The former Mining town of Cowdenbeath has seen its Scottish League side go deeper into the SPFL this season with a second successive demotion. Only a couple of seasons ago the self styled "Blue Brazil" were enjoying life in the Championship and their best placing in the Scottish League since a solitary season in the top division (First Division) in season 1970-71 and an appearance in the League Cup semi final during the same campaign, where they lost to eventual winners Rangers 2-0 at Hampden.
Now, after successive relegations, the Fife club are in freefall and although optimism reigns with some backers of the Blue Brazil that the Central Park side (soon to celebrate 100 years at their controversial stadium by the way, which also hosts Stock Car Racing) can bounce straight back to League One those with a more intimate knowledge of Cowden club history and infrastructure may see that as a hard task for a shoestring outfit still relying on the kindness of volunteering locals to stay afloat. There has been no decision on whether or not former Hibs and Killie striker Colin Nish will continue as manager next season at Cowdenbeath but Nish's tenure at Central Park so far has been something of a tightrope walk. The 2015/16 season saw Cowden continually flirt with the relegation zone and it was no surprise to many in the Kingdom and beyond when 'Beath finally faced a play off for survival in the third tier.
They came up woefully short against League Two 4th placed side Queens Park at Hampden (The Spiders winning 2-0) and although the Fifers redeemed themselves amongst their support with a full blooded display in the 2nd Leg of the semi final tie, winning 1-0, their level of inconsistency throughout the season always saw them in danger of returning to the basement of the SPFL. If the sinking feeling continues next season there is no longer a safety net to protect Cowden and with a budget that sees purse strings continually tightened at Central Park there is as much chance of play offs to preserve league status in May 2017 as there is a swift return to League One. Some might see that statement as controversial but those who have followed the club for many years won't.
East Stirlingshire are still very much in the hunt for SPFL football next season locked at 1-1 with Lowland League Champs Edinburgh City going into the Pyramid play off 2nd Leg at Ochilview but should 'Shire disappear into the Lowland League on the weekend it may be a signal to other traditional Scottish fitba' names that their days as a Scottish League side are now seriously numbered.
Cowdenbeath could be next to face a fight for their SPFL existence after years of staying afloat on a life raft of youth footballers, good intentions from a charitable few in the Fife town and the occasional managerial find, like Mixu Paatelainen, who got the Blue Brazil promoted in his opening season as a manager in 2005-06 following a star studded playing career at Dundee Utd, Hibs, Aberdeen and Bolton. Could Mixu return to his first managerial love amongst the tyres and patched up terraces of Central Park ten years after setting Cowden on the road to their best era as a league club since the 1920's?
One thing is for sure, whoever takes the hot seat at Cowdenbeath FC next season will face life with a club who are going through a cyclical crisis that usually takes a long period of time to address. With no barrier between league and non-league football in Scotland now keep an eye on the Blue Brazil when league hostilities resume after the summer. Although, they could confound the critics and indeed "bounce back" to League One and maybe their true fighting weight in the Scottish League set-up there is just as much chance of them facing the kind of survival games both Montrose and East Stirlingshire have had to face in recent times, and of course we all know how Cowden seem to love the play offs, as they are the club who have made most appearances in them since they were introduced to the end of season finale north of the border.
Should Edinburgh City be promoted in the Pyramid play off tie it will be the closest Cowdenbeath have to a derby next season with their county rivals Dunfermline Athletic, Raith Rovers and East Fife now all above them in the SPFL. Would Mixu be up for another relegation battle or would he have the knowledge to get Cowden moving again? If Colin Nish stays he must seriously address erratic displays on the pitch and whether or not he wants to be a manager or a player manager at the Blue Brazil.
100 years since Central Park was established as a sort of Fife Maracana back in the time when crowds of 20,000 upwards were the norm, and indeed expected, even at Cowdenbeath, the reality of 21st Century Scottish football life could hit another minnow of the Scottish game like the proverbial bolt from the blue.