Sunday, 26 January 2020

The Scottish Scene

The Wikipedia entry on the Scottish football league system calls it 'among the most fractured and multi-faceted in Europe' but the creation of a pyramid system in 2013 has changed the nature of the game north of the border and created a playing pathway into the SPFL for ambitious clubs.

The Lowland Football League was founded in that year and lies at Level 5 on the pyramid with the champions then meeting their Highland League counterparts in a play-off for the right to face the bottom club in League Two.

Being an entirely new league has allowed for some really good central communication and marketing, particularly on the Twitter page where upcoming fixtures, with admission prices, are clearly advertised with some beautiful matchday posters from Football Stadium Prints.

The Highland League is different in that respect but like the Lowland it provides affordable football at all of its clubs and with the added bonus of some stunning backdrops in some of the most beautiful parts of the country.

I've had a couple of cracking days out this season, at Rothes and at Keith, both clubs located in whisky country and clearly an important part of their local community.



View of Mackessack Park, home of Rothes FC

Junior Football has a long and proud tradition in Scotland. Its clubs are split across East, West and North regions, under the auspices of the Scottish Junior FA, and come together for a fiercely contested cup competition every season.

With the national team having reached major tournaments in 2017 and 2019 and increased competition to perennial champions Glasgow City in the SWPL, the women's game in Scotland continues to grow and the Scottish Women's Football website is an invaluable source of news and information.

Cutting across all of the different levels of the game is the Scottish Football Fixtures website which does exactly what it says in the title and provides fixtures on a day-by-day basis.

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