Glens plot a path to SPFL
Club to apply for entry level SFA licence
Rutherglen Glencairn secretary Peter Ferguson hopes the club’s commitment to attaining SFA membership will reap the financial rewards that can help push them up the pyramid system.
The West of Scotland League outfit announced they will be working towards attaining an Entry Level club licence, which will enable the club to compete in the senior Scottish Cup and open up the chance for promotion to the Lowland League and beyond.
Ferguson, appointed licensing liaison officer at the club, said:
“It’s a speculate to accumulate situation, where we’ve got to spend a bit of money to get ourselves up to the standard.
“The rewards down the line are very obvious and that’s what has persuaded us to pursue it.
“We’ve got a lot of the facilities already in place, we are about 70 per cent there, so we are a big step along compared to some clubs who need to make investments for things like floodlights.
“It’s something I think we should have done a long time ago.
“You get an annual reward from the SFA for holding a licence, they make a substantial payment for that, as well as appearance money in the Scottish Cup and any spin off you may get from that.
“Once you have the licence, it pays for itself several times over, so it’s a no-brainer for us.”
Glens will be competing with big-hitters Auchinleck Talbot and Pollok in the West of Scotland League – tier six in the pyramid setup– next season.
The champions from that division will gain promotion to the Lowland League, where clubs must negotiate play-off matches against the Highland League champions and then the bottom side in League Two (tier four) to gain promotion
But Ferguson knows it will be a marathon and not a sprint.
He added: “At the moment, we are probably not in a position to be challenging at the top of the WOSL for promotion, but maybe four or five years from now, when the likes of Auchinleck and Pollok may already be promoted, we could be in a position to do that.
“If we didn’t have the facilities in place to support that, then we’d be failing the club.
“It’s all very fresh for us and we are very excited about it.
“Applications must be in by February for it to be considered for ratification, but whether we’ll be ready this time around in the current circumstances remains to be seen.
“Hopefully, sponsors can help.”