27-04-2016, 02:24 PM
Jonathan Livingstone Wrote:But there must be some clubs who could scrape a team of 8 together for a central venue affair, that may be big outsiders, and in all likelihood get knocked out 1st round but not whitewashed. There would be a chance of an upset. Is that not what Knockout Cups are supposed to be about? Is the thought of playing one not so strong but decent opponent in the 1st round such a hardship? I am reluctant to put a team with grade examples on this, but you are never going to get a team with an average grade of 1400 say entering the Richardson's. On the off-chance it did happen which can be the case in the current rules, as any team is welcome to apply, is it really a problem? That's the ironic thing about the Richardson's it does technically invite and welcome any team in the entire land to enter, but the reality is that its not for everyone in the slightest. The Spens is clearly more inviting, yet just not supported, and I think there is great merit in the theory that a central venue aspect would improve both events.
For me it's like the Champions League and Europa League. There's a reason they are run differently, and they allow teams to be competitive. I watched Aberdeen in the Europa League qualifying this season, and we did well, played some good clubs, and learned you can get knocked out by a team next to the Chinese border that are apparently European! (Kairat Almaty for anyone interested). The Champions League is the one everyone wants to win, and is set up to encourage quality. The Europa is more for teams who do well to get the experience of European football and play clubs they would otherwise not play. It is actually very inclusive with the amount of qualifying rounds.
Two different events very closely linked, with different goals. That's how I could see Richardson and Spens working in the future. The numbers you showed seems to suggest that the drop in entries is mainly due to a decline in the Spens (Richardson seems stable at the moment?). So maybe run the two with different goals. Focus on setting the Richardson to bring out the best players, and focus the Spens to harvest as many entries as possible. Like I said in my very first post, you have to decide what you really want from these competitions.
As for the mismatching issue, it really is in nobody's best interest to see it happen. Speaking as someone who has played in SNCL div5, and 4 this year, it just isn't fun for either person. Obviously that is a situation we created by dropping out and are having to go through the divisions, but there is no way round it. I honestly think it would be very selfish if a 1400 average team entered the Richardson and dragged a club on an away day, especially if a more appropriate event was available (Spens). I know that I might get pelters for that coming across as elitist, but similarly I would never expect Aberdeen to walk in to the Champions League and play Barca in an extra round we created. Maybe the way round that is an average Club rating from the top 6 players say, and have a cut off for Spens and Richardson. If you win the Spens, then of course you play Richardson next time if you want!