Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
From: J.M.Ross@man0507.wins.icl.co.uk (J.M.Ross)
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Subject: Re: SCOTTISH CUP PREDICTIONS
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 13:05:04 +0000







In article <1993Jan6.200553.2663@dct.ac.uk> mcsdc1jpb@dct.ac.uk (john bell)
writes:

>HEARTS V HUNTLY
>Almost everyone in scotland (Bar Hertz fans of course) would love to see Huntly

>turn hearts over, and further embarrass the SFA who continually refuse highland

>league clubs entry to the scottish league. However, this looks unlikely to say
>the least. 8-0 to hertz.

Since when did the SFA have any say in who joins the Scottish League? The
Scottish League doesn't require the bottom clubs to seek re-election so the only

way new clubs can join is if the league expands, or a club goes bust. There are
several Highland clubs who have excellent facilities, some even comparable to 
Division One clubs, and who have proved able enough on the pitch to warrant a
chance of playing at a higher grade. However, because of the limited
geographical extent of Senior "non-league" leagues, simple promotion/relegation
between Division Two and the other leagues (Highland/East/South) couldn't work
as most candidates for relegation wouldn't be able to find a suitable Senior
league to play in.

One solution might be to co-opt some Junior clubs to form new Senior leagues
in the areas which are not currently covered. I doubt whether the Junior clubs
would go along with this idea though, apart from Cove Rangers none of them
seem to have any ambitions of progressing to the Senior ranks.

A more likely solution might be to incorporate suitable clubs from the Highland
League, East of Scotland League and South of Scotland League as associate
members of the Scottish League, along with Division Two clubs, and organise
two regional Division Twos (South and North) with automatic promotion to
Division One. For example, using this seasons Division Two the set up might be

Div 2 (S): Clyde, QOS, Albion Rov, E Stirling, Stenhousemuir, Stranraer,
           Queen's Park, Berwick, Alloa + 4 best East League teams + best South
           League team
Div 2 (N): Brechin, Arbroath, Montrose, Forfar, East Fife + 9 Highland
           League teams.

Champions of each section would be promoted, and the runners-up could
play-off for a third promotion spot. The bottom teams in each section of Div 2
could be made to seek re-election, or even automatically relegated if there
was a team seeking promotion from the remainder of the non-league leagues with
suitable facilities.

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