After a 72 hour consultation process with our members on the Celtic and Rangers B team proposal, they have decided by an overwhelming majority to reject said proposal by 95% to 5%. We have also taken on board the views of non-members over this period, as they come to games and invest in the club such as through our weekly lottery and 50/50 club draws, supporters’ wall and other fundraising initiatives etc. so we felt it was important to give those supporters a voice as well. We have complete trust in our support to make the right decision, which is why they make decisions such as these in the same way they made the right choice to swap junior for senior football three years ago and have been with us every step on that journey to the present day. For context, the votes received over the 72 consultation process via phone & conference calls, emails and text messages were over double those that made that decision, so we feel it is a representative sample of the feelings of our whole support base.

A number of reasons for rejection were raised as part of the consultation process, but the over-riding one was that of sporting integrity which has been an overused phrase over the past couple of seasons. It isn’t that long ago that 13 East of Scotland sides and their board decided unanimously not only to allow us and 25 others entry to the East of Scotland League, but to allow us to play at the same level as existing teams and creating the Conferences. If that didn’t happen we wouldn’t have been promoted to the Lowland League at the first attempt as we would have been in (at least) the 2nd tier of EoS football if we were made to join at the bottom and who knows what might have happened then. They are the only league we can hold up as putting sporting integrity ahead of anything else.

Looking back on our 1st season in the EoS league our supporters remember the hurdles we had to jump through off the field once the team did the business on it in order to join the Lowland League, with the installation of floodlights in three weeks and campaigns on several different fronts before we were eventually admitted. We, alongside Kelty Hearts, Bo’ness United and Caledonian Braves all had to start at the bottom in order to gain our status in the Lowland League and there are over 100 clubs trying to do the same. Kelty Hearts are only two games away from achieving SPFL status and we wish them all the very best and hope they follow Edinburgh City and Cove Rangers into the league via this process. Our members have no problem whatsoever with any B team joining the pyramid and if the names were Hibs and Hearts or Livingston and Hamilton their decision would have been the same, but that they are treated in the same way as every other new joiner and starting at the bottom and allowed to progress up to Tier 6 in line with other current reserve teams in the EoS and SoS leagues.

If the league board is prepared as per the documents received and statement issued to propose two additional clubs to the league, (which requires SFA approval as we were given a one season dispensation to expand to 17 teams from 16) the priority of clubs who have been vocal on sporting integrity calling for pyramid play-offs to take place should be to take clubs from Tier 6 that meet the criteria via application over any other club wishing to parachute in.

It has been suggested that this proposal will raise the profile of the league but it is our contention that it will not be in a good way, with any goodwill with the wider Scottish Football fraternity built up with the lack of promotion places into League 2/cancelled play-off games etc. immediately erased, and could in theory nullify the legitimacy of the league and potentially put in jeopardy any future pyramid play-offs when league placings of teams competing in our league don’t matter.

The rejection of the proposal by our members should not be seen as a slight towards either the league board or Celtic and Rangers. The league board approached both Celtic and Rangers with an offer which we believe to be with the best of intentions and in turn both teams duly complied with a set of terms and we imagine that every club in a similar situation would do the same. The only reservation we raised with the board was the amount of notice we were given to consider it, which was accepted but is due to making any necessary rule changes in time for the AGM at the end of this month which in turn we understand. Any commercial aspect of the proposal however well intended has to be secondary over the integrity of the pyramid.

Reference has been made to a “‘Scottish Football Innovation’ paper, a project which is still on-going and may well be implemented for season 22/23”, in the SLFL statement which despite apparently being well publicised we have never seen. This paper has never been brought to a LL general meeting for member clubs for review. This may or may not include B teams in League 2 but that wouldn’t be our decision to make as would be a SPFL one. Clubs do have the power by a simple majority to approve or reject this proposal however. Simply put, by voting this proposal through we turn this league into one for hire and that can’t possibly correlate with any semblance of either sporting or pyramid integrity.
We would ask supporters of other Lowland League clubs and the clubs themselves to reflect on the thoughts of our members summarised above ahead of any decision and want to thank our supporters once again for their views and mobilising at short notice over the weekend.

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