Our preferred option was Firhill last season until Partick agreed to grpundshare with Queen's Park however that agreement has ended as Queen's Park are groundsharing with Stenhousemuir next season

Ayr was another option but it was rejected by Ayr IRC
 
The poster “elfidelo” didn’t care too much for the Lowland League and suggested there were better options, and why.
Hope he reads this and reposts that piece.
 
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