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View from the Top! – The Chairman’s Newsletter.
This
publication is aimed at Managers in the League but feel free to copy on to
players and supporters.
Yet another
season comes to a climax as we near the end of long campaign. Dates for the Cup
Finals have now been set for 29th April, mini-soccer and 6th
May for 11 a side. Both sets of finals will be played at Gainsborough Sports
Centre with the Plate competition expected to kick off at
I would also
like to bring to your attention that we have received a number of complaints
about racial comments made to players and officials at League games. Clubs must
play their part in making sure that officials, players and supporters understand
this is not acceptable behaviour on or off the field of play. We as a League
will investigate and take action if a complaint is upheld. The FA will almost
certainly take action if they receive a complaint.
I would like to
say thank you to those teams that have agreed to postpone their games rather
than claim the points when their opponents have found it difficult to fulfil
their fixtures.
Woodbridge Town
Youths Under 13`s have successfully won the first round of the National Tesco
Cup competition. They now look forward to a Regional & National final before
a possible Home Nations final at the Reebok Stadium. The league wishes them
every success for their coming games in the competition, well done &
Good Luck.
Referee
Info
All 11 a side
teams should now be aware that the League has adopted the SFA process for
marking Referees. Referees should be given a mark between 1 and 100.
I have also
received a number of reports from Referees about abusive behaviour from both
Club officials and supporters. This will not be tolerated and action will be
taken if Referees feel the need to make an official complaint. Clubs should
remember that officials, supporters and players are required to abide by the
League Code of Conduct. In addition they should have their own Code of Conduct
published and distributed to all Club members and supporters.
New U8
Teams for 06/07
If Clubs can
let the League Secretary know ASAP if they plan to enter an U8s side next season
we would like to start the process of building the management and league for
this age group structure much earlier this year.
Dean Welham has
been acting as the co-ordinator for the East Anglia Cup fixtures. The various
age groups have had mixed fortunes in this competition as illustrated below.
U12,
Won first match 3-1 away to Milton Keynes, Lost second match at home 2-0 to
Colchester, drew with Royston on 12th March. Did not qualify for Final.
U13,
Won first match 4-1 at home to Royston. Won against playing
U14,
Won first match 7-3 away to
Congratulations
and good luck to U13s.
We will have to
review our entry into this competition at the AGM as supporting the travel costs
for an increased number of games has put a strain on the League finances.
Fair
Play
We will be
nominating teams from the 11 a side age groups for the Suffolk Fair Play award
again this year. Once again the criteria for selection has been changed and we
will be able to nominate up to 6 teams. However, for any team to stand a chance
of winning we will need to gather information to support each nomination.
Information
on Fixtures and Results
Martin
Taylor continues to do an excellent job of getting our Fixtures & results on
the FA web site. You can now find the information at http://full-time.thefa.com/gen/Index.do?league=8081905
as well as the League web site www.jlfootball.com.
Notes
from
Goal post
funding is still available for both mini-soccer and 11 a side. All Clubs should
have received an outline of the process for funding applications from SFA.
Compulsory CRB
checks for Referees are now not expected to be compulsory until 06/07 season.
There is a new charge of £15 for the completion of the check. The SFA Handbook
will indicate which Referees have been through the CRB checks and it will be up
to Clubs to check Referee status as part of their pre-match risk assessment.
The FA have
also confirmed that the process of re-registering players with the League by
signature on a team “retained list of players” is acceptable for next
season. This is the process we ran last year and will run again for the coming
season. This does not change the ruling about players becoming free agents at
the end of the season.
31st
May a Date to Remember.
Completed team
registration forms for existing and new teams for the 06/07 season must be with
the League Secretary by the 31st May. Cheque with Annual subscription
should be attached to registration forms. If Clubs have problems with finances
the League may accept post dated cheques or allow deferred payment from
established Clubs. Request for differed payment must be sent to the League
Secretary for
If Clubs want
to enter new teams in age groups (other than U8) then they should send in a
completed registration form to the League Secretary ASAP. If we are over
subscribed in an age group spaces will be allocated on first come first served
basis.
Please note
registrations and related correspondence will only be accepted from Club
Secretaries not individual team Managers.
Nominations for
We also need to
have any suggestions for rule changes or other changes to the constitution in
writing by the 31st May. Again these need to be sent to the League
Secretary, no proposals will be accepted for discussion on the night of the AGM.
Roger Clarke
Chairman.
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