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Don't know if any of you jeep an eye on the local ex junior scene but thats some squad John Gall and Mick Kennedy are putting together at Darvel for their tilt at reaching the Lowland League.

They've certainly ruffled a few feathers amongst the other ex junior league clubs with their signing.....

Guys like Ian McShane (Falkirk), Gavin Mitchell (Queens Park), Liam Caddis (Alloa), Jordan Allan (Stranraer) could all quite easily be playing at the level they dropped down from or higher.

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  • 2 weeks later...

They're providing something positive for the people of the valley which has been lacking for well over 20 years.

Crowds will never be huge but there's scope to get people from newmilns and galston on board. Its a great day out at the games and the football is night & day from what it was even 5 years ago.

There's talk of the manager opening one of his Black Rooster takeaways in the town too. Thats the kind of commitment all clubs want to see.

He also made the effort to attend wee Paddys service on Monday with John Gall. Easy to criticise and ask questions but so far I have no reason to doubt they're in it for all the right reasons.

Edited by red_dug
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Follow them on Twitter if you want a laugh .They seem to be the most hated team in non league football and have been caught training .10 player training at Mar Hall and the coach just happens to be there but it wasn't a training session according to the chairman.They have even hired Mark Guidi as there press officer 

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Suppose it was fine when Hurlford, Medda, Buffs etc were all having money poured in from outside?

Talbot are the only ayrshire junior side who are anywhere near self sufficient at a decent level and their reign of success could end now with the changing of the league structure which could see crowds fall and revenue follow if the trophies stop flowing.

Any football club the world over are viewed with suspicion when they suddenly improve, Darvel are no different. It does concern me a wee bit that there could be a long term risk but if its done correctly there should be no issue. 

Maybe a wee bit of credit where it's due instead of the old green eyed monster rearing its head.

 

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On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2020 at 9:23 AM, killieboy said:

I mean if they just admitted they are getting bankrolled than firing out the constant rhetoric of they have a great business model!

Bankrolled maybe but unlike Buffs, Medda etc in the past, they are investing in far more than the football side.

Infrastructure is superb for a club that size.

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Will be interesting to see where the top junior teams 'natural level' is in this new pyramid setup.  My guess is the top junior sides in the country are comfortably in the top 42 sides, same in the Highland league.  Is great for Killie to be in the SPL and would be great for any of those wee towns to make it in their tilt to the big leagues, Scottish football was a closed shop for far too long.

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On 7/14/2020 at 3:23 PM, RAG said:

Will be interesting to see where the top junior teams 'natural level' is in this new pyramid setup.  My guess is the top junior sides in the country are comfortably in the top 42 sides, same in the Highland league.  Is great for Killie to be in the SPL and would be great for any of those wee towns to make it in their tilt to the big leagues, Scottish football was a closed shop for far too long.

Chris Erskine signed for East Kilbride.  The likes of Albion Rovers are in for a rude awakening if the Juniors are signing this level of talent.

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1 hour ago, Dieter's Heeder said:

Erskine turned down Queen of the South, part time suited him. Still, wonder where clubs like Darvel are getting all this money from. 

Their owner owns Brownings and as well as all their shops, now supply likes of Asda, Tesco, Aldi, M&S, Sainsbury's, Spar etc and the manager owns that Black Rooster francise so don't think they'll have issues with cash.

As said previously, they are putting a lot of money into the infrastructure unlike Buffs, Medda etc in the past so good luck to them.

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27 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Their owner owns Brownings and as well as all their shops, now supply likes of Asda, Tesco, Aldi, M&S, Sainsbury's, Spar etc and the manager owns that Black Rooster francise so don't think they'll have issues with cash.

As said previously, they are putting a lot of money into the infrastructure unlike Buffs, Medda etc in the past so good luck to them.

 

Aye, fair enough. Definitely a good thing for the village. 

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On 7/14/2020 at 2:23 PM, Squirrelhumper said:

Bankrolled maybe but unlike Buffs, Medda etc in the past, they are investing in far more than the football side.

Infrastructure is superb for a club that size.

aye, absolutely no issue with that, not going to be the first or the last. but the patter about the sustainable business model with 200 doesn't add up! Is Mick Kennedy such a great guy that they all are desperate to play for him? Not from what I've seen of him.

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I'm a Buffs fan and it's right to say that we never invested in our infrastructure when we had money, hence our move to KSC, so credit to Darvel for that.

The question around Darvel is, what kind of potential does the club have to support the level of investment being made? I always see Hurlford as the junior club of Kilmarnock, but despite past investment and success in the juniors, the club hasn't really grown much.

Darvel is much the same I think, unless they harness the potential of the Valley towns and potentially Kilmarnock itself, what potential is there for them to grow as a club. Obviously Talbot are the benchmark for a village club, but it's clear that the football club is the absolute focal point of the village and , in some ways, the whole village rallies around the club as it represents two fingers up to all of the negative things that have hit the town since the demise of the mines. Also, continuing and ongoing success has drawn supporters from near and far to watch Talbot, a remarkable achievement. Do Talbot have much more room for growth going into senior football, possibly not, it could be argued that they'll have the most to lose as I can't see them continuing to enjoy the same level of success in the new structure.

On to my own club, we've now had a year at KSC and the committee are working wonders to improve upon the infrastructure at the club for the benefit of the community as a whole. Kilwinning has a population circa 25000 so plenty of potential in terms of increasing the supporter base. The club has developed a pathway for all levels of football at KSC where all boys clubs play with a Buffs jersey on. Sponsors are wanting to invest in the club because they can see a great project emerging. This included free season tickets for all primary school age kids in the town last season.

The new structure is certainly an exciting development and the move away from junior to senior will almost certainly raise the level of ambition for many clubs. Ayrshire has a strong tradition in junior football, hopefully all of the Ayrshire clubs big and small go on to thrive in the new structure.

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