It was confirmed on Friday 2nd January 2009 that a total of FOUR clubs have made applications for membership of the Scottish Highland Football League for next season (2009/2010).  The four clubs, all from the juniors, are Banks O'Dee, Turriff United, Formartine and Strathspey Thistle.

There were comments made in the Press & Journal on Wednesday 31st December by two Highland League Managers, CHARLIE DUNCAN from Fraserburgh and JOHN SHERAN of Cove Rangers.

CHARLIE DUNCAN said "I would be in favour of taking in as many new clubs as we can as long as they can match the ground criteria laid down by the league".

"If clubs have a decent ground and floodlights I see no reason why we can't welcome them into the Highland League, although if three clubs are admitted from the Aberdeenshire FA area it would cause an imbalance with the north region, so it would be good if we could also see an application from there."

"I think that if we can take in ambitious clubs with good facilities then so much the better.  Everything moves on, as the performances of Cove Rangers and more recently, Inverurie Locos have shown."

Should the three clubs be successful in their applications, the North-East of Scotland will become even more competitive as Highland League Clubs compete for players, but the Broch Manager does not expect his club to suffer.

He said "We have an all-local policy, so it wouldn't affect us at all, but if three Aberdeenshire Clubs do come in it could well affect the likes of Cove, Locos, Keith, Huntly and Deveronvale, all of whom have a fairly large contingent of players from the Aberdeen area.  With new clubs coming in that could dillute the number of players available".

"Junior clubs have already proved this season that they can beat Highland League clubs, so they have nothing to lose by joining now."

"Wick Academy have been a great addition after taking a year or two to find their feet in the Highland League.  They are now an excellent football side and it didn't surprise me at all that they went to Huntly last weekend and came away with a 3-2 victory."

JOHN SHERAN of Cove Rangers does not believe that bigger means better for the quality of the devision, he said "It is a great Highland League but, with the addition of three new teams, we could run the risk of ending up like a Junior side ourselves".

"I am a little concerned with all the speculation about these junior clubs lining up to join the Highland League as it will only serve to dillute the quality of the Highland League."

"There are a limited number of players available in and around Aberdeen and we could see the likes of two or three players leaving Deveronvale and possibly going to Turriff United, while we might see a few leave us and go to Banks O'Dee.  For me, we run the risk of dilluting the quality of the league."

Interesting times therefore lie ahead for the future of the Highland League and it will very be interesting to see how many clubs are voted in by the member clubs on Thursday 12th February.

It appears as if either one or three clubs will be allowed in on this occassion, it should also be remembered that Cove themselves have ambition's to leave the Highland League and have previously made two applicatons to join the Scottish League, narrowly missing out in a vote only last summer to Annan Athletic .

If Cove had been successfull then there would only have been 14 teams left in the Highland League, so there is definately a requirement for a new team or teams coming into the league. 

The vote by the member clubs is very important and must be made for what is best for the future of HIGHLAND LEAGUE FOOTBALL.