TONofmemories Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 7 minutes ago, TRVMP said: There's financial doping and then there's taking the competition seriously. Neither are especially great but Brechin have been guilty of the latter for four seasons now. And this is with having one of their main blazers on the SPFL board. If they won't field competitive squads, why exactly should they get to hang around in the full league setup when there's many, many clubs knocking on the door to take their place? As for Kelty, they were a reasonably big fish in the land of the Juniors for a long time - two cup finals, for example. They didn't just pop up overnight. There's no point pretending that they're not enjoying some high-level investment, clearly they are, but their sponsorship income is pretty impressive and they've clearly done a ton of work in their community to make it so. (That's something Morton are catching up on but it's going to take a while to get there.) The comparison with Gretna is a bit wide of the mark; Gretna were astroturfed pure and simple. Kelty, yeah, they're obviously splashing the cash, but they're also trying to do all the right things with local businesses and the community n'at, so fair play to them as far as I'm concerned. If it turns out that a daft wee village like Kelty can't support tier 4 football then they'll drop down soon enough, won't they? That's the beauty of the pyramid. I've played at their stadium and the work they have done there is impressive. Their facilities are equally as impressive. Club shop/multiple social clubs etc. Id sooner visit that ground following Morton than Brechin, which as i said earlier is an absolute bin. TIME FOR CHANGE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deego Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 What’s the Kelty fan base like compared to Brechin’s? In numbers terms obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 6 minutes ago, Deego said: What’s the Kelty fan base like compared to Brechin’s? In numbers terms obviously. In 2019-20 before the wet market flu they averaged around 500, but this was admittedly "inflated" by a top of the table clashes with Bonnyrigg (who have a healthy travelling support) attracting over 1,600 and the like. The season before that they averaged 384 in the league, making them the most watched side in the LL. Brechin averaged a rather healthy 426 in 2019-20 and 586 the season before that. Of course this was at League Two and League One level, respectively, and in the League One season they had Raith's away support and a couple of their stupid wee made-up derbies with Arbroath and Montrose as well. So basically in the last season that had fans, table-topping Kelty had a slightly higher attendance than rancid Brechin. And you can fill in whatever blanks you want to explain that along the lines of rivalries, success etc. Whether Kelty's admirable gates continue when they stop winning every week, when the novelty wears off, when they don't have those rivalries with other LL sides etc.* remains to be seen but it's clearly not the case that they're playing in front of two men and a dug like some LL teams are. *It's worth noting, however, that they didn't really have any derbies in the LL. They left Hill o' Beath and Linlithgow behind in the Juniors originally and when they eventually came over they didn't share a division with Kelty, due to the latter's head start. It's very possible that they'll enjoy a healthy rivalry with Cowdenbeath this season, and you can envision a few decent away gates and groundhopper gates** as well. **Groundhoppers should be fired from a cannon into a brick wall for half time entertainment. 15 minutes ago, TONofmemories said: I've played at their stadium and the work they have done there is impressive. Their facilities are equally as impressive. Club shop/multiple social clubs etc. Id sooner visit that ground following Morton than Brechin, which as i said earlier is an absolute bin. It's incredible, they don't treat their fans like a massive inconvenience that they can't wait to see the back of. It'll never catch on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 And the hedge is shite an aw. Burghead Thistle play on the edge of an entire fucking forest. Inshallah the North Juniors join the pyramid at Tier 6 in time for Brechin to get relegated there and enjoy it in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Toby Posted May 24, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 24, 2021 The point about them leaving the juniors behind shouldn't be understated. Most of them are in the pyramid now, but it was initially mocked by the likes of Auchinleck Talbot- it needed someone to take the jump and Kelty were that club. I visited two and a half years ago for a reserve game against Dunfermline, pretty much so Nach0 could fire me from a cannon into a brick wall, but I was quite impressed with the set up. The social club/hospitality lounges were closed at the time but whilst inside the club grounds were in a separate building and looked to have a pretty significant capacity. In front of that were a couple of covered terraces either side of the dugouts, two open grass banks behind each goal and a modern stand akin to the one at Annan across from the two terraces. I'd describe it as fairly modern with a bit of character. The town was a shithole, but it's in Fife, and just down the road from Cowdenbeath. If I remember correctly, it was a Tuesday afternoon and the single mum's club were out in force in the only pub in town, so whilst it was a good laugh, it wasn't a place you'd brag about visiting. Compared to Brechin though, I'm happy to see them in the league. Our own club is often labelled as corrupt cheats by the fans of Dundee over one horrible performance- this club made a mockery of an entire league campaign with their complete disregard for the concept of competition. That same season, their stewards were happy to pick out folk at random for the police to eject from their ground and arrest after assaulting young Morton fans inside their ground. Brechin can rot as far as I'm concerned. They'll enjoy their first season or so visiting new grounds, but once it becomes a tedious routine with a bottleneck at the top end limiting any chances of a return, hopefully they'll be reduced to being just another Lossiemouth or Rothes. Fuck them. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Tbh the anti groundhopper stance is partially out of jealousy. Some of the MLS grounds here are great but generally not within driving distance. Beyond that it's high school pitches and public parks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealTonKid Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Unfortunately for the misty-eyed traditionalists, Brechin had to take their medicine, just as Berwick and East Stirling had to. The whole pyramid play-off structure is designed to keep the bottom club in the league, so if you can't ensure your own survival then it's a bus trip to Wick Academy or Zombie Gretna. It should be a reminder to the boardrooms of SPFL clubs looking over their shoulder that if you don't get your act together, another club will come and take your place. Unless it's the ugly sisters' colt teams, they can gtf! (We'll see how that one plays out after their trial season) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 1 hour ago, RealTonKid said: Unfortunately for the misty-eyed traditionalists, Brechin had to take their medicine, just as Berwick and East Stirling had to. The whole pyramid play-off structure is designed to keep the bottom club in the league, so if you can't ensure your own survival then it's a bus trip to Wick Academy or Zombie Gretna. It should be a reminder to the boardrooms of SPFL clubs looking over their shoulder that if you don't get your act together, another club will come and take your place. Unless it's the ugly sisters' colt teams, they can gtf! (We'll see how that one plays out after their trial season) I'm not as reflexively anti-colts as most fans but the way they got parachuted into the pyramid was an absolute disgrace. In England at least there are precedents for teams being allowed in at a certain level (in the case of club reformations etc.) but this was something else entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Toby said: The point about them leaving the juniors behind shouldn't be understated. Most of them are in the pyramid now, but it was initially mocked by the likes of Auchinleck Talbot- it needed someone to take the jump and Kelty were that club. And just to revisit this point - yep, slag off Kelty all you want, but they took the leap of faith when most of the jinyir grehd were buying the scare stories of mandatory trips to Elgin every Tuesday night and toilet blocks costing six figure sums. I don't think clubs should have to "progress" if they don't want to: plenty of teams are either just for guys to have a decent standard of play every Saturday or are drinking clubs with a football problem. That's perfectly fine, absolutely, batter on. But teams like Kelty who want to at least try to make a go of it should be given every chance to do so. If it turns out it's unsustainable, that's fine, they'll crash and burn eventually and when that happens they'll sink back to tier five or even lower. But it's far better than the alternative, which is a club of 42 stuck in stasis forever and everyone else banging at the door praying for a vacancy. On that subject, shouldn't it be better that a club in serious distress be able to withdraw and regroup at a lower level rather than disappear entirely? Okay, sometimes that won't be possible, but oftentimes it will. This system is just better for everyone in the end and if absolute shite like "Brechin", who've been milking the league for all it's worth for 80 years while giving very little back, end up punted so far to fuck they end up on Orkney then so much the better. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONofmemories Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Might be a gourlay (cant be arsed checking) but Ferguson has left them, presumably maybe after something bigger (alloa perhaps, if you consider them bigger) TIME FOR CHANGE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 9 hours ago, TRVMP said: And the hedge is shite an aw. Burghead Thistle play on the edge of an entire fucking forest. Inshallah the North Juniors join the pyramid at Tier 6 in time for Brechin to get relegated there and enjoy it in person. This should be happening next season, along with all the others juniors still outside the pyramid. Meaning Brechin will be a whole one tier above Brechin Vics. Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Oh Lord, Brian Wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Von Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 11 hours ago, capitanus said: I'm not understanding the hatred towards Brechin City and wishing them to go out the SPFL set up in favour of Kelty fucking Hearts, who have got Gretna MkII written all over them, a total abomination which shouldn't exist whereas Brechin City, for better or worse, are a proper SPFL club who have just had a few bad seasons. Give me Brechin, Berwick Rangers or East Stirling anyday over these financially doped junior outfits. That’s what the pyramid system is all about. Some of those teams have been languishing at the bottom of the lowest tier for years knowing they couldn’t get relegated. Fuck them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaunTon Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 It was probably acceptable back in the day when there was little or no demand for entry into the senior leagues but clearly things have changed. Brechin are a good example of a club doing as little as possible to justify their membership of the league and being punted because of it. The introduction of competition and risk to Div 2 can only be good for football in the longer term. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BishopBrennan Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Josh McPake makes Scotland's U21 squad for their upcoming friendlies against the Bunfields. You address me by my proper title, you little bollocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortonmark Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 https://twitter.com/AyrUnitedFC/status/1397183829648056323?s=08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shagster Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 10 minutes ago, Mortonmark said: https://twitter.com/AyrUnitedFC/status/1397183829648056323?s=08 Good bit of business for Morton. Ayr will be paying him all summer before being shite for them from July/August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_the_builder Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 38 minutes ago, Mortonmark said: https://twitter.com/AyrUnitedFC/status/1397183829648056323?s=08 Tried but simply isn't good enough for Championship football. I'm fairly happy he'll be playing against us rather than for us here today, gone to hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astuartm Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 6 minutes ago, bob_the_builder said: Tried but simply isn't good enough for Championship football. I'm fairly happy he'll be playing against us rather than for us One down, many more to go!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Wee tap on the ankle from Strapp, guarantee Salkeld loses it and gets a yellow card. "Any nation given the opportunity to regain its national sovereignty and which then rejects it is so far beneath contempt that it is hard to put words to it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Danny Rogers released by Kilmarnock. Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Brian Wake my Lord, Brian Wake Oh Lord, Brian Wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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