New amateur football set-up will increase competitiveness

That is the view of those who run the amateur game in and around the Capital, who believe a single association can help yield stronger clubs on a national scale.

Member clubs of the Edinburgh Sunday Amateur Football Association (ESAFA), founded in 1968, will be integrated within the century-old Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA (LEAFA), meaning the latter's Sunday section will, with a handful of further additions, now comprise more than 50 clubs in total.

Of the 16 current ESAFA clubs, all but one will transfer to LEAFA's new-look set-up, which could consist of four divisions of around 12 teams each.

Robert McGeechie, Secretary of ESAFA, who has cited his recent ill-health as a major reason behind the move, said: "We have reached an amicable arrangement for our teams to transfer to the Sunday Section of LEAFA. For them, it will mean a bigger league, with more variety and more competition.

"I approached them about the possibility and the response from David and Rex (LEAFA chairman Charles Gallacher] was excellent.

For David Ramage, Vice President of LEAFA's Sunday Section, the merger of two associations whose aims and motives are fundamentally the same is a straightforward and positive step forward. He said: "We had informal discussions two years ago, more or less when our association's Sunday leagues started. The catalyst was Robert approaching us about integration of his teams into our league, and he invited Charles Gallacher and I to a meeting with the clubs to discuss coming under the LEAFA umbrella.

"There will be more than 50 teams in the Sunday Section, including our morning divisions, and we will look at league reconstruction and cup competitions at the end of the season." For the past four years, three associations have governed Sunday amateur football. The Edinburgh and District Sunday Amateur FA, which is not involved in the amalgamation and whose officials are understood to be against such a move to create a single local amateur association, will remain the second largest - and become the only other organisation to run official amateur football in and around the Capital.

The move towards the merger came after McGeachie announced his decision to stand down while treasurer Gary Gordon, who has served ESAFA for 25 years, intimated he will leave at the end of the current campaign due to increasing work commitments.McGeechie will continue in his role of match secretary of the Scottish (Sunday) Amateur Trophy and has been invited to become a part of the Executive Committee at LEAFA, a position he intends to formally accept.

Officials at the two merging associations would like to thank the Scottish Amateur Football Association for its assistance in ensuring the transfer of teams from one league to the other for the 2011/12 season has gone ahead smoothly.

"There will be more than 50 teams in the Sunday Section, including our morning divisions"