A new look Conference sandwiched in-between SPFL League Two and the Highland and Lowland League has taken a step closer with little opposition from SPFL clubs.
It seems typical of the Committee Mindset in Scottish football that the solution to one problem is to create a fresh one, or two.
Celtic have been searching for 15 years for a replacement to the Reserve League with the flow of young players into the first team virtually halting at Callum McGregor in 2014.
Over the last two seasons Celtic B have been playing in the Lowland League with the proposed Conference providing matches against the top three clubs in the Lowland League and Highland League.
It seems highly unlikely that playing against Tranent and Brechin City on a regular basis will advance the development of elite players. Equally another division creates an un-needed buffer that prevents clubs like Darvel, Pollok and Auchinleck Talbot from joining Cove Rangers, Kelty Hearts and FC Edinburgh in the SPFL. None of the clubs relegated from the SPFL have earned promotion back or even reached the play-off stage.
Updating the Conference plan, in the Daily Mail Stephen McGowan reports:
PLANS for a new ten-team Scottish Conference featuring four Premiership B teams and six Highland and Lowland League clubs are set to progress to the next stage.
Established as a separate entity from the SPFL, the league would become Scottish football’s new fifth tier from season 2024-25.
Funded by six-figure fees for Premiership entrants — expected to be Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts and Rangers — its independence bypasses the need for 75-per-cent support across all four divisions.
Keen to secure widespread consensus, however, clubs at all levels of the pyramid were asked to raise any concerns with the SPFL by yesterday afternoon.
While clubs in Leagues One and Two have always been opposed to colts sides playing in the league set-up, the Conference will offer a ‘soft landing’ for any club crashing out of the senior leagues.
With no serious objections raised, the SFA can now fine-tune their proposals.
Celtic, Hearts and Rangers currently field guest colts teams in the Lowland League, and this is expected to continue before the new competition kicks in.
The new division is seen as providing a more permanent pathway towards first-team football for players aged 17 to 21.
Promising players at the age of 17 need to be testing themselves against full-time professionals if they are to stand any chance of fulfilling their potential.
