Thistle left out in cold
Thistle left out of 20-team new look league
Boss Iain Diack admits East Kilbride Thistle face a financial hit after the original West of Scotland League conference plan was axed.
Last week WoSL chiefs told clubs that the proposed conference system would not be allowed by the SFA as too many teams would have to be added to their Judicial Protocol.
A new plan has been agreed that will see 20 teams enter a top division, including Bonnyton Thistle, the current West Premiership sides, and three Championship clubs known as tier six.
The remaining teams, including the Jags, will enter a tier seven conference system.
Diack, who was manager at Sauchie when the East of Scotland League conference was introduced, dubbed the changes in the last week “strange.”
He told the News: “It’s how they have decided to go about it, it is what it is.
“It seemed like it was going to be same way as the East, but I don’t know the ins and outs.
“When the East of Scotland was launched it was a conference system that then decided a Premier League. That’s what it seemed like in the West but clearly things have changed.
“You would like to think everybody is going to be given an equal opportunity, and it’s going to be a real blow to the Championship clubs who would have fancied their chances of getting to the top division.
“It might not have a huge impact on us, because we will just work away to improve the squad whatever the set-up is, but you would still think you have a wee chance in the conferences.
“It will be frustrating for some clubs, and there is disappointment from our point of view.
“You have the chance of bigger clubs bringing a decent support to East Kilbride on a regular basis. It’s a boost for the club financially that won’t happen now.
“I used to play for Pollok and we would take 300-400 fans to away games; that’s a huge lift for a club in League One.
“From a football point of view, it won’t make a huge difference.
“East Kilbride will still be where we have been for the last few years and we will try to build.
“There is a lot of good work going on behind the scenes at the club and ambition. There is decisions that have been made behind the scenes but we will miss out on income from playing the bigger clubs on a regular basis.”