Fans and officials at two Moray clubs have opposed a Scottish League feeder system which could threaten the future of the Highland League.

Last night (Thursday 21st January 2010) at a league management meeting clubs discussed the merits of a pyramid system which could pave the way for North clubs to gain promotion to the Scottish League through a seperate feeder division.

But both Buckie Thistle and Rothes want the Highland League to remain as it is following a consultation with their supporters.

Mark Duncan chairman of current league leaders Buckie revealed how a recent poll on the club's website showed that 91% of fans are against the pyramid league.

And Rothes counterpart Robbie Thomson said a recent fans' forum showed that his club's supporters were 100% behind keeping the status quo.

It is understood that some Aberdeenshire FA clubs could support a breakaway into a feeder league, a move which Duncan believes could spell doom for a Highland League which has existed for more than a century.

"The thing I have a problem with is any attempt to split up the Highland League," said the Jags' supremo.  "If you were to take six or seven teams out, it would finish the league as we know it.

"It's a great league, one of the most competitive in Britain.  I don't know why we are going down the road of looking to break all that up.  There has to be common sense attached."

Thomson said that after listening to the fans' views, the Speyside club would be instructing their secretary, Garry Davies to state their opposition to any league reconstruction.

"We met quite a while ago on this and made our decision.  Our fans are not keen on this at all, and they are 100% behind keeping things the way they are.

"My own view is that a pyramid could ruin the Highland League.  I'm sure a lot of the clubs will see it the same way."

The proposed structure would see 10-team feeder leagues formed north and south, with the winners playing off for a place in the SFL.  The bottom team in Division 3 would then drop back into one of the feeder leagues, and there would also be scope for the teams left in the Highland League to gain promotion to the North feeder.

Buckie Thistle's online poll allowed all football fans to have their say, and Duncan revealed that followers of other Highland League clubs had voiced their own concerns with the proposed new system.

He said his own personal view was that Scottish football needs to move away from the repetitive nature of 10-team leagues with clubs playing each other four times over the course of a season.

Calls have been made nationally for Scotland's top division, the SPL, to be extended to 16 teams playing each other only once and reducing the amount of games played each year.

"I can't understand why the Highland League would want to go in the opposite direction," he said.  "We have an 18-team league at present and that is far better that a 10-team set up."

Duncan said Jags fans enjoy their away trips from Wick in the north to Cove in the east but would baulk at travelling to places like Stranraer and Annan on a regular basis.  The financial implications of long road trips on the club's finances would also have implications, he added, as would the cost of meeting all of the criteria drawn up in the SFA's club licensing rules.

He believes there could be an alternative route for ambitious Highland League clubs to take in the future if they still harbour hopes of joining the SFL set-up.

"The way football is going at the moment, some clubs could end up going out of business.  I'm of the view that there will be future opportunities for Highland League teams to get in if they want, without any need for this pyramid system."

And he fears if there is a move from Aberdeenshire FA clubs in favour of the restructured leagues, it could force Buckie to move towards the North FA where he believes there is more support for the existing Highland League.

"I also find it unusual that the Highland League has become the forerunner for this.  We are being asked to move on this now and yet, from what I'm being told, the South of Scotland teams are not being asked to comply with it for another 12 months.

"I just don't see the point of setting up a seperate league which would endanger the future of the Highland League," he said.

"And with 91% of our fans going against it, we can see they feel the same."

Elgin City chairman Graham Tatters also commented on the proposed pyramid system saying: "Clubs need to know that as well as all the hoops they have to jump through, they could end up spending many thousands of pounds and then end up coming back down to where they started.

"I just feel it would be a rude awakening for some people to realise how expensive it is to maintain things in this league.

"To meet the criteria to get into the Third Division and then risk being knocked back out of it would be quite severe."

Tatters is not a fan of 10-team leagues like Division 3, and believes feeder leagues will not solve the problems of the structure of Scottish football higher up the food chain.

"It's all well and good starting a pyramid system but what they should be looking at is why the current system is not working.

"There needs to be a more competitive set-up in the SPL with more teams involved, and less dvisions in the Scottish League with teams only playing each other once, home and away."

The City chairman said any ambitious Highland League sides looking to make the big step up need to be fully prepared for all the administrative costs before they even start to stregthen their player pool for a tougher standard of football.

By Craig Christie, Northern Scot