Lanarkshire Live Sport can reveal how the new West of Scotland League Conferences will shape up after clubs last night voted on whether or not they will play this season.
Teams had until 8pm last night to declare if they will take part in the WOSL Conferences without promotion or relegation for this season, set to kick-off a week today on October 24.
Clubs will still have a 'cooling off' period until November 14, where they can pull out without fear of penalties. That would likely cause more mayhem with at least three sets of fixtures having been played by that point.
A number of clubs announced their decisions to fans via social media over the course of the past 24 hours.
Following the deadline, a further four clubs intimated their withdrawal from playing in the leagues.
And Shotts Bon-Accord are among the latest to pull out from Lanarkshire, following Cambuslang Rangers' withdrawal yesterday.
There was no further withdrawals from the Premier Division, which will continue with 15 teams following the exit of Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock, Glenafton Athletic, Kilbirnie Ladeside and Pollok.
In the Conferences, Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Arthurlie, Cambuslang Rangers, Girvan, Petershill, Saltcoats Victoria, Shotts Bon Accord and Whitletts Victoria have all dropped out for the 2020/21 campaign.
Following the votes, the WOSL Interim Management Group met over Zoom to discuss the Tier 7 set-up and we can reveal Conferences A,B and C will kick-off as follows:
CONFERENCE ARenfrew
St Roch's
Craigmark
Lesmahagow
Bellshill
Maryhill
Kello
Muirkirk
Ashfield
Maybole
Annbank
Ardeeer
Glasgow Uni
CONFERENCE B
Neilston
Gartcairn
Irvine Vics
Port Glasgow
Greenock
Carluke
Wishaw
Johnstone
Vale of Leven
Forth
Vale of Clyde
Lugar
Sr Cadoc's
CONFERENCE C
Kilsyth
Dalry
Shettleston
Lanark
Glasgow Perthshire
Larkhall
EK Thistle
Royal Albert
Yoker
Thorniewood
St Anthony's
Newmains
Drumchapel
In statement to clubs, the WOSL IMG said: "We discussed various options, we considered what some clubs had said and also what others hadn’t said. We set up pro’s and con’s for all options and considered them all.
"After a long debate, we settled on the option that we think is best.
"We decided to use the same formula that was used when the Conferences were originally set up.
"We ranked the teams according to their final placings in last season’s WRSJFA leagues. Then placed them into 3 Conferences using the ‘Serpentine Method’ as we had before. The 3 non-junior teams were placed into the same Conferences as before.
"We believe this option best suits the needs of the clubs in that it retains as much as possible the original configuration and maintains a competitive edge and has a balance in strength across all three leagues."
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