This the 27th season of the League, brings to the end of my reign as your Hon. General Secretary. After 45 years in football administration, time has come for me to take as rest. I have enjoyed every minute of the work involved in running a League of the standard we have reached since the formation in 1976.

The sponsorship deal with Skurrays also ceases at the Annual General Meeting. After eight successful years sponsorship, the main person behind this deal was Derek Walker, Group Director, who has now retired, hence them not renewing the contract. However, one of our existing Cup sponsors, Plaisters Auto's has decided to become the main sponsors of the League next season, so a new name will appear on all League material. The Management Committee express their sincere thanks to Chris Plaister for this kind gesture, it helps the funds of the League. Corsham Print and Fountain Trophies sponsored the Senior and Junior Cup Competitions and have again indicated they will continue the sponsorship next season. So thanks are recorded to Chris Perry of Corsham Print and Paul Sebastinelli from Fountain Trophies in Bristol. Ken Clarke of Westerns port Trophies has again donated the individual award for the Referees Appreciation Award. This season the award will be presented to Steve Cox from West Lavington. Steve is well known to all our Clubs, having given many years loyal service to the League and football in general. When Steve gained promotion to a higher level of football, he still maintained his links with the local game, which is not always the case with many officials today. The award will be presented to Steve at the Annual General Meeting. Shrewton United have applied to join the Screwfix Direct Western League under the agreed Pyramid System, after finishing as Champions of the Premier Division for the second successive year. The Club has worked extremely hard during the past few weeks to bring their ground up the required standard, so hopefully their hard work will be rewarded when they are elected into membership of the Western League at their Annual General Meeting.

The Management Committee requested a meeting with the Wiltshire Football Association to discuss Intermediate football within the County. This status did not take off as was expected when it was first introduced. The actual number of Intermediate Clubs in Wiltshire had fallen to four which was thought not be a viable number to form a worthwhile Division. The meeting with the Wiltshire Football Association proved successful, and a joint meeting will all Intermediate teams in the Division was held during February. At this meeting it was unanimously decided to suspend Intermediate football for a season and a review will take place during next season to ascertain whether to re-introduce it or not. This season the Intermediate Clubs will revert back to Junior Status, which will allow them to play in the Wiltshire Junior Cup again. So next season the League will operate with two Junior Divisions.

The representative team played the annual fixture with the Dorset Combination League at Shaftesbury in March. Unfortunately, the team were unlucky to lose 2 - 0 after having most of the play during the match. Stuart Withers, the Team Manager again did a magnificent job in getting a squad together after late withdrawals of many of the selected players. The League has entered the Football Association's National Representative Cup Competition but has received a bye in the first round of this competition.

A 'Save a Life First Aid' course was held early in the season, and those who attended were presented with the Football Association's Certificate. A disappointing response was given to the vital course by member clubs.

As yet another season reaches its conclusion, a season where the weather conditions proved quite favourable for a change. As we have experienced in the past things never stand still, particularly in football this is a constant factor. Throughout the season a range of things have been happening which will affect us all. Firstly, a decision has been taken between the League and the Wilts FA to suspend the Intermediate Division due to the lack of clubs. Secondly the League has enjoyed the sponsorship of Skurrays for the past eight years, this will finish at the end of the season. Our thanks go to Derek Walker at Skurrays for his support and generosity during that period. The biggest change is the retirement of our General Secretary Peter Ackrill after 22 years in that office. Peter and I joined the League at the start, back in 1976 and have been friends for many years before that. The League has been very fortunate to have such an efficient and dedicated secretary as Peter, who has worked tremendously hard for the League over the years, we shall miss him greatly. His replacement is no stranger to football administration and I am very pleased to welcome Jim Thorn as the new secretary, who I am sure will do an excellent job.

One of our clubs Shrewton United, is moving on after winning the Premier Division, to the Screwfix Direct Western League. Congratulations to them and we wish them success in the future. Congratulations to all League and cup winners, also congratulations to Trowbridge Town for reaching the final of the Wilts FA Senior Cup and to Ferndale Rodbourne who reached the Wilts FA Junior Cup final.

Lastly, may I thank all the Officers and Management Committee for all their hard work and support during the season. To the clubs, I hope you have had a good season and wish you a very successful and enjoyable season to come.

I am pleased to be able to present my Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31st March 2003, this being the nineteenth occasion on which I have done so. The Accounts show a profit on the years working of £2,741 compared with a deficit last year of £262.18 which included the League Silver Jubilee celebrations. On the face of it this shows a highly satisfactory situation, but it should be borne in mind that income included generous sponsorship from Skurrays Vauxhall of £1,642 and a Football Association grant towards administration costs of £3,000 which was £2,000 more than previous years. There was a Football Association grant of £727 towards the cost of new office equipment. Following the retirement of Mr Derek Walker of Skurrays the sponsorship has now ceased and there is no certainty that there will be an administration grant from the Football Association next year, as they are cutting back on expenditure. Without the administration grant and Skurrays generous sponsorship there would have been a loss of in the region of £1,900. Your Management Committee has given consideration to this situation and is proposing a small increase in annual subscriptions for season 2003/2004. This will be the first increase since season 1998/1999.

Regarding other individual items of income and expenditure, I draw attention to the fact that income from fines was down about £1,000 although payment for printing and stationery was down £444. It is probable with the necessity for new stationery following the retirement of our present General Secretary that printing costs will rise next season. You will also note that there was no expenditure last season for our annual representative game against the Dorset Combination League as this took place after the 31st March 2002. There will be a game in season 2003/2004 which will mean two games in the next financial year. The League is most grateful to Skurrays for their great support over the last 9 years and also to all other sponsors.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their help and co-operation during the past season.

My 22nd season has now been completed and as is usual, I would like to thank member clubs for their ongoing co-operation. However, Secretaries could help me even more by applying consideration to the following:

Match Result Sheets

There were many cases of players with similar names and/or initials., i.e. J SMITH when you may have two or more of these. Please AL WAYS put the full names on Result sheets. For away games, please do NOT mark the Match Officials slip at the bottom or remove it. It is easier for me to receive the whole form and then deal with it. Fees and expenses must be shown separately.  Please also note that result sheets must be posted immediately after each game as per Rule.

Registration Forms

Some clubs presented their Registration Forms in a very poor state; future cases will result in the forms being refused and returned. I have spent more time than necessary on chasing up discrepancies. Those of you supply return envelopes for acknowledgement slips will appreciate how quickly you receive them back. If any new clubs have queries, I will do my best to assist. Total registrations were 1564 and transfers 43. A decrease on last season.

Finally, best wishes to you all for a restful summer break.

The long-awaited end to another season is upon us. It has been very hard work trying to cover the games again this season, what with the increased number of evening fixtures. Unfortunately, the number of available referees is down again slightly on last season. In the season 2000/2001, I had 124 referees that I could call upon, last season it was down to 86, this season I have been operating with 81. Despite the drop in numbers they managed to cover 90% of all positions. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to give a very big thank you to all the referees that officiate on our League for all their hard work during the season, especially during the period with all the evening games.

With the number of referees continually declining it becomes even more important that I am kept informed of games that are cancelled as I may be able to move the referees to other games at short notice, allowing me to increase the percentage of positions filled. Good news was received last week, when the Football Association notified us that the League had again been granted Supply League Status. It was in 1995, that this Status was wrongly removed, which left many of our referees having to officiate outside the County. Our sincere thanks to Mike Benson and Janie Frampton for supporting us and helping to return the Status we rightly deserve.

This season saw 193 fixtures postponed for various reasons, which caused extra work for the Hon. Fixture Secretary. One alarming statistic did arise this season, was the large number of Clubs failing to telephone their result of games. There was 55 cases dealt with and this causes the League no end of problems, with the records of the League - so Club Secretaries please ensure this area is improved next season.

The Premier Division championship went to Shrewton United for the second successive season. Shrewton United won the Division by 10 points, but it was their goal scoring achievement which took the eye, scoring 147 goals. The three leading goalscorers in the Premier Division all came from the Club. Stratton Crosslink finally took runners up spot from Wroughton. The Intermediate Division saw Dunbar Westside AFC clinch the title from Wanborough United by 5 points. Cricklade Town Reserves completed the double by being Champions of the Junior Division, having already defeated Marlborough Town Reserves in the final of the Fountain Trophies cup. Ferndale Rodbourne became runners up after a keen tussle with Wroughton and Aldboume Reserves.

Corsham Town Football Club staged the Corsham Print Senior and Fountain Trophies Cup finals for the tenth consecutive year on the same day. Shrewton United completed the 'double' by defeating Trowbridge Town in an exciting game in the Senior competition. The final was the best attended for many years, over 400 spectators watched this game. The Plaisters Auto's Intermediate Cup final was again played at Marlborough Town and resulted in Wanborough United defeating Trowbridge Town Reserves. What a exciting season Trowbridge Town Football Club have had - appearing in three Cup finals, this must be good for morale with the Club.

Congratulations to Member Clubs who reached Cup finals outside the jurisdiction of the Management Committee. Special mentioned must be made of Trowbridge Town's sterling performance in reaching the final of the Wiltshire Senior Cup. This was an outstanding achievement by beating teams from higher Leagues on the way to the final. Ferndale Rodbourne kept the League flag flying by reaching the final of the Wiltshire Junior Cup. Congratulations to both these Clubs, you did the League proud.

Many thanks to my fellow Officers and Management Committee for their support and co-operation, during another hectic season. Club Secretaries must as usual be thanked for their help and assistance during the season - with this co-operation the League would not function, so thank you from all the League Officers.

In closing, I have made many friends (and a few enemies) during my years in football administration and I sincerely thank you all for the support and enjoyment given to me during these years. No doubt, at first I will miss the day to day involvement with the Clubs, but please don't hesitate to contact me if you should require help or advice. With a new pilot at the controls next season, I am sure the League will continue to grow in stature.

P J ACKRILL, 

HON GENERAL SECRETARY