LEAGUE SECRETARY ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15

I start my report by sounding like a broken record by commenting on the impact of the weather again this year. What was pleasing was the number of clubs who made efforts to get games played when their pitches were unavailable with is greatly appreciated by the Fixture Secretaries in particular.

On the field.

Once again the League’s expansion continued with the Over 45 Competition increasing to two Divisions. The slight area of concern is the increasing number of times when fixtures were unfulfilled.

Congratulations to all the Competition winners this season. Special mentions to Manford Way who won the Premier Division title for the first time and Hutton Old Boys who retained the County Cup. There will be two new names in the Premier Division next season as Leigh Ramblers and Heath Park continued their progression up the Competition. It was also good to see original members of the Competition Herongate return to winning ways by taking the Over 45 East Division title. There were also first honours for Forest Glade (Division Four East Champions) and Newport (Division Four Cup Winners).

The Cup Finals produced some excellent football with my personal highlight being Hawkwell Athletic winning the Division Two Cup. Firstly there was the sheer surprise and delight on the Hawkwell player’s faces that they had managed to hang on under intense pressure from Little Waltham, then there was the genuine applause and congratulations from Little Waltham. It showed all that is good in football.

Discipline and Fair Play

On field discipline was mixed this season. On the positive side twelve teams did not receive any yellow or red cards during the season which is excellent. However we did have two games abandoned during the season and we had one Club attend a meeting to discuss what they were going to be doing to improve their disciplinary record. Having reviewed the records at the end of the season five Clubs will be invited to the first Management Committee meeting of the season so we have assurances that we will see an improvement in their discipline in 2015/16.

The most disappointing incident in the season was points being awarded as a result of a team playing an ineligible player in a game that affected the outcome of the Premier Division title. The fact that players in the team knew the player was not registered and knew their opponents would be Champions if they won the game but still played the player is inexcusable. We would not expect to ever have a repeat of this by any Club. All Clubs are on notice as a result of this report that should we have the same situation arise Clubs can expect the Management Committee to apply the stiffest punishments allowed and we will consider recommending to the other member Clubs that the offending Club be removed from the League for the following season.

Once again the Divisionally Sportsmanship winners will not have to play their Annual Subscription to the League next season. Due to these awards and the Administration Awards mentioned later in my report five Clubs within the League will not be paying any Annual Subscription for the coming season.

Administration

Following my disappointment in the 2013/14 season with delays in the return of information it was really pleasing to see the massive improvement last season. There were delays with affiliations which was due to the launch of this area within the Whole Game System. The League has been involved in user testing for the Football Association of the disciplinary sections of the system. We expect this to produce major time and cost savings for clubs once this rolls out to all teams.  Eighteen Clubs did not incur a fine or cause extra work for League Officers during the League’s financial year. They have received a £50 reduction in their Annual Subscription if they run one team and £80 if they run two or more sides. Particularly pleasing was two of these sides incurred numerous fines during the previous season, so it does show what improvements can be made.

Sponsorship

I would like to thank Greene King for their continued sponsorship. This money has enabled us to return money to clubs via the sportsmanship and admin awards already mentioned and by paying for Assistant Referees for Cup Semi Finals and Divisional deciding games where this was possible.

Referees

This was a really difficult year Referee wise. During the summer we lost over twenty Referees due to retirement, injury and moving aboard amongst other reasons. This said we managed to appoint to all games bar two on the first week of the season. I would especially like to thank John Long of Old Parmiterians for his help with Referees during the season. If you know of any Referees who may be interested in joining the League Referee Panel please let me know.

League Officers

I would like to thank all the League Officers for their efforts. Without the hundreds of hours of time they all give up the League would not run as smoothly as it does. We have been looking for a Publicity Secretary and a Website Officer for a number of years without success. With the growth of the League Simon Marshall’s time is full with the Discipline Secretary role. So rather than looking for two posts to fill we are looking for an Assistant Secretary to help with the Secretary role. This will then free up time for me to update the website on a more regular basis. If you know of anyone who might be interested helping please contact me for further information.

ECFA County Representative

On a personal note I would like to thank the Clubs from the League for their support so I have become the Veterans Football County Representative. I will be striving to ensure that the voice of Veterans Football gets heard. If you need any help or advice with regards to County matters please do not hesitate to contact me.

Martin Berry

Secretary