Highland League restructuring is on the agenda for the start of next season with plans for a competition which would see two new clubs being invited to join the other 18 teams into a two-division contest with promotion and relegation. The proposals from Keith president Sandy Stables are intended to get clubs ready for the play-offs involving Lowland League clubs which could lead to entry to League 2 of the Scottish Professional Football League at the end of next season.
The proposals will be up for debate at a management committee in Lossiemouth on Thursday.
The clubs in each 10-team league would play each other home and away in a reduced programme of 18 league matches although the introduction of a Challenge Cup would guarantee each club a minimum of six more games.
If Stables’s proposal is adopted, it would mean an early end to the 2014-2015 season, which would accommodate the new pyramid system’s play-offs between the Highland League and Lowland League champions. The winner of the play-off would then play the club finishing 42nd in the SPFL, with a place in League 2 for the winners.
Last season, with postponed games being played towards the end of the season, the Highland League did not complete its fixture list until May 25. In season 2014-2015, the latest possible finish to accommodate the play-offs is Saturday, April 18, five weeks earlier.
One possible solution suggested to alleviate the end of season fixture pile-up would be to replay postponed matches within a 10-day period. Highland League president Finlay Noble said: “We could play midweek matches throughout August and September but you then run the risk of ending your season in February, many weeks before the play-offs.
“It is a problem but we must end next season in time for the play-offs. I had a meeting with league secretary John Grant and my vice-presidents Dennis Bridgeford and Willie Lippe and at the time it looked almost impossible for us to finish next season in time for the play-offs under the current system.
“Something has got to be done, Sandy’s proposal is thought-provoking, and it will be discussed in full by the member clubs on Thursday night.”