Nice idea, but junior clubs remain unconvinced by reality of pyramid structure

Sports Writer

Friday 11 January 2013

ONLY a fraction of Scotland's junior clubs have expressed any interest in trying to work their way up a pyramid structure.

Clydebank and Petershill have expressed an interest in joining the senior ranks

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Stewart Fisher

Tom Johnston, the secretary of the Scottish Junior FA, has polled all his member clubs for their thoughts on the proposal launched by the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Premier League, Scottish Football League on Tuesday. Although the deadline for responses has been extended until next Wednesday and there is widespread general support for movement through the leagues, no fewer than 98% of respondents say they have no desire to apply or work their way up even to the Lowland or Highland divisions which would feed into the bottom of the 18-team national league.

While some ambitious junior outfits – such as Clydebank, Fife-based Ballingray Rovers, and Glasgow's Petershill – have expressed an interest in joining the senior ranks, heavyweights of the junior game Auchinleck Talbot, Linlithgow Rose, Pollok, Maryhill and Kirkintilloch Rob Roy are either reluctant to sacrifice their junior status or unwilling and unable to fund the ground improvements which would be required for them to bring their stadia up to entry level criteria. Although the new format could be in place for the start of next season, Johnston feels the earliest any pyramid structure could happen would be the summer after next. While major northern junior clubs such as Culter and Banks o' Dee could feed into a Highland conference, the Lowland League would require a convoluted structure to accommodate clubs from the South and East of Scotland leagues, and those from the East and West Junior Premier Leagues, many of whom may well decline promotion. "The principle of ventilation would be generally acceptable," said Johnston. "But I don't think most would actually want to take part in a pyramid system. We have got a questionnaire out to our clubs and the four questions we have asked are 'do you support the principle of a pyramid system?'; 'does your club have aspirations of playing in a Highland of Lowland league?'; 'does your club have ambitions of playing in the SFL'; and 'would your club's facilities meet club licensing entry level criteria?'. I have got to say that 98% of them have come back and said yes they do agree with the principle, but they don't have aspirations to play in the Lowland or Highlands, or the SFL, and nor do they meet club licensing criteria. "There is a possibly that one or two junior clubs might decide they want to go and play in the Lowland league, but even of those not many will meet the criteria. Interested clubs could contact the SFA and if they meet the criteria they might be invited. We wouldn't stand in the way of any club who had ambitions to move on but there are lots of reasons why other clubs are reluctant to take part. We have got a vibrant top end and I don't see what is on offer as any better than what we have. We sell our game at the right price; it is £5 to get into a junior game at the moment, it is more financially accessible for a lot of football fans and the main hurdle and obstacle for clubs will be the cost of meeting the criteria at club entry level. That would be pretty punitive. Annan Athletic spent £250,000 meeting the criteria just for the SFL. We play local football which suits the teams and players and anyone who goes to play in the Lowland league would have to leave the juniors and lose the chance to play in the Emirates Junior Cup."Persuading 22 of the SFL's 29 member clubs to give the plans their blessing will be hard enough – sides in the 18-team National League would have to weigh up the long-term possibility of relegation against the short-term gain of two meetings with Rangers next season – and implementing the structure requires a lot of work. Integrating amateur sides and working out what happens if two central belt teams are relegated in any given year are likely to prove another headache. "Where it gets a bit more convoluted is in the Lowland league," Johnston said. "You would probably need to get the winners of the East and West Regions and the winners of the South of Scotland and East of Scotland to go into a play-off and meet the bottom sides in the Lowland league. The amateurs is an even bigger problem, because it is more fragmented than the rest of it."The plan will take a step forward today with David Longmuir and Neil Doncaster likely to face a more favourable response in face-to-face discussions with representatives from clubs in both the East and South of Scotland Leagues.

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Nice idea, but junior clubs remain unconvinced by reality of pyramid structure

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