Our 25th Anniversary celebrations are over, with two representative fixtures played and a successful Dinner & Dance held for Member Clubs, so all the effort was well worthwhile. The Dinner & Dance could have been better supported by Member Clubs, but the ones who did attend expressed their thanks and from the numerous letters received, enjoyed the evening. During the evening a raffle was held in aid of The Wiltshire Air Ambulance, with all prizes being donated by Clubs and individuals. As a result of this raffle a cheque for £500 will be presented to the appeal fund at the Annual General Meeting - thanks to all those who supported this raffle.

The representative fixtures saw the League team, managed by the evergreen Stuart Withers, win at Westbury against the Dorset Football Combination side. This game was decided on penalty kicks, the result was 9 - 8 after the taking of 13 kicks each. The other fixture resulted in a 2-2 draw against the Wiltshire County Football Association Under 21 team, this was played at Corsham. The Management Committee express their sincere appreciation to Corsham Town and Westbury United for staging these fixtures.

Again this season the Management Committee have held all its meetings at the West End Club in Swindon, where members have been made most welcome by all the staff. Representatives of the Management Committee have attended Joint Liaison Committee meetings with the Screwfix Direct Western League at Taunton and The Cherry Red Records Hellenic League at Highworth. With the proposed restructure of the National League System still being discussed, we have to await the outcome where we will fit into the new line up. The Screwfix Direct Western League decided to relegate Warminster Town under the pyramid system.

All the sponsors have agreed to support the League again next season, but Skurrays Vauxhall have informed the Management Committee it will be their last season of sponsorship. This is mainly due to the retirement of their Group Director, Derek Walker who was the main instigator of the sponsorship deal in 1995. The Clubs have benefited over the last seven years from this generous sponsorship agreement. Hopefully, another sponsor will be found to support the League financially. If any Club or individual knows of someone interested in sponsoring the League from season 2003/2004 season, please give them my telephone number. Corsham Print of Corsham will again sponsor the Senior Knock-out Cup Competition for the twelve year in succession, for this we sincerely thank Chris Perry. Chris Plaister of Plaister Autos has indicated his continued support in the form of sponsorship for the Intermediate Knock-out Cup Competition. The Junior Knock-out Cup Competition will again be supported by Fountain Trophies of Bristol. This is also Fountain Trophies twelve year of sponsorship. All the individual Divisional awards are provided by Paul at Fountain Trophies. Ken Clarke of Westernsport Trophies has again donated the individual award for the Referees Appreciation Award. This season the award will be presented to our Registration Secretary, Rod Wirdnam who has given the League 25 years valuable service as a referee.

Apologies for the cancellation of the Save a Life Emergency Aid Course, but this was beyond the control of the Management Committee. After the Football Association had given all Leagues in the National League System a mandate to arrange a course before the end of June, and then to be told less than 24 hours earlier that they could not arrange an instructor is not good enough. A letter has been sent to the Football Association registering our disgust.

As we approach the end of our Silver Jubilee season, I look back on some memorable moments. The celebration Dinner and Dance at Melksham where we raised a magnificent sum of £500 for charity. The two representative matches against the Wilts FA U21 team and the Dorset Combination. My thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of those events in particular to Stuart Withers team manager and to Peter Ackrill who arranged everything.

As ever my thanks go to the dedicated work of the Officers and Management Committee who administer the League so efficiently on your behalf. As we move on into our 26th year so does the demands on the League and its Officers increase. The Football Association are introducing new initiatives for level 4 Leagues and above with the introduction of business plans for Leagues to produce to be implemented over the coming seasons, with grants to assist in achieving the aims. Getting back to football my congratulations go to all League and Cup winners. My grateful thanks to all our sponsors for their continued support to the League. In closing may I wish everyone a restful summer and an enjoyable season to come.

I am pleased to present my Annual report and Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31st March, 2002. Last year showed a loss on the years workings of £262.18 which was a highly satisfactory result considering the accounts include the cost of the Silver Jubilee Dinner at Melksham in March which was funded by the League. In connection with this event I should like to express my personal thanks to Pete Ackrill the League Secretary who had the additional responsibility of organising this highly successful event, backed by a small sub-committee. It was disappointing that a large number of Clubs were not represented at this function. They certainly missed a special occasion in the history of this League.

Excluding the cost of the Silver Jubilee Dinner and matches the profit would have been in the region of £2,450. Such a financial result was achieved because of the generosity of our sponsors Skurrays Vauxhall who once again have been extremely supportive together with the sponsors of our Cup Competitions. My grateful thanks to them all, on your behalf. The League also received grants from the Football Association in the sum of £1,158. Fines income amounted to a record £3,387 which was nearly £1,500 more than the previous year. Administration costs were about £550 more than previously partly because a proportion of this sum was really attributable to the previous season but were paid after the 31st March 2001. Financially the League is very soundly based at the present time and the benefits of our sponsorship is an obvious factor. It is not proposed therefore to increase subscriptions once again. I should like to thank all League Officers and Club officials for their co-operation throughout the year.

Yet another season has reached its conclusion and, indeed, a very busy one for all concerned; my thanks as always to clubs for their continued co-operation. There are, however, a few points I would like to mention.

Registration Forms

The practise of submitting photo-copies cannot be allowed as the fee paid per form is the registration fee for each player. There is still room for improvement in the presentation of some forms, such as their being correctly completed and readable. The form is an official League record relating to each player. Overall, however, standards were very good. Also, the providing of return envelopes will help me to send slips back to you more quickly and efficiently, particularly at the extremely busy preseason time.

Match Result Sheets

Please ensure that correct names/initials are given at all times; especially with two or more players having the same names, etc., I am not always aware of players' nicknames! Low referee markings must be accompanied by a report signed by the Club Secretary, not the Team Manager. There have been many instances where the Secretary has been unaware of the Manager's marking; this has caused delays in processing the forms. Also, at the end of each season, I have to "chase" for outstanding result sheets - I know that some clubs have to play several games over a short period but the delay in my receiving sheets causes problems in completing my records. 

The season saw 10 "Double signings", a very much unwanted records!! Total registrations were 1,792 and transfers 58.

Have a good summer break.

The end of yet another season is upon us. This one being without hardly any problems. In this report last season, I said that I would be going all out to increase the number of referees and assistant referees on our games. Unfortunately, I did not foresee the large drop in referee numbers this season. In the season 2000/2001 I had 124 referees that I could call upon, this season the number was down to 86. (Nothing to do with my appointing I hope!!).  Even with this large drop out of the 1,728 appointments offered 1507 were covered. A percentage of 87%. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the referees that officiate on our League for their hard work during the season, especially during the period with all the evening games. 

It is good to hear that the Football Association is now working hard to recruit and retain grass root referees. So, with a bit of luck the number of referees available could start to rise again in the next season or so. At the start of next season, I intend to visit all the Referee Associations in Wiltshire to try and win over referees to join our League.

The season ran smoothly for fixtures until 26th January 2002 when all games were postponed due to the inclement weather and the following week 2nd February saw only two games played. The remainder of February and March saw games regularly postponed due to waterlogged grounds.

A total of 171 fixtures had to be re-arranged. If the League had not encountered this bad weather during February and March there would have hardly been an evening fixture played. Thanks to the constant manipulation of games by our Fixture Secretary, Phil Cook the season was completed on time - many thanks to the Clubs who had a heavy evening programme at the end of the season, but again this was beyond the Management Committees control. Shrewton United took the Premier Division championship in great style, winning the Division by 14 points. Stratton Crosslink finally took runners up position after a draw with Wroughton on the last day of the season.

The Intermediate Division proved interesting until the last week of the season with Blunsdon United and Stratton Crosslink Reserves fighting it out for supremacy. Stratton Crosslink Reserves finally took the Championship by one point. Wootton Bassett United took the honours in the newly formed Junior Division from Swindon Eagles, who after two very successful seasons in the League have now disbanded. 

Corsham Town Football Club staged the Addkey Senior and Fountains Junior Cup finals for the ninth consecutive years on the same day. Shrewton United completed the "double" after a penalty shootout against Biddestone in the Senior final. The evening Junior final saw Bromham beating Swindon Eagles 2-1 to take home the Fountains Trophies Cup. The Plaister Auto's Intermediate Cup final played at Marlborough Town provided excitement until the end with both teams taking seven penalty kicks each. Dunbar Westside AFC held their nerve against Stratton Crosslink Reserves and came away with the Cup. The Management Committee extend their sincere thanks to Corsham Town and Marlborough Town Football Clubs for placing their grounds at the disposal of the League, to stage the cup finals, and I can assure them it is greatly appreciated and we will be returning again next season.

Congratulation to all other Clubs who have won trophies in local Cup Competitions.

This being my penultimate Annual Report as I have informed the Management Committee that I will not be seeking re-election as Hon. General Secretary at the 2003 Annual General Meeting, so 2003/2004 season will see a new pilot at the controls.

Congratulations are extended to all Division winners and runners up. Club Secretaries are thanked for their co-operation and assistance during the season – without this valuable contribution the League would not function efficiently, so thank you from all the League Officers. Many thanks to all my fellow Officers and Management Committee members, who have again supported me in a first-class manner.

Enjoy the summer recess - next season commences on Saturday 10th August.

PJ ACKRILL

HON.GENERAL SECRETARY