Thistle keen to scale the pyramid
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A PYRAMID system for Scottish football has never been closer, and Strathspey Thistle are set to begin work at Seafield Park to put them in a position to be a part of the potential revolution.
The SFA have put forward a proposal to create a new league above the current Highland League to bridge the gap between non-league football and the current Scottish Football League set-up.
However, obtaining a club licence is set to be one of the main entry criteria for any new league, should it be put in place.
In order to obtain their licence, Thistle will have to carry out significant work on their Seafield Park ground.
Having worked so hard to obtain Highland League entry in the first place, the club are not prepared to be left behind.
The Jags have been busy raising the funds to meet club licensing criteria and have now announced that they are in a position to start works to improve the ground.
Manager Brian Ritchie said: “The club has done a lot of work behind the scenes since we came into the Highland League.
“Our first priorities when we stepped up were to get our youth system up and running and start the ground improvements.
“Having got all of that in place, we got our heads together on Monday night and I can confirm that the works to bring us up to licensing standards have been passed by the board of directors at the club.
“The money is now in place to start the work to see us move towards obtaining our licence.
“That is a big boost for us at the club because we have done a hell of a lot of work already just to get to the Highland League.
“Okay, we may be the poor relations in it but we have gone about our business off the park rather than on it because it has always been our intention to get everything in place before we start worrying too much about results on the park.
“We are in it for the long haul, and agreed that the work we have planning permission in place for will be starting shortly, so everyone will see changes off the park rather than on it.”
Regardless of whether a new league set-up is put in place or not, Thistle will have to achieve club licensing standards to be a part of the SFA and compete in the Scottish Cup.
Ritchie added: “We want to be a part of the SFA and since ourselves, Turriff and Formartine have come into the league, we have missed out on winter payments that other clubs received.
“There has been a lot of work done behind the scenes with the committee and our sponsors and I am delighted to say that the ball has started to roll towards us receiving our club licence.
“I think a lot of people read between the lines and thought that ourselves and some of the other clubs at the wrong end of the Highland League would be the ones who disappeared if the league was reconstructed.
“That was maybe fair enough to say when they look at our position in the league and our results, but we have always had our eye on a club licence and getting the club and the ground up to the standards required.
“Without having the money to carry out the work, there was nothing that we could do.
“But we have been working quietly behind the scenes, cutting costs, saving money and raising money all the time so that now we can get the first phase of the works under way.”