Why is a Glasgow team joining the South of Scotland league?

At present, all the participants in the set-up, which can trace its origins back to 1892, are from Dumfries and Galloway - but that is set to change next season.

Saltire City FC - playing at Budhill Park in Shettleston - are set to do battle with their rivals from further south.

But how did a team from Glasgow end up as the northernmost team in the league?

The man behind the club - Paul Davies - has been involved in football for a long time, most recently with Glasgow Girls FC.

It was about a year-and-a-half ago that he started looking at the possibility of setting up a team and joining the SOSFL.

"That process started 16 months ago when there was no entry into the West of Scotland Football League (WOSFL)," he said.

"The only entry you could get was if a team folded."

He said he decided to carry on his dialogue with the SOSFL even when league restructuring came along in the WOSFL which might have allowed his team to enter.

"I just felt, having managed there, for seven or eight years - it is quite saturated," he said.

"From where we play in Glasgow we've probably got five or six teams just round about the area and we are all vying for that same type of player.

"We were wanting to look at a different type of player and make it more a player pathway and I felt the SOSFL gave us that opportunity."

He said he was confident his team could hold their own in the league.

"We can go and be competitive," he said.

"We can look at players from 17 to 24 years old and give them the challenge as well where possibly they wouldn't get that in the fourth division or third division in the west."

At present, they have about 10 players signed up and hope to have a full squad in place by the end of March.

They have also been working with a company on using artificial intelligence to identify players they can develop.

And what would success look like in their first year?

"Being competitive in the league - going down there with a young team and competing with the teams," Paul said.

"Using year one as a baseline monitor of where we want to be.

"I have had a look, I was down at St Cuthberts the other night and my assistant manager was a manager in that league with St Cuthberts.

"We have got a good idea of the league and its standard."

The SOSFL is currently on the lookout for more teams to join its ranks and has welcomed Saltire City on board.

It is set to lose a couple of teams to the new Lowland League West set-up and has been casting its net outside its traditional heartland.

That could mean more teams from beyond the boundaries of Dumfries and Galloway will sign up soon.