Lowland League relegation rules vote and Old Firm B team plans explained

The 16 member clubs at tier five of the Scottish football pyramid met on Monday night to vote on proposed changes to relegation rules for next season.

They were presented with three different options to increase the number of Lowland League teams relegated to the feeder leagues below. But the member clubs voted for no change.

Only the bottom club is automatically relegated. The second bottom team can also go down to keep the number of clubs at 16. That will happen this season, for example, if champions Bonnyrigg Rose lose to the Highland League winners, who then beat League 2 bottom club Cowdenbeath in the pyramid play-off final.

Bonnyrigg would stay in the Lowland League and Cowdenbeath would drop down too. In that scenario, the Lowland League bottom two will go down. But one down is generally a far more likely outcome.

Three new relegation options were on the table on Monday night: a minimum of two relegation places; two-to-three clubs to go down; and an ambitious three-down-three-up proposal involving the three feeder leagues at tier six below.

Before exploring the three new options, member clubs were first asked to vote for change or the status quo. They voted 9-7 in favour of the status quo in a secret ballot.

We know Bonnyrigg Rose voted for change because treasurer Brendan Parkinson immediately announced his resignation from the Lowland League board as a result of the outcome.

Most clubs, however, are keeping their cards close to their chests.

The East of Scotland, West of Scotland and South of Scotland leagues at tier six will continue to battle it out for just one promotion slot between them.

Like this season, if all three champions have the correct licence they contest a three-way play-off for one promotion