Popular Post Toby Posted April 30 Popular Post Share Posted April 30 It appears to be pretty common knowledge that there will be a vote in the not too distant future regarding the formation of a Conference League between League Two and the Highland and Lowland Leagues, relegating up to 200 clubs in the process. Of course, with Rangers, Celtic and Hearts already having teams in the Lowland League, this is bad enough and hopefully something that we'll see the back of soon enough, but such a change to the structure of the game is deplorable, As Morton will have a vote on it, I'd like to think that MCT will be putting such an important issue for the future of not just our own club, but for Scottish football as a whole to the support to decide the club's stance. Of course, I'd expect the support will almost unanimously be against this proposal, but for the sake of democracy it would only be fair to conduct a poll. In the last few days I've seen clubs like Nairn County and Musselburgh Athletic being extremely vocal in their disdain for this proposal. However, I've seen nothing from any SPFL clubs regarding their stance. In the event of our support opposing this, I'd like to see Morton steal a march and become the club from within the SPFL who takes the first stance against this farce. What's everyone's thoughts on this? A fine opportunity for our club to be the standard bearers for integrity within the Scottish game in my humble opinion, and an opportunity we really must grasp. 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Blue Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 1 hour ago, Toby said: It appears to be pretty common knowledge that there will be a vote in the not too distant future regarding the formation of a Conference League between League Two and the Highland and Lowland Leagues, relegating up to 200 clubs in the process. Of course, with Rangers, Celtic and Hearts already having teams in the Lowland League, this is bad enough and hopefully something that we'll see the back of soon enough, but such a change to the structure of the game is deplorable, As Morton will have a vote on it, I'd like to think that MCT will be putting such an important issue for the future of not just our own club, but for Scottish football as a whole to the support to decide the club's stance. Of course, I'd expect the support will almost unanimously be against this proposal, but for the sake of democracy it would only be fair to conduct a poll. In the last few days I've seen clubs like Nairn County and Musselburgh Athletic being extremely vocal in their disdain for this proposal. However, I've seen nothing from any SPFL clubs regarding their stance. In the event of our support opposing this, I'd like to see Morton steal a march and become the club from within the SPFL who takes the first stance against this farce. What's everyone's thoughts on this? A fine opportunity for our club to be the standard bearers for integrity within the Scottish game in my humble opinion, and an opportunity we really must grasp. Couldn't agree anymore. This proposal reeks of elitism. Having b teams in the lowland league and cups is bad enough without this Hopefully the majority of clubs send a strong message with their no vote. I'd also be delighted if we came out as a club with a firm stance against this proposal and anything similar. 2 There's a storm on the horizon And for that I can't see the sun For I'll keep a waiting on the pavement For the ice cream van to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SassenachTon Posted April 30 Popular Post Share Posted April 30 Also completely agree. As the previous standard bearers for the rejection of VAR, Morton's flying of the flag for the Scottish game as a whole would be absolutely the right thing to do. Let's hope that MCT take this up and run with it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dunning1874 Posted April 30 Popular Post Share Posted April 30 It's an awful proposal, and I'm not sure Maxwell is telling the truth about it only needing a majority SFA AGM vote in favour rather than the Highland and Lowland Leagues needing to agree individually as well. He's got form for talking total nonsense about the SFA's powers to shoehorn leagues into the pyramid; whether that's through ignorance of his own organisation and the game he's responsible for overseeing or he's simply a liar I'm not sure, but either way he's a charlatan. Regardless though, a simple majority can stop this in its tracks at the SFA and I see absolutely no reason for Morton to vote in favour of this. We were the sole club in the SPFL who were in the right over VAR, but despite voting the right way that's really the sort of thing MCT should be consulting the membership on and they have the chance to do so here. For the record I think any club voting in favour is a disgrace and should be thinking about the good of the game as a whole rather than seeking an advantage for themselves, but some clubs will at least have self-interested reasons to do so. Other top flight clubs might go for it believing they can also have their own B Team at some point in the future, League One & Two clubs could view it as a softer landing should they be relegated from the SPFL rather than falling directly into the bottom half of the Lowland League like Cowdenbeath (they'd be wrong), Highland and Lowland clubs with aspirations of promotion might see automatic relegation being introduced for Club 42 as a worthwhile trade off despite being moved down a tier. At our level there's nothing to even argue clubs will gain, most shouldn't ever be in danger of relegation from League Two and will never be running a B Team so it's purely about rights and wrongs and it's clearly utterly wrong. It's a moral outrage and any club which votes in favour should never be allowed to forget it. Even if you believe in B Teams being allowed in the pyramid - and I've never seen a single coherent argument in their favour - there is simply no justification for catapulting them in at Tier 5 and relegating 236 clubs to accommodate them. If they are to be allowed they can start at the bottom. 8 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...
Hej Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 These boys are organising a protest against it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamCam Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 B teams in the Lowland League was only ever a trojan horse to the Old Firm seeking entry to the leagues above. The teams in the Lowland League capitulated for one reason only - money. No-one seriously believed the Old Firm would be satisfied this would be the end of the matter but they were playing a longer game and with minimal haste this is the latest dogs breakfast. This has nothing to do with the greater good of the game in Scotland rather it is, as it always has been, about what is good for the Old Firm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 4 hours ago, dunning1874 said: If they are to be allowed they can start at the bottom. Had they dropped their sense of entitlement and done that from the start (back in 2016 when they first entered the Challenge Cup) they could be in League 1 by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Get this nonsense to fuck. As if the bigot brothers don't have a strong enough monopoly on Scottish football already. 2 "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...
TRVMP Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 While I wasn't against B teams in the pyramid to any real extent, I was against them being parachuted in (even if that's what the LL clubs wanted.) Needless to say I am hugely against this forced promotion and relegation. A few clubs have already publicly come out against this; I hope MCT are working on canvassing the membership so that that may inform the decision of the GMFC board to do likewise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_the_builder Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 It's just utter bollocks! What do they genuinely believe is the benefit in this other than it saves them setting up a B team/Reserve league that the majority of clubs can't afford to resource with their own squads? IMO none of this seems to, in any way, be of benefit to lower league clubs. If the goal is to give youth/B Team players experience then why don't these clubs make further use of the loan system? If this goes through does that mean the talent available for loans is diluted as they'll want to hold on to their most talented players and send the dregs they know won't hack it off on loan? I just can't see why any club outside the Premier League would even be contemplating this! here today, gone to hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamOakTree Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 I wasn’t totally against the idea initially because of the evidence from top continental leagues that it enhances your national team. I now see clearly that this model doesn’t work in Scotland, because it’s not driven by a desire to benefit our national team. It’s just another example of a narrow minded agenda to benefit only select clubs. I also thought wrongly that lower league clubs would benefit from large numbers of OF fans turning up to support their colt teams. This just hasn’t materialised. It also doesn’t seem to work as the OF have not, to my knowledge, fielded a single colt player in their first team since the idea started. Can’t the powers that be enforce a pre-requisite condition that the clubs involved have to include a certain number of their players involved in the colt project, in their first team squad within a certain time frame? Reserve football was a proven platform for many years, in which to bring promising players through. You could list a phenomenal amount of players who made it through to their first team that way, including many who went on to represent Scotland at full international level. What’s wrong with going back to that model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappiecat 1.2 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Good to see MCT running a poll for members on this issue. Would anyone actually vote yes for this shit? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 David Martindale speaking our against it: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/latest-hibs-news/celtic-rangers-hearts-and-aberdeen-sporting-integrity-risk-as-top-flight-boss-questions-conference-league-4127430 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bewilderedbeast Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, Cappiecat 1.2 said: Good to see MCT running a poll for members on this issue. Would anyone actually vote yes for this shit? No from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 21 hours ago, DreamOakTree said: I wasn’t totally against the idea initially because of the evidence from top continental leagues that it enhances your national team. I now see clearly that this model doesn’t work in Scotland, because it’s not driven by a desire to benefit our national team. It’s just another example of a narrow minded agenda to benefit only select clubs. I also thought wrongly that lower league clubs would benefit from large numbers of OF fans turning up to support their colt teams. This just hasn’t materialised. It also doesn’t seem to work as the OF have not, to my knowledge, fielded a single colt player in their first team since the idea started. Can’t the powers that be enforce a pre-requisite condition that the clubs involved have to include a certain number of their players involved in the colt project, in their first team squad within a certain time frame? Reserve football was a proven platform for many years, in which to bring promising players through. You could list a phenomenal amount of players who made it through to their first team that way, including many who went on to represent Scotland at full international level. What’s wrong with going back to that model? Almost every league in the world is full of self-interested clubs and is governed by those same clubs. The number of countries that have a league structure explicitly to facilitate the development of the national team is really low, and it's all shan countries. While I'm very much against this Conference, let's not pretend that Scotland is some kind of outlier here. In almost every footballing country that matters, a league is little more than the sum of its member clubs, and not an extension of either the national FA in general or the national team in particular. Accordingly, Rangers and Celtic are as entitled to vote for their own benefit as Morton and Albion Rovers are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 The MCT fans’ poll was first published on 2nd May. With time marching on until the vote of clubs, it would be nice to hear the club’s findings in the hope that a stance against this farce could influence our peers in the SPFL. Whilst I’m sure Morton will vote against the proposal, I don’t think it’s enough to just use their vote when they can be a positive force for what’s right for the pyramid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunning1874 Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 MCT confirm they've recommended a No vote to the GMFC board, with 81% voting against in the membership consultation. There's surely no way the GMFC board can possibly go against that. Seems even some of the 19% saying yes were basically saying "reconstruction is good but it would be better without B Teams" which maybe explains the surprisingly high figure. Hopefully we'll get official confirmation soon from the club that they'll be voting No. Peterhead and Bonnyrigg Rose both said yesterday they'll vote No, so we're hopefully going to see momentum against it growing. 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...
port-ton Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 When I saw the figure as only 81% voting no I began wondering if they meant 81% of all MCT members voted no rather than 81% of just the people who voted. That's an astonishingly low percent given what is being proposed. I still can't see a world where the club board choose this hill to die on to vote against the wishes of its supporters, especially given the MCT feedback. Good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but only with religion do good people do bad things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRVMP Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 I'm also pretty surprised that it "only" got 81% but in any other context you'd call that a landslide's landslide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_M Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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