JUNIOR football in the West of Scotland is to undergo its biggest shake-up in 15 years.

Clubs voted by a margin of more than 4:1 in favour of changing the outdated league structure from next season, 2018/19 at the SJFA West Region AGM last Wednesday following a proposal from Whitletts Victoria.

The current Super League structure of a 12 team Premier Division, 14 team First Division and regionalised feeder leagues will be scrapped in favour of four divisions of 16.

Following on from the professional leagues, the new divisions will be called the Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two.

Of the 12 teams in the Premier Division this season, 10 will be guaranteed a spot in the new Premiership with the bottom two facing a play-off.

The top four teams in the First Division will be automatically promoted with fifth and sixth playing-off against the bottom two Premier Division sides.

There will be no automatic relegation from the First Division either with the top three in the Ayrshire District League and the Central District First Division promoted to the new Championship.

The bottom two in the First Division will play-off against the teams finishing fourth in the Ayrshire District League and the Central District First Division.

Meanwhile a second motion put forward by the club regarding fixture scheduling will result in the opportunity for better advanced promotion of the junior game and proves that there is a desire for change within the junior game.

Whitletts chairman John Dalton said: “We have a fantastic product in junior football. Great entertainment at a low cost to supporters and the idea behind these two motions will afford better opportunities for the promotion of the game by both the Clubs and the Region itself and allow clubs a better opportunity to progress.

“The current league set up has been in place for 15 years and was an outcome to placate some clubs at the time who were against the merger of the Ayrshire and Central Leagues. We are now one region and our future outlook should be as a West Region and not as Ayrshire or Central clubs.

“League reconstruction will also provide a level playing field in that every club will have a guarantee of 15 home league matches every season. This will allow clubs to budget accordingly, guaranteeing additional home matches in which to raise revenue through the gate or by means of sponsorship. In the coming season Ayrshire District League (ADL) clubs will have just 10 home league matches which is insufficient to grow and develop a club accordingly.

“The new league structure will also provide better guaranteed opportunities for clubs to gain promotion, establish themselves in the higher level and also rids the game of the anomaly where a club gaining promotion from the ADL will automatically be promoted into the second tier whilst some Central League clubs require to win two promotions before achieving the same outcome.

“Some clubs expressed their concerns about the increase in travelling to games throughout the region but ambitious clubs just now seeking promotion to the Superleague do so in the knowledge that they have to make those journeys. With the road network we have now with the M77, M80, M74 and M80 travelling should not be the issue it was even 15 years ago."

Clubs also backed by an overwhelming majority, a second motion from Vics which will see clubs get more advanced notice of their fixtures next season.

“This has been a contentious issue for a number of years for some clubs. Only getting one or two week's notice of games makes it very difficult for clubs to maximise their potential by generating additional sponsorship and hospitality but also there is no real structure to the issuing of fixtures. Last season Whitletts played six of our first eight league matches at home which makes it extremely difficult for clubs cash flow throughout the season while we also had the situation where Largs Thistle had an incredible 58-day gap between their final two league matches.

“By getting notice of fixtures for the first half of the season and then advanced notice of fixtures from New Year onwards, clubs will be able to forward plan for the season ahead. Of course there will be Scottish Cup replays and postponements due to inclement weather but these matches would simply be arranged for the first available free date,"

the Vics chairman added.