Boris

The bit I don't understand is. -Burra hardly have any players. -Unst think they need to merge to field an A Team next year. So how are they going to field two teams at opposite ends of Shetland....where are all these players coming from. Please don't think I am having a go, it's just doesn't quite add up in my mind.

It's difficult to approach a rival with proposals, you expect to get it thrown back in your face. Any discussions usualy take place in the pub and it's very rare anything sensible is said. If the Association got the clubs together you might be suprised with the outcome after a sensible discussion. It's a bit like Northern Ireland.....would peace have been possible if it relied on one side approaching the other, probably not.

The main barrier is that there is currently no discussion between Burra & Scalloway and Unst & Yell. Perhaps the association should take the lead and set up meetings with these clubs to begin the discussion. These teams have a lot to gain and so does Shetland Football if we can get a competative A League with sustainable teams. I would suggest another meeting with the Lerwick teams and the works league to discuss if they can help each other. AGM's are not the best places for such discussions in my opinion.

Penfold I did not suggest Burra join Scalloway.I suggest the teams start working together Burra in the B League Scalloway in the A League. Compromise is needed on both parts and probably more so on Scalloways who can exist on their own. Burra combined with Unst does not address the lack of Burra players if it is just a way around the B League entry rule. This does not help them field a Parish Cup team or bridge the gap while young players go through the Scalloway Youth Teams. Working together with Scalloway would solve both these issues and would also help the Scalloway A team.

Penfold I did not suggest Burra join Scalloway.I suggest the teams start working together Burra in the B League Scalloway in the A League. Compromise is needed on both parts and probably more so on Scalloways who can exist on their own. Burra combined with Unst does not address the lack of Burra players if it is just a way around the B League entry rule. This does not help them field a Parish Cup team or bridge the gap while young players go through the Scalloway Youth Teams. Working together with Scalloway would solve both these issues and would also help the Scalloway A team.

I think there needs to be a bit of thought to the long term or we will just end up at the same cross roads next year. How would Burra combining with Unst help either team retain their identity ? It would be a ludicrous situation particularly when Scalloway would be raising players to play for Unst/Burra while the young northern rovers teams gets split between Unst/Burra and Yell. Can Unst and Yell compete in the long term ? They can't at junior level. The northern rovers set up on the other hand has proved very successful and has produced some of the best prospects currently in shetland football. If only Unst and Yell could find a compromise (they still have the Parish Cup to keep their identity) and Scalloway and Burra could find a solution (ie, The B team could play as Burra with their better players being available for Scalloway, also Scalloway players would once again play for Burra in the Parish Cup). Instead of getting players from other areas Burra would actually be signing players who have a good chance of being eligable for the Parish Cup. Everyones a winner. I know the above will be completely unpalatable for some but it does seem to make sense. The Lerwick teams also need a bit of help to stop the drain of young players in to the works league although I don't know how that can be achieved.

I don't have the answers but I think you are asking all the right questions Penfold. I was just pointing out that I don't think it's the regard that these clubs hold the SFA in that is the problem. Without youth set ups and suitable catchment areas any new team is going to struggle to compete in A League football. Should the SFA change strategy.....as Spency7 said the works league looks to be the main winner at the moment. The SFA have some very difficult decisions to make at the AGM and it's unlikley that everyone will be happy. My main hope is that they fill all the vacant positions so that the the arguments over league structures etc can get under way.

I disagree penfold. The Association has tried to encourage the growth of community clubs who have sufficent populations to sustain youth set ups. Unfortunately many of the existing teams just don't have the catchment area to do this and as a result struggle to compete. Whether this is the right strategy is open for debate, but what is fact is that all other leagues and teams in shetland reap the benefits from the work done at youth level by these larger teams. How long will this continue if teams keep losing players to the works league and possibly other leagues. I don't think the SFA can solely be blamed for the situation they find themselves in although like Spency7 said I think so far they have only encouraged the growth of the works league and possible alternative leagues. The SFA find themselves at a point where unpopular decisions may have to be taken for the good of the game and there are no guarentees of success. Positive steps have been taken ie, Ness and Whitedale however there is still a lot to do before we have a sustainable and competative league format.

I think most people would agree the overall standard has dropped over recent years, however that is to be expected as the number of teams has increased. The success of the works league has also made life difficult for the Lerwick sides. I hope I don't sound too critical because there have been some excellent young players in the league this season so the future certainly isn't all doom and gloom.

I think Scalloway and Burra have only actualy played against each other twice (both this season) so I don't think it quite qualifies as "El Classico". Personaly I think we still need to aim for quality instead of quantity and try and encourage the so called "community clubs" who have youth set ups. The standard of Shetland football this season was probably the worst I have seen but there is hope for the future with a number of very good youngsters showing what they can do. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens after the AGM. It looks like it will be nearly impossible to come up with a league format that keeps everyone happy.

I am glad to hear the Ness will continue to field an A team, it would be bad news for Shetland football if there was no representation from that area in the Premier League. I quite like the Regional League idea and would certainly prefer that to an Un21s league as some clubs would favour. I don't really have any strong opinions on a Parish League but would need to know a bit more about it before I could judge how it would affect football in Shetland.

If a Parish League is set up what would be the critreria for entry, ie are all Parishes welcome or just certain ones ?

In a sense it is the players choice, they can choose not to play for Shetland. I for one agree with the ban. If a key player gets injured the weekend before the game the coach has very little time to change the game plan and the months of training are a waste of time. Any senior team should be able to cope with the loss of their juniors for two weeks even though they may be key players. In recent years Celtic have had more cause to complain than most.but in the longterm their players have benefited from inclusion in Shetland squads.

I think a certain amount of players for each club have to have signed professional forms, although I don't know the exact rules. I think this may cost more in registration fees etc and it also means you need to de-register before you play for another team. I can't see there would be any way around the select problem. The SFA will not bend rules for one area, other clubs are likely to object.

The Scottish Cup is a non-starter unless Shetalnd become a club side instead of a select. Even then there is a lot of criteria to meet before you can even enter a qualifying cup. I think one part is you have to be a senior club, which means players signing SFA Professional Forms. This year some of the Junior sides have been allowed to try and encourage the SFA and the SJA to work together. This is a big step in the right direction because many of the top central belt Junior sides would be compeating at first and second division level in the Scottish Leagues. It's also true that the top Highland League and East of Scotland teams would comfortably handle third division football but unfortunately the League is a closed shop, which does nothing to improve Scottish Football. People have been calling for a pyramid system to allow qualification into the leagues for years (like the English Conferances) but so far the SFA clubs have managed to fight this off. Unfortunately self preservation is a big part of Scottish Football, so Shetland will have their work cut out seeking entry to any competitions. Highland Leagues Cups are the best bet by far.

The other factor to remember is that the Highland League would have to want Shetland to join. Many of the teams would be against it and there are plenty of other teams in highlands who like to join the league. Gaining entry to a Cup is more likely and is also more realistic in terms of comitment from the players. Rugby seems to be a much more inclusive sport and the Shetland team have been welcomed to the point that teams travel to Shetland. Do not expect the same welcome in football because it's only fairly recently that highland teams have had a chance to enter the senior leagues.

I don't if it's the same guy but there is a Drewie Anderson employed at Barcelona. His job title is "Nutmeg Coach" and I think he helps Messi, Ronaldinho and Henry brush up on their technique.

I don't know much about Scalloway Juniors, however if Scalloway players were playing for Ness I would suggest they probably don't have enough players to form a team at Un 18s. This happens fairly regularly and in the past Scalloway and Whitedale have shared players to keep them playing and learning. I don't dismiss the possibility of Burra combining with another senior team, I just question the logic for either team or Shetland Football.

I would say it's really up to Burra to decide their own future. They have their own senior club and their own park. Until the options available are clarified by the association I can't see them making any decsions. I am fairly sure they will continue at some level, just not sure where. Is it really sustainable to go together with Unst or Yell ? May work for a year but not really sustainable. How does that help Burra to keep a club going ? Would Scalloway continue coaching young players in the area to play for Unstrra or Yellrra when they approach seniors ? How many players would get in the Unst or Yell sides and who do they turf out ? Does not sound very realistic to me.

At the end of the day I think both Scalloway and Burra are weaker now than they were before they started compeating against each other. Scalloway were second in the league and had won cups fairly regularly. Burra had a strong team in the Southern League and also had a decent Parish Cup team. Now Scalloway are a mid table side while Burra are clearly struggling to survive and unable to field a Parish Cup team. What happened ? When Burra were in the Southern League they were strengthened by Scalloway players who qualified under the new Parish Cup rules. Those players stopped playing for Burra when they became rivals, similarly Scalloway lost one or two very good players to Burra. One of the factors that is constantly overlooked is the overlap that existed between Burra and Scalloway before they were rivals.

Penfold I appear to have hit a nerve unintentially. I don't think there is a major out cry for change, I was just pointing out that the Cup appears to have been successful in it's original aims. I raised the issue about Brae, not on the success of Delting, but really on population size and whether this would increase the competativness of the tournament. Perhaps other teams would push on if they had any chance of winning it, and you never know in a number of years those teams may be celebrating the success that Delting are enoying at the moment. I also realise that this would be unpopular to many because of Deltings long links with the competition.

There was no intention at sarcasm. I wasn't aware of some of the stuff you pointed out regarding the history of the Cup. I agree that football is healthier in the country areas at the moment, however the works league has been a major factor. I think it's a bit unfair to say the Lerwick teams and Scalloway are not community clubs though.

I would read that differently. The cup appears to have helped football flourish in certain areas. Perhaps it's time some of the more built up areas were excluded to allow healthy competition and to help the game continue to grow in rural areas. After all there is no difference between Brae and Scalloway. On the other hand the Parish Cup may have out lived it's original purpose, in which case perhaps it is time to look to the future. It's hard to see past anyone except Delting and Whalsay.

Thanks for the history lesson Wheesht ! It's interesting to see that many of the people holding official positions were never eligable to play in the Parish Cup. Perhaps this goes back to it's origins when it was intended to encourage the growth of football outwith Lerwick.

Peter Kennan - in an intercounty about 1995, scored a cracker as well. Duncan and Ian Bray - inter island games 2005, Duncan played scoring in final, Ian in squad. Think they both played for Ness that year.