SECRETARY of Preston Athletic and former referee Andrew Waddell admitted that his side had been up against some strong competition in their bid to reach the SFL but believes there will be more opportunities to come.
The Prestonpans side had vowed to change their name to East Lothian FC if they had been successful and Waddell said: "We were disappointed with the outcome but we knew that we were up against some very good clubs who had also applied.
"We wanted
to bring the SFL to East Lothian but it wasn't to be this time around.
"The current situation is highly unsatisfactory but I am confident that there will be some kind of pyramid system up and running within the next two or three years.
"The Council announced that there would be some redevelopment yesterday and we have met some very influential people in Scottish football through this process and we have a potential new facility to have come out of it as well.
"So we take what we can out of it and move onwards and hopefully upwards again."
Andy McDonald, chairman of Edinburgh City, was also encouraged by the possibility of a pyramid system being introduced which would allow clubs to win promotion to the SFL in their own right each year.
And he said: "This is the second time that we have applied and we believe that is the logical progression for us.
"It's a shame that you have to wait for someone to drop out before you get another opportunity to apply again.
"But we have been encouraged by the whole process this time around and the SFA and the working group they have created to look at the opportunities of a pyramid system gives us hope for the future and it is something that we would actively support.
"But for now we are back in the East of Scotland League, we have to focus on that, try to win it and come back and knock on their door again."
The full article contains 340 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
