I was warned NOT to come here, BUT...

funny story about today's video there's a bloke in the gym who I know and I've spoke to him once or twice and he works in football as well so he knows a fair bit about like the lower leagues of um of Scottish football and he asked me where I'm going this weekend this is last night when I was in there and um I told him where I was going and his instant reaction was like are you sure you want to go there now I'm gonna Reserve judgment for myself and see the ground when I get there properly I've been before for a ground hopping video I've seen inside so I know what he's on about um but I've just got a feeling it's one of them proper Rough and Ready non-league stadiums and it's not just non-league it is the bottom tier so I'm going to be adding to my battles of the bottom tier playlist today we've seen many games we've done many videos about this level of football the very bottom tier of Scottish Football is a fascinating place to watch the beautiful game today we're seeing East Kilbride thistlehurst sixth against Saint Peter so I didn't realize actually top so we're going to be seeing the best team today in the worst division I'm Aidan Connolly the manager of visual research and would you have a message firstly to people about this level of football it's obviously the bottom tier of the Scottish pyramid I've covered a lot of games at this level what for you makes it so special being the manager of a club like this I love it a lot of us level football I think there's always excitement as always obviously it's the very bottom tier and as I understanding around maybe not have been as good as other clubs and quails maybe not being as good but what there is in this league a lot of really good young players getting opportunities to put a decent level of football because there are so many clubs in the region have a look at our sales are averages of 20 people as well I've seen this 20 and there's a lot of teams in the same St Peters will be the same today yeah I think that's such a great opportunity for these young girls because that you know when I was that age I wasn't playing as much football as these kids are playing and it's only going to the film I think that's such a great thing for Scottish people and yeah I've seen um saltcoats Victoria play a couple of times this year and they've also got a really really young Squad as well so yeah would you say that this level then is giving young players more of a chance to play against men and then in the pyramid system possibly like move up yeah I think it's all particularly in the fourth Division I think we have a lot of community clubs we've obviously trying to build a war into the pyramid recently and what they've done is brought in through the younger person created senior squads almost so you'll get some peels Thorn Glenville nights with teams like that so they've all been sort of forced down that pathology which budgets that we don't have and so we've had to then playing young local person I think that's the big thing or like my full Squad are local and it'll be the same for all the all the teams in this league and I think it's really easy to then connect to a community and the fans who do come on I think they see that you're trying to do is bringing young boys give them opportunities and ideally they have success here and we do well or they couldn't get themselves a move which we've seen happen over the last 18 months here I've seen girls go and kick on and play a high level and what's the biggest struggles then of running a club of this size um I think for us geographically we are I mean eqfc they're melting today in the last 10 years has made a tough for the club I think uh no one would shy away from that I think the club was in pretty dial State it's 10 11 years ago when they knew that when the committee took over and you know the guy's been the scene to work so hard to get us on until sort of Level Playing Field off the pitching we don't have a budget we don't have any of that you know facilities aren't easy to get you know what I will have but I think that's probably the biggest challenge but you know once that challenge comes great opportunities as I said for a young person myself as a young coach I'm only 32 and there was a few young majors in the league but the majority of them are concerned about us um so you get that opportunity because there are so many teams and there are so many and that the money isn't nothing to invest on other things so I think that's it well it brings huge challenges it also gives great opportunity for people look at this right we're inside and um as I previously mentioned already in this video I have actually been here before again it's for one of my ground hopping videos not where I see a game um like I am today but um what I love about this ground specifically and a lot of other grounds in this division is that it's an actual football ground I mean yeah look we've got like bear brick dugouts with these actually quite nice wooden benches actually you'd get quite a good few Subs in here I've been to well the first ever game I came to in a bottom division they had tents temporary tents that put up and down as the as the dugouts and there's a lot of grounds in this division where they are just like and I've said this in pretty much all these videos I do at this level they're like Community Astro pictures and they're not actually like football stadiums like this one is if you could class this as a stadium which I suppose you could but um yeah it's part of the charm of this division um and I was at I Brooks the other night for the um for the Europa League game I've seen Celtic loads of Times Obviously as well um and while it's great to go and see the bigger clubs you have to sit in that seat for the whole game whereas you can I'm here you can walk around you can uh you can get a real feel for the um for the ground but yeah look at this nice uh brick dugouts and then we have the East kill bride thistle along there as well proper football ground today in the bottom tier [Music] foreign [Music] manager so you're currently top of the bottom tier yep well joint top at the moment um so um but yeah a long way long way to go we're happy with the start with mid um so we made a decent start um but I think we can get better so but a lot of tough games coming up and how was things in this league just how how is it being involved in this level of football this is our second um second season um at this level um and as I say last season it was finding our feet didn't know much about it so it's obviously feeling new a lot on your teams in um and um obviously a lot of teams looking down for division leadership six teams down so really comparatively a lot of good teams um make sure the teams that want to try and get the ball down and play football um and I would say there's also a couple of teams that you're all traditional get it along playing a final third so um it's been a good experience enjoyed it um every week's kind of something different you can be taxed Chloe in terms of what we're trying to do and adjust our games with different different Parks different uh Summers get asked sums are still um so yeah not enjoying it but it's certainly competitive league and so was the club amateur before it came into the west of Scotland so Saint Peters I've been going Sports since 84 and so most of the boys are here come through the Youth Academy and so um it's a lot of them through the Youth Academy coming through the under-20s of development football and then they went into um obviously first team football um so we've only been in the west of Scotland the parliament for this little setting season um so um so yeah um fairly fresh and new to the actual pyramid itself and how if you could wave a magic wand if you were given the power how would you change certain things about the pyramid system from the top to the very bottom where you are I think just probably all the obvious one is opening a pyramid up um so I think there's lots of teams at different levels um I've got Ambitions plans um some are financially secure that they can go and make that happen quite quickly all those need to take a slightly different route in terms of maybe investing in youth players trying to bring youth players through um but for me the big change would be just open the parliament up give teams at the top end an opportunity to progress and let teams at the lower end have that dream of progressing as high as they can rather than having a closed show up at the moment which is frustrating and would you say there's more is there space for more teams to come into it as well um so I think at the moment they've stopped they've gonna put a cap on it um but never seen I've already said a couple years ago I didn't think they would have fourth division the west of Scotland so um who knows there's certainly some very very good amateur teams out there that would make make a difference [Music] [Music] it's like a bit of a DIY stand people can move their own seats where they want and sit well they'll obviously be the number cover area we've got as miles away from the patch yeah whenever we first set up 1968 the pets used to be facing that's right also the picture was completely okay and you've got quite a lot of space here as well we don't have access to that right okay the whole Shore Park area is owned by the local farmers okay right and it was up as far as a petrol station so was it a show ground for farming back in the day okay yeah they still do the final show maybe not here use elsewhere so the patch used to be on identity degree different angle right so it's been thundering before my day that they they undercover as well okay yeah right so in the last four or five years we've put this in yeah right the size all that is enough of the support that we do carry and at least it's covered near the patch and what I like about this ground is it's a proper ground unlike someone yeah a traditional Junior grounds yeah and not to take away from the clubs that don't have grounds I know there's limited means and stuff but I love coming to watch football in places like this but what is the biggest challenge you're on the board here and so what's the biggest challenge for you as a secretary at the club at this level um it's just Finance right trying to trying to get the money put together to to keep things going and what's the best way clubs of this level can actually make money though sponsorships um so anyone watching any local business in a local business at all that can we can tap into um but you can see we've got a lot of boards in all the way around so they have the bulk of it so all the local sports they'll pay a certain amount um for their name um on the board so the boards are all around um web pages whether it be Facebook or on Twitter yeah right so um they do that so they get they get a mention on that as I mentioned as well for those of sponsored individual players right sort of players get a player the the match there's lots of lots of different ways for sponsors to come and sponsor the team you've got to look at all avenues yeah and how about ticketing then how much is it for a fan to come in we set it we've got to set at the start of the season so for us it's six pound and three pounds concessions and the the further you go up the league still will be more expensive seven pounds maybe even eight pounds that's what a bargain six quid you can get you couldn't even get a drink you couldn't even get a Pioneer drinking eyebrows um and such pound and you can watch 11 guys per side going 22 right most of my young guys I want to try and make themselves footballers so they're trying and in the bottom and in the bottom tier which is obviously where we're watching the game today the players aren't oftentimes getting paid at all so they're doing it for the love of the game which is which is what football was originally created for back in and from your point of view if we see a player stepping up um cannot team a higher league in doing mail that's it meets our job you've actually been able to see we were there at the start people of Scotland will know about the Scottish Junior Cup but if you're from further afield the Scottish Junior Cup is essentially a non-league trophy within Scotland that was bigger you know back decades ago and in the 60s and 70s and 80s and stuff than it is now um but it's basically a massive prestigious competition in this country it's the biggest non-league trophy in this country and this club have actually won it Easter bright thistle um they did have a bit of a golden period by the sounds of things in like the 70s and 80s I do believe um whereas now obviously they are bottom tier you know football changes things go up and down but um I was warned about this Stadium by the bloke in the gym and um look I don't know why I love this ground look the makeshift nature of it all look at this right we have this sort of makeshift like I would call it a stand but it's just like a couple of little levels look imagine a big like Scottish Cup game here you could fill this out with people and we've even got the colors of the East Kilbride thistle here but like every ground you come to at this level you're just gonna see things that look a little bit out of place but were surely used Once Upon a Time as a Dugout maybe that's still here and then look look what we've got over here look at this stand ready stand in averted commas look at this look you could come and be the only bloke sitting here come and grab a pie come and grab a coffee and watch football at show Park ready for a bit of the behind the scenes look I've showed you a lot of um the editing process in certain videos before I've edited in Hampden Park I've edited at Celtic Park I've edited it Livingston kilman at Premiership grounds big teams all up and down the country but I've just been editing here in this again stand capacity of one just now um and that is me but yeah this is what I've got my laptop my airpods my other camera here Sunny G's my phone and then just my bag where I keep my camera bag and stuff but behind the thing there you go that's what I take on a non-league match days Finley yeah and you're a Celtic supporter also you come to see Eastfield by thistle play as well what do you make of the stadium here see yep just needs a few more little places for people to sit you reckon and you've just been having a kick about on there yeah yeah you play football as well yeah what position do you play oh you're a goalie Celtic you're a Celtic fan yeah they could need new goalie soon Joe Hart's just been sent off any in the Livingston game and what's the score going to be here today then he's killed Brian thistle is sick they're playing the away team who are top of the league I'd say it's probably maybe two one three one on earth in the Navy it's official mate enjoy a slight delayed kick off here the joys of non-leaf football look at this you don't get this at Park Heat [Applause] look at that even in the very depths of the Scottish pyramid system they're playing out from the back of the goal kick yes [Music] [Applause] was that an OG I think it might have been there's one note to e-skill ride Thistle and a team at the top of the league St Peters are behind her buddy are they your best ones or steaks okay we'll try one since there's been a goal let's have a celebratory pie here we go oh my God Easter bride thistle you may have just won pie of the Season award that is unreal some of the meat in there is so thick and nice like you again you wouldn't necessarily get top quality pies at the bigger grounds because they're made from like just big manufacturers but here I don't feel like you always get that it's always just like some local place that makes them you gotta come here just for this look at the liner there in between the L and the E of thistle kicking back taking it easy the refs need more support at this level one referee no official assistance as per foreign [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] goals penalty value for money off the charts [Applause] what noise [Music] not taking any of it that is why we need official assistant referees to help out these rests how can he tell what's offside he might have made a bad decision who knows the referee doesn't definitively know he's kind of got a guess for offsides and that kind of stuff because the linos are just blowing from each Blow from each Club there's one there just with the flag and he'll just stand there and just give the throw-ins um so anyone from the SFA watching anyone from higher up in Scottish Football can there not be some help for these clubs to actually get liners [Applause] [Music] can we faint space can we find Space oh okay all right [Music] go and they can't decide whether it's a corner off road look [Music] he's got me like a minute left oh he's killed by the thistle have missed all the big chances of everyone disallowed the team that our top are now winning feel for the gaffery's been through it today [Applause] [Music] if ever there was a video that advertises the fact that the official assistant referees are needed at this level in Scotland and that is it so many decisions where if there was just a linesman or woman assistant referee whatever you want to call it if there was just one of them or two of them one on each line then it would have made their referee's life so much easier it would have caused less aggro between the benches and the teams and the players and stuff and what made sure that like the decisions were like proper decisions now I know the blokes with the flag there's always one for each club that just stand on the halfway line like give the froze the vast majority of the time they are just going to give decisions that aren't biased that are not biased and are like truthful but I'm not saying that they didn't do that today right but over the course of the Season there is a hundred percent gonna be a bit of hell um a few decisions incorrect that should have been correct or whatever you know like giving things at on or are in favor of their own team and like the fact that still even a thing at this level was just unbelievable like it's one pyramid system if you win that League win the next League win the next win all your leagues and the subsequent playoffs you to be in the Premiership of Scotland and it is like literally about eight leagues below that no because it's the 70 here so six leagues below the Premiership in Scotland and they don't have freezer games I say at the time is absolutely mental anyway I'm gonna stop going on about the officiating now hopefully one day something can be done about that and I can stop going on about it all these videos yeah I was warned by that bloke in the gym about today um and I know what he means it's a rugged Stadium I've been to a way worse it's a classic there's a kraken non-ground non-league ground so if you're ever in the area if you're in Scotland you want a game to go to go and check out East Kilbride thistle there's the Big East kill bride as well who are in the lone on the Eco managed by um Mick Kennedy and Scyther is the assistant manager I've been and made many many videos there but it's my first time play and uh yeah what a joy it was um I'm literally just about to drive past where um East Kilbride play just now um the other East skill ride that is but yeah huge town here in Scotland with a couple of normally one day we'll see them both up in the Scottish Football League the spfl that'd be amazing but yeah I hope you've enjoyed this video um if you want me to go to any more bottom tier games let me know club or let me know a place or any interesting stories that you think but with this channel let me know in the comment section below and I'll go there on screen right now is my bottom tier playlist um so yeah click on that and you can all my videos honestly they're so unique so fascinating these clubs um yeah just go check it out it would really really help me out that's the best way you can help me is just like thank you so much and goodbye

Channel: Footy Adventures

Views: 72,240

Keywords: football, soccer, sport, sports, footy, footy adventures, scotland, scottish, glasgow, non league, non league football, east kilbride, vlog

Id: 7y-7zX2b60Y

Length: 22min 23sec (1343 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 24 2023