The 22nd season of the League finished on a very wet note with April being the wettest ever recorded. Until March the League fixture programme was on course to finish without the usual flurry of evening fixtures - but along came the rain and the League had to extend the season by one week to complete the fixtures.

With the introduction of Intermediate Status next season many meetings have been held to formulate the standards also a Special General Meeting was held in February to pass the necessary Rule Amendments to accommodate this status. Inspections have been carried out at grounds who applied to join the new League. Many Clubs had to carry out improvement work on their facilities to reach the required new standards - to those who achieved this congratulations, as at some grounds this was not an easy task. It is hoped that more Junior Clubs in the County will take advantage of the new Intermediate Status and set out a programme to improve their standards and join the League.

This season meetings have been held with the Joint Liaison Committees of the Screwflx Direct Western League and Complete Music Hellenic League. After the Screwfixt Direct Western League meeting at Taunton it was pleasing to report back that Corsham Town Football Club had been accepted for promotion under the agreed Pyramid system. Biddestone Football Club had applied for the Hellenic League but sadly did not finish in a promotion position.

Skurrays of Swindon and Marlborough continued to support the League and Mr Derek Walker, Managing Director of Skurrays must be thanked for his support to the League. Derek has confirmed that this sponsorship will continue for another season.  Addkey Print Ltd again sponsored the Senior Knock-out Cup Competition and we are deeply indebted to Doug and Chris Perry for this sponsorship - again this will continue next season. Fountain Trophies of Bristol continued their sponsorship of the Junior Cup Competition and Paul Sebastion has also indicated their continue support next season. A new Intermediate Knock-out Cup Competition will be organised next season and Chris Plaister kindly offered to sponsor this Competition which will be known as the Plaister Auto's Intermediate Cup Competition. Mr Ken Clarke of Westernsport Trophies have continued to provide the Referees Appreciation Award which this season will be presented to Ray Wiltshire of Salisbury. Ray have given many years of loyal service to the League and will collect the award at the Annual General Meeting. The League records its sincere thanks to all our sponsors and hope they will continue their association with the League for many years to come.

Representative fixtures were played against the Hampshire Football League at Alton Town which resulted in an excellent 3-1 win and Dorset Combination at Shaftesbury Town which unfortunately resulted in a 1-0 defeat. The squad of players which represented the League on these two occasions did the League proud and were truly ambassadors to the sport. The inevitable task of Team Manager was again undertaken by Stuart Withers and what a excellent job he did. With last minute "cry-offs" plus injuries after the squad had been announced, Stuart worked miracles to produce such fine results.

It would be very remiss of me not to report that during the season our President Don Paget had the misfortune to break his ankle - but he is making a full recovery. If you see Don at the Annual General Meeting why not ask him to tell you the story of the clothing the nurses found for him to wear home at plastering his leg in hospital.

As I sit down to write my report, I reflect on the past season as one preparing for next season, when the greatest change in our structure will take place since the formation of the League in 1976. The introduction by the Wiltshire FA of Intermediate Status. Much work has been done by the Officers and Committee in formulating the rules and ground inspections, particularly our Secretary Pete Ackrill and I personally thank him for that.

My appreciation also goes to Brian Busson in his first season as Referees Appointments Secretary for a job well done. Congratulations to Corsham Town FC as Division I Champions and wish them continued success as they join the Screwfix Direct Western League next season. To all League and Cup winners may I extend my congratulations on achieving your goal.

My thanks to our main sponsor Skurrays for their continued support and to Addkey Print and Fountain Trophies who sponsor our Cup Competitions. To the Officers and Management Committee my sincere thanks for all your hard work and support during the past season.

In closing may I wish every club all the success you wish yourself for the coming season.

D.C. Kilford

Chairman

In this my 14th Annual Report on the accounts of the League I am pleased to say that the surplus on the years working is £147. This surplus is £1,300 less than last year but in the light of substantially reduced income i.e. excluding the grant from the Wilts FA can be considered very satisfactory. The income from Fines was down by about £900 to £1,959. This is the lowest since season 1992/93 when it was £1895. Subscriptions were down by about £100 and registration fees by about £80.

During the year the League purchased a Computer for use by our General Secretary at a cost of £1,200 which was offset by a generous grant from the Wilts FA of £1,000. The League is again most grateful to Skurrays for their sponsorship in the sum approaching £1,200 which was similar to last year. Without such sponsorship a loss of around £ 1000 would have been made.

Relating to expenditure, administration expenses overall excluding increased honoraria were similar to last year. You will recall that at last year’s Annual General Meeting the Clubs kindly agreed to increase the honoraria paid to League Officers and this is reflected in the years accounts. It is not proposed to ask for an increase in honoraria at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

The Management Committee is very appreciative of the continued support of both Addkey Print Ltd and Fountain Trophies for our Cup Competitions and to Westernsport Trophies (Mr K Clarke) for the Referees A ward.

Thank you again to Mr Peter Mundy for reviewing the League accounts and for his always helpful advice. He generally carries out this task around the Easter holiday period and when he is getting prepared for the cricket season. The time he gives to our League is much appreciated.

Finally thank you to all Club Secretaries and Treasurers for their co-operation during the last year.

J.S. Northover

Hon. Treasurer

The season seemed to pass more quickly than ever and generally I experienced comparatively few administration problems. My thanks therefore to Club Secretaries for their continued help.

One area of worthy note however, is that 9 Clubs kicked off on the opening day without knowing whether their players had been registered! This being (again) due to late submission of forms and not providing a S.A.E.for return of acknowledgement slips. It is in the interest of all concerned to comply with this requirement. I appreciate that for one this is an annual 'whinge' but your co-operation will be appreciated. Due to a Rule amendment, next season I must receive all registration forms not later than 7.00 pm on the day prior to the date of the players first match for the Club concerned. Also, please submit "end of season" result sheet promptly!

Total transfers (45) and registrations (1,524) were both the lowest recorded since the League was formed.

May I conclude by inviting all new Club secretaries to contact me with any enquires or problems they may experience.

Unfortunately, I shall miss this year's Annual General Meeting as my daughter has chosen that day to get married! Therefore, best wishes to all of you for an enjoyable summer break.

R.J.M. Wirdnam

Hon. Registration Secretary

Well I've made it to the end of my first season. It has been very enjoyable, but I was worried at the beginning about what percentage of the games I would be able to cover. Apart from two weeks at the early stage of the season when I was eight referees short, the rest of the weeks have not been too bad. On 24 occasions there were a full accompaniment of referees this allowed me to go out and meet with the teams and match officials.

When early in March the April fixtures were issued I thought that the season was almost over and I could start to relax. How wrong I was, April was a very difficult month for me with very few referees available for evening games and the fixtures changing and accumulating week by week. With the final games being played on 9th May. The final figures for the season was very encouraging in that I managed to cover 96.5% of all appointments. Next season it is going to be difficult to improve on this figure because the League will be requiring more officials next season.

I have enjoyed the position and got a great deal of satisfaction out of it. Now for a few months break to recharge the batteries ready for the start of next season.

B.L. Busson

Hon. Referees Appointments Secretary

Two weeks from the end of the season Corsham Town, Devizes Town Reserves, Biddestone and Shrewton United were all in with a shout for the top spot in Division 1. Honours eventually went to Corsham Town who finished with the same number of points as Devizes Town Reserves in second spot but had a superior goal difference. Biddestone finished in third spot, just two points behind the leaders with the Addkey Senior Cup winners Shrewton United in fourth place. At the other end of the table, newly promoted Marlborough Town found the going tough, finishing bottom with Tisbury United a place above.

Cricklade Town and Melksham Town Reserves fought tooth and nail at the top of Division 2, the crunch coming a week from the end of the season when Cricklade, needing to win their last four games, were held to a draw at Warminster, the home side equalising in the last few minutes. It was the second disappointment for Cricklade Town who were beaten by Shrewton United in the final of the Addkey Senior Cup. Melksham Town Reserves finished top with Cricklade runners-up. GPS finished third and' Burmah Castrol fourth.Purton Reserves who fielded a youthful side for most of the season, finished in bottom place with Pewsey Vale Reserves bottom but one.

Winners of Division 3 were Down Ampney who clinched the title at the end of March from Biddestone Reserves in runners up spot with Ferndale Rodbourne finishing in third place. Aldbourne Reserves finished bottom with Highworth Athletic, who seemed to be beaten by the odd goal every week, a place above. 

GPS Reserves finished eight points clear at the top of Division 4 from Burmah Castrol Reserves with Blunsdon United who finished the season well in third spot. Bottom of the table Sherston Town battled on gamely throughout the season finishing with four wins and five draws from their 26 games played. Marlborough Town Reserves finished a place above in what has been a disappointing season for the Club.

The two Cup finals were again staged at Corsham Town Football Club on the same day, and our sincere thanks to the Club for putting their facilities at our disposal. Shrewton United lifted the Addkey Senior Cup beating Cricklade Town 5 - 0 and the Fountain Trophies Junior Cup winners were Wroughton Reserves who beat Corsham Town Reserves 2-1.

Congratulations to Member Clubs who reached Cup finals and received Divisional winners and runners up trophies. Special mention must be made of Marshfield's outstanding performance in winning the Gloucestershire County Minor Cup South.

Many thanks to my fellow Officers and Management Committee members for their support and co-operation during this rather hectic season. All Club Secretaries must as usual be thanked for their help and assistance during this season - without this co-operation the League would not function, so thank you from all League Officers.

Enjoy the break, even though it is getting shorter each season - the new season will soon be starting.

PJ ACKRILL

HON.GENERAL SECRETARY