At The Border Guy

I could pick apart a lot in that match, but just glad to see some daylight between us and 11th tbh. Genuinely thought we were going down a few months back. Off for a beer in the sun.

Hibs up against St Johnstone as well. We better get a goal or two - Going to be quite the embarrassment if we have to rely on the shitness of others to keep us up.

That's Livvy up against County.

Saw someone mention that Strathspey Thistle won't be relegated as none of the teams in the divisions below qualify for Highland League standards. Fucking stupid excuse for a pyramid system.

That's that then. Buckie fucked up, SFA strung them along despite this, but it sounds like there's no chance of it being overturned. https://www.buckiethistlefc.co.uk/news/president-statement-2847887.html President Statement As your club president it is not only my responsibility, but my duty to inform you of the facts / circumstances that resulted in the decision made yesterday by the SFA. I am personally gutted for our fantastic management team and our fantastic players, who all did so much to make us all proud, and to all of you , our fantastic and loyal supporters. The statement issued by the SFA yesterday indicates that we did not reply to their requests. We have in fact been actively preparing for a Bronze Licence since late last year when it was clear that was the requirement from the SPFL. I will state straight away that we did in fact miss the cut off date for the “period of grace “ from the SPFL. We have to accept that and categorise as an error never to be repeated. However earlier this week we were asked to submit a request for this to the SPFL, which we did straight away. Why did they request this ? On the licencing side ( SFA ) I had a Teams meeting with the SFA Licencing Committee at Hampden on Wednesday to discuss the 4 applications for derogation that we had previously submitted. We were granted 3 of those derogations, the Floodlights, The Safety Officer and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The Medical Return was deferred to the next meeting due on the 15 th of May. We have been unable to complete / submit our Medical Return because we are still trying to engage the services of a Doctor to attend all of our home games , this is a requirement for Bronze Level. This is currently our stumbling block and I believe the reason for our failure to be granted a Bronze Licence. I have to stress that during ALL the dialogue between the club, the SPFL and the SFA, there was never any mention of the pending disaster that unfolded last night. I received the e-mail last night at 5 o’clock, informing us that we would not be taking part in the Pyramid Playoffs. The rest, as they say is history. On a personal note I can only hope the above statement of fact clarifies the clubs current status as regards the licencing procedures and the efforts we have put into gaining a Bronze Licence. We felt we were in a good position , but unfortunately we were off the mark there. I would like to finish this by saying that the board, committee and management team will continue to pursue the Bronze Licence, do our utmost to keep our management team and players together, and fight ( as we did this season ) for the title again next season. We owe this to every one of you at Buckie Thistle Football Club.

Actually, looks like the SFA/SPFL have fucked it after all: FANS UPDATE Buckie Thistle Football Club would like to issue the following addition to last night's statement on the SPFL Pyramid Play-offs: "The club is endeavouring to get to the bottom of the decision to remove us from this weekend's play-off semi final against East Kilbride FC." "Club officials attended meetings and had discussions with both the SPFL and SFA on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but no indication was given at any point that Saturday's fixture was in doubt." "Attached is a screenshot from the Decision Note issued by the SFA, which clearly states a decision on the Bronze Licence is deferred until the 15th of May. Buckie Thistle were awarded derogations on 3 of the items mentioned, and given until 15th May to resolve the Medical items." "After further discussions with the SFA this morning, we are now looking into the possibility of taking this to Arbitration, as per Article 99 of the SFA handbook." "Further updates will be provided in due course."

Does feel like the Buckie chairman didn't fancy it. Floodlights, improved accessibility, increased travel distances will rack up the costs to the club, so I could understand if it was expense based. EDIT: Apparently he was on the radio this morning accepting they wouldn't be able to meet the criteria, but no indication if that was due to timescales or finances.

I mean, yeah, but costs now have fecked any projections that were made 5-10 years ago. Just because it might get even more expensive, doesn't change the fact we probably don't have the money for it just now. If a guy who owned a construction firm couldn't get this moving, then I can't see Toothy Dave managing it in the current financial climate.

It's not happening until construction and material costs drop significantly. Council are skint, so won't be contributing a dime. Reckon there'll be the odd aesthetic change to Pittodrie, but nothing substantial is happening for years.

Even with relegation still a possibility, any of our remaining league games sounds a better away day than this. I'm spending my money on one of them instead.

The bit where it jumped from folk angrily telling Stewart he was talking bollocks to Bryan Gunn singing the praises of Sidney Divine is one of the most bizarre bits of radio I've ever heard.

My only theory is he's giving a shout out to his mates. All of those three have proven themselves to be shite at football management and/or throwing their toys out of the pram and/or being cunts on a human level. Their time in football should be over, full stop.

Got the Montrose v Falkirk game on just now. Know I'm likely to be shot down given the two division difference, but John McGlynn looks like he'd have been a really good shout if he hadn't just won promotion (unbeaten). Every player making an effort, and all look like they're enjoying themselves, which counts for a lot.

Should be celebrating, but just checked the fixture list and now feel anxiety over fucking up against Livvy. 😬 Roll on season's end.

Draw would've been fairer given how shit we were for huge chunks of the match, but that was a massive result. Nice to have a bit of air between us, County and St Johnstone.