Lord Pityme Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Will be interesting to see what actual attendances this gets. Completely bonkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Pityme Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Barking really not least in terms of travel to NI or Wales. If you want under 20 players to play against seniors reintroduce a reserve league. We could just play our under 20 team in the competition and the SPFL couldn't make a counter argument. This! Use the competition to give our U20's a chance to shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) 4x highland league and 4 X lowland league teams enter at round 1 also. Imagine saints draw Spartans at home (round 3), we then play crusaders away (round 4) then Tns in the quarters away, how the f**k does that bring in any extra cash to our club?? The invited clubs are to play any home ties in Scotland and are being subsidised to do so apparently. Which makes it even more of a clusterf**k. Imagine the history books that show a Scottish national trophy final showing Hamilton U20s vs Crusaders. Imagine just how embarrassing that'd be. A crowd of about 400 to watch a national final between a reserve team and a non Scottish side. A final that usually draws 7-10k supporters on average. Someone came up with a slightly convoluted but decent idea on P&B that the clubs who don't make it through the group stages of the league cup, regardless of division, could then drop into the challenge cup and other junior and invited Highland/Lowland sides making up numbers. Let's not f**k about here though. This is clearly a tester for colt teams to play senior football in the league system and an excuse to get Rangers and Celtic reserves to play in a competitive environment with senior sides. What other reason could there be for inviting 12 sides in when our own reserves, much less the seniors have proven that they're comprehensively better than two thirds of them? Edited June 9, 2016 by djchapsticks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 In fact, the absolute correct and only response by St. Mirren and other SPFL clubs would be to field their own under 20 sides. I genuinely hope that's what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 The invited clubs are to play any home ties in Scotland. Not according to the BBC. http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36483962 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Not according to the BBC. http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36483962 Fair enough. The SPFL should definitely be subsiding any clubs drawn away then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 The draw is on Tues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormtrooper Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 The rest of the footballing world has just stopped laughing at our top league split format and now we introduce this. I look forward to the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup being between a Welsh club and a Northern Irish club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 If we boycott the competition then there will be a rethink and hopefully jotters for Cockwomble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guinness Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 So if Elgin , say , were drawn away to South Wales somewhere, they would need their players to miss 2 days work and pay thousands in travel costs to play in front of a couple of hundred fans. Great economics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guinness Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 As under 20s League Matches are free admission what will they charge to watch these wee boys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibbles old paperboy Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Dreadful Statement from Raith Rovers Remember, Eric Drysdale from Raith is on the SPFL Board http://www.raithrovers.net/25243/challenge-cup-changes-welcomed.htm I'm particularly fond of the suggestion that letting say Inverness CT U20's play a few competitive matches against the likes of Stirling Albion and Stenhousemuir will help Scotland's international standing! (Do Inverness not have the option of sending U20 players out on loan to League 1, League 2, Championship, Highland league clubs so they can play against older players?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Rangers U20s v Celtic U20s. Dream final for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Pityme Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Rangers U20s v Celtic U20s. Dream final for them. Thats is what they want, played at a full hampden so the SPFL can milk that sectarian/bigoted cash cow for all its worth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shull Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 I will be drinking no more of that Girders ginger again. Give them no publicity. f**kEM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopCat Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) Read that all games are in Scotland? Could be wrong. Either way it's very odd. Edited June 9, 2016 by TopCat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 http://www.crusadersfc.com/apps/#newsdetailspage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 As under 20s League Matches are free admission what will they charge to watch these wee boys? Exactly Mr., B. Surely they don't expect fans to pay to watch schoolboy football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlucifer Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) If we boycott the competition then there will be a rethink and hopefully jotters for Cockwomble. Never mind supporters boycotting. Any Championship BoD with a real sense of their clubs worth should tell Donkey arseter to F*ck off. The idea that we are somehow at the same level as Ross County, Hamilton, ICT reserves, plus is, quite frankly, both ludicrous and embarrassing in equal measure! Edited June 9, 2016 by stlucifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Never mind supporters boycotting. Any Championship BoD with a real sense of their clubs worth should tell Donkey arseter to F*ck off. The idea that we are somehow at the same level as Ross County, Hamilton, ICT reserves, plus is, quite frankly, both ludicrous and embarrassing in equal measure! It's insulting. Our reserves have already comprehensively proven they are better than 2/3rds of these invited sides. The challenge cup is unfortunately just the smaller picture. This is most definitely a tester for reserve sides being introduced to the league setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinbuddie Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 This just goes to prove how detached and clueless those that run the game are from the fans. They've turned a tournament which gave lower league teams a chance to win a trophy into an incredibly shambolic, confused, desperate competition. How could the SPFL Board think this is evenly remotely a decent idea? I would imagine that most Championship teams will play their Under 20 teams in it as well, and not many will care about whether they go out in the first round or lose the final. Fair do's to them though, they've changed the dynamic around the Challenge Cup from a tournament that fans lacked interest in to a tournament that fans will open laugh at and avoid going to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud the Baker Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Crazy idea back in January...... http://www.blackandwhitearmy.com/forums/index.php/topic/40995-challenge-cup-revamp/ ......still a crazy idea! ************ The Welsh teams are worse supported than our Division 2 teams like Montrose (Avg Att in 2016 = 566) The New Saints (Avg Att. 2016 = 375), Bala Town (281) - it'd be a guaranteed financial loss having to play one of those teams. The Nor'n Irish teams are better supported but it still wouldn't be lucrative. Then there's the U-20 top flight teams - how many Killie/Well fans turn up to see their U-20 sides, how many will pay to see them in this bastardized competition? I don't even think the OF teams will be well supported unless they reach the S/F stages. I've no enthusiasm for this revamp - if the present set-up doesn't generate enough revenue then let the competition die gracefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenburn ed Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Can't believe Tony Fitz thinks this is a good idea, who is going to pay good money to watch this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Can't believe Tony Fitz thinks this is a good idea, who is going to pay good money to watch this As much as I am not a fan of Tony, has he actually said this is a good idea ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isle Of Bute Saint Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Personaly I see this as a commercial success , very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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