Conference League plan may bite the dust in vote

PLANS for a new SPFL Conference League face mounting opposition, with a host of clubs ready to vote against the proposal at tomorrow’s SFA AGM. They are understood to be in excess of 40 and — with 55 of the total 102 votes required to pass — the chances of the proposal succeeding are diminishing. John Gall, president of Scottish Cup giantkillers Darvel, has taken aim at SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell — and believes clubs at their level are being ‘shafted’ by the current proposals. Gall has also accused the SFA of trying to ‘please the Celtics and Rangers of this world’, to the detriment of the other clubs throughout the country. Conscious of the fact that Darvel would effectively be demoted to the seventh tier under the proposals, Gall said: ‘I think the West of Scotland League has been shafted by the big boys in Scotland. ‘I was at a meeting recently where Ian Maxwell was telling us about how the new pyramid system would work with a new Conference system coming in. ‘I stood up and told Ian: “This is one of the best supported leagues outwith League One in Scotland. It’s better supported than League Two. ‘You’ve got the Lowland League that was put together with teams who are not a patch on the teams in the West of Scotland League. ‘The West of Scotland teams have won all the big ties in Scottish Cup games. Auchinleck Talbot have beaten Hamilton and Ayr United, and we’ve done Aberdeen, but there’s been plenty of others like that. ‘Lowland League teams have never done it and they’re above us. There are a lot of teams that are not happy about this, and we can prove through Scottish Cup results that we are a very strong league with fantastic teams and great football but we are being totally ignored. ‘There are teams above us who would never survive in the West of Scotland League. ‘If any team in the Lowland League were to be relegated to the WOS league, they would be fighting relegation. There is no doubt about that.’ Darvel are just one of many clubs to have signalled their intentions to vote against the proposals, with Clyde, Cove Rangers, Kelty Hearts, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath also doing likewise over the weekend. The Conference would pitch Colts teams against sides from the Highland and Lowland leagues from season 2024-25. SFA chief Maxwell believes it can eventually see Scotland bridge the quality gap at the top end of international football. ‘Listen, from a Scottish FA perspective, it’s about player development,’ he said. ‘We have players who are competing against their peers at 17s but, by the time they’re getting to 21s, they’re not. ‘There is evidence from Croatia, France, Germany and Spain, who have got B teams. I think seven of the top ten nations in Europe have got B teams within their domestic structures.’