This was the 34th season of the League and this is my 8th Annual Report as Hon General Secretary.

I would firstly like to extend the League’s sincere thanks to our sponsors:

• Chris Plaister of Plaister Auto Services, who are the main sponsors of the League.
• Chris Perry and Dave Kilmurray of Corsham Print who sponsor the Senior KO Cup.
• Paul and Denise Sebastianelli of Fountain Trophies, who sponsor the Junior KO Cup.
• Ken Clarke of Westernsport Trophies who has again donated the individual trophy for the Referees Appreciation Award.
• Haine and Smith who sponsored the Match Officials in the KO Cup Finals.

I seem to say this every season, but The FA’s review and restructure of Step 7 is still on-going, though we are expecting a decision as to whether we are to be graded at Step 7, 8 or 9 at any time.  As reported previously, the criteria depend on both the number of Clubs in a League and also the facilities that those Clubs have and some of you will have had me chasing you throughout the season to carry out various improvements.  During the season, we have corresponded and met with the adjacent Step 6 Leagues (Hellenic, Wessex and Western Leagues) that we feed into, in an effort to establish a proper promotion and relegation arrangement between us.  I believe that we’re pretty much there with the Wessex and Western Leagues, but further meetings / discussions are required with the Hellenic League.

Soon after last year’s Annual General Meeting, we received notification from The FA that we were to lose our Supply League status for the development and promotion of Referees.  Even though it was The FA that allocated us with Level 4 Referees, they decided that we didn’t have a sufficient number and that our status would be withdrawn.  We appealed against the decision and, with the assistance of the County FA, took the matter to the highest level, but sadly to no avail.  This meant that we had to operate our Premier Division with Level 5 Referees instead.  I am aware that a couple of our neighbouring Step 7 Leagues, who also lost their Supply League Status, operated their fixtures with only one or two fixtures having Assistant Referees each week.  However, during the past season, just two Premier Division fixtures were short of one Assistant Referee, which is a testament to the hard work of Adie Cripps.

At last year’s AGM, I mentioned that we were intending to make full use of The FA Full-Time web site for registrations, fixtures, Match Official appointments, results, tables, etc.  During pre-season, I spent a lot of time inputting Clubs’ details and setting up access for Club Secretaries / Team Managers.  Some Clubs are making full use of the facilities available (entering player statistics, match reports, etc) but many are not.  If anyone requires a username and password to be set up as a Club Administrator to access the site, please contact me.  The FA offer training for anyone who requires it.  Again, please contact me if you require training.  In addition to myself setting up Clubs, Rod Wirdnam spent considerable time entering players’ details as and when they were registered.  When you send in a player’s registration to the League, Rod enters the player’s name and date of birth to Full-Time.  Club Administrators can then access the site and add further details if you so wish.  Hopefully, now that players are entered, it will be less time consuming for Rod in future seasons.

One feature of Full-Time that we adopted last season was the texting of results.  This has gone very well with results and updated tables available to view within minutes of games ending.  There has been a recent change to Full-Time, which will allow for County Cup ties also to be shown, so I will add these next season.

As I mentioned last year, the League web site www.wiltshirefootballleague.com continues, but mainly for reference and archive purposes.  Anyone who has accessed this recently will notice that it’s not been updated in recent weeks.  This is due to a problem with the web hosting company, who I am trying to change (without much success so far).  If there are any IT experts among you, I would be grateful for any assistance.

During the close season we again had to update our 3-year Development Plan for submission to The FA and a further updated Plan and Report has to be submitted this year.  Last season’s Plan was completed, presented to The FA and duly approved.  We subsequently received grants from The FA for various initiatives.  One initiative was for further 1st Aid training for Clubs.  If any Club has members who would like to undertake a 1st Aid course, please speak with the County FA Development Department to see what’s available, then contact this League and we’ll assist with funding.

In last season’s report, I mentioned that we’d signed up with the Wiltshire FA to work towards becoming a Charter Standard League.  During the season, you will have received several e-mails from me, chasing you to complete your Charter Standard Club application.  We currently have just over 40% of Clubs who have achieved the award.  We wanted to get to 60% by June, but fell just short.  You will see from the proposed Rule Revisions, that we wish it to become a League Rule for all Clubs to achieve Charter Standard within two years … or preferably sooner!  It really isn’t that time consuming or difficult.  I suspect that many of you are probably there without realising it.  If you have any doubts, please speak with either the Wiltshire FA Football Development Officer, or even one of the Clubs who have been awarded Charter Standard.  Being a Charter Standard League will give us access to grants from The FA, which should mean less increases in fees for Clubs.

Last season, the match-based Discipline System for Clubs was extended to cover Division 1.  I’m not aware of this causing any problems during the past season, though there have been occasions when Clubs have left the ground without obtaining their copy of the Match Report from the Referee.

Our Representative XI played just the one game last season, a friendly at Devizes, which was to be a warm-up game for the Western Counties Inter-League Competition against the Gloucestershire and Somerset Leagues.  Unfortunately the weather beat us.  In The FA Inter-League Cup, we have been drawn away to the Sussex County League, which has to be played by the end of October.  The Representative XI Manager, Kevin Cook, will be contacting Clubs for player nominations early next season.

Again, one of the most common complaints I received during the past season concerned the provision and partaking of refreshments after games.  We don’t believe that the provision of hospitality should be a Rule in this League but, to try and remedy the situation, we are proposing that, when the home Club contacts the visiting Club to confirm the fixture, they advise whether they will providing refreshments or not.  At this time, the away Club shall confirm if they will be staying behind or not.  Hopefully, this will eliminate food being wasted.

During the season I contacted Clubs regarding the supply of footballs.  After the positive response from Clubs, we have ordered 400 Mitre footballs and expect delivery towards the end of June. I will then contact Clubs to arrange delivery / payment of 10 balls to each team.  I do believe that to get 10 Mitre balls for £100 is good value for Clubs. The League will fund the balance.  If this proves to be a success with Clubs, we can extend the deal and purchase footballs, which would be made to our own design and include the League badge, but this will mean the purchase of 500.  We’ll discuss this at the AGM.

Another season is over, and generally speaking it has been a very successful one.

Can I again thank all our sponsors and especially Haine and Smith our new sponsors of the Cup Final Officials, their support is very much appreciated.  Thanks also go to all the League Officers and Management Committee for the many hours they put in on behalf of this League with a special mention for our League Secretary Jim Thorn whose dedication to this League is unwavering and of the highest quality.

May I also bid a fond farewell to Tony Pickett, who is retiring from the Management Committee after many years of sterling service to this League.

I would like to offer congratulations to those Clubs who achieved success both in the League and Cup Competitions and to FC Sanford on reaching the final of the Wiltshire FA Junior Cup.

Thanks also go to all the Club Secretaries who, for the most part, have carried out their duties very efficiently and have contributed to the well running of our League.

The financial status of our League is still quite strong, due in no small measure as I have already mentioned to our various sponsors, but also to the grants received from the Football Association.  Some fees are to be increased in line with costings involved but, as I have said before, The FA only helps those that help themselves.

There have been meetings throughout the season with the Football Association, the Wiltshire County FA and surrounding Leagues regarding League status in the National League System.  These in the main have gone very well, but we still need the Clubs’ assistance in such things as Chartered Standard and Respect programmes.

Finally many I thank everyone once again or all your efforts during the season past.  Enjoy your summer break and return recharged in August.

Bill Shail

Chairman

This is the 27th time I have given my Annual Report on the financial position of the Wiltshire Football League and I’m very pleased to say that there has been a surplus on the year’s accounts of £2,345.71p as opposed to just under £1,049 last year.

This has been achieved as we received grants from The FA of £5,000 and the Wiltshire FA of £500.  It should be particularly noted that we also receive considerable support from our sponsors, who cover the cost of the League Handbooks, all the trophies in the Cup Competitions as well as other awards.  On your behalf, I thank them for their continued generosity.  Without the grants and sponsorship, the League would have made a loss in the region of £4,600.

Income rose to £17,454 compared to £15,755 last year, mainly due to three factors … fines increased by £1,415, Application Fees by £375 and higher grants as mentioned above.

Expenditure rose by approximately £400, but compared to last year there were less Representative XI matches, which saved about £1,000.  However, normal running costs of the League’s administration increased by about £1,150, which included a substantial rise in telephone charges of over £600.  However, this figure is slightly distorted as about £200 refers to season 2009/10, but was not included in the previous year’s accounts.

The assets of the League are represented in the sum of £46,985.82p, which is most satisfactory.

I thank all those who have assisted me during the season and particularly our Hon General Secretary, Jim Thorn, who spends so many hours on our behalf.

J S Northover

Hon Treasurer

Unfortunately, I must firstly record my overall disappointment with some aspects of this past season. Several Clubs have demonstrated a very poor level of administration, resulting in my spending considerable time chasing Result Sheets and Referee Reports.  It seems appropriate therefore to remind Clubs and individuals that I, like my fellow League Officers, am not a salaried person, but a volunteer doing a job for local football.  However, I am, as always, very appreciative of those Club Secretaries and Team Managers whose co-operation is on-going.

The move towards having the majority of the administration done on line is extremely demanding and is not a view that I share.  My particular role has become far from enjoyable as has been the case in previous years.  Certain aspects require unnecessary duplication at the time of input and web-based system hasn’t addressed this issue in my opinion.  For example, prior to the commencement of this season, my work-load more than doubled as I spent 2½ days solidly inputting all player registrations onto The FA Full-Time web site.  I am not against progress, but the system does have certain limitations.  Having said that, the new Player Registration system, which I must admit, I adopted with reluctance, has worked out quite well, in that Clubs can check player availability on-line once I have completed the entries.  It is imperative though, that players’ first names are NOT abbreviated, that is Mike instead of Michael etc.  This does confuse the FA system.  Please ensure that first names are correctly given on all forms and that ALL details on the form are correct.  Also, make sure forms are fully completed.  Incorrectly completed forms will mean that the relevant player is NOT registered.  For next season, please wait until I have uploaded player details to Full-Time before you add your own personalised details - very important.

The number of player registrations was 1573, down 84 and there were 34 transfers, down 17.  The number of transfers is the lowest since the League began.

The “advance payment” scheme for registrations introduced worked very well as I am sure those clubs participating will agree and I am happy to continue this next season.  Any credit balances will be carried forward.  Details on request as usual.

Finally, with another somewhat difficult season now behind us, we can hopefully look forward to a summer of content and to an improved next season.

Enjoy your break.

Rod Wirdnam

Hon Registration Secretary

I would like to start by congratulating Corsham Town Res on winning the Premier Division and FC Sanford on winning Division 1.  My congratulations also to FC Chippenham Youth and Intel on winning the Corsham Print and Fountain Trophies KO Cups respectively.

I believe that 2010/11 was very successful with regards to the appointing of Match Officials to games.  All games were covered with the relevant amount of Referees with the exception of just two games when, I was let down by the appointed Officials.  In the Premier Division, two games during the season had only one Assistant Referee.

I do my best to keep your expenses down and appoint Match Officials who are reasonably local, but there are times when they have to travel a little further.  Circumstances can change for Referees too, so if a Referee drops out, I can only replace him with whoever I have available.  Match Officials can, and often are, taken from our League at very short notice, either by The FA or the County FA for their competitions.

Please remember that this job can be very trying at times and it takes up a large amount of my spare time, but I do my best to keep all parties involved happy.

Enjoy your summer break and I look forward working with you during the new season.

Adie Cripps

Hon Referees’ Appointments Secretary

The Discipline Sub-Committee dealt with 240 cases last season, an increase of 37 on the previous season, which is reflected in the Hon Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts, which shows that income from disciplinary matters was up over £1,400 on last season.  There is a problem with Clubs failing to submit their Result Sheets on time.  We are aware that the postal service is not what it used to be and Rod Wirdnam always takes into account the post-mark, so please remember to post your Result Sheets immediately after the match.  There is an on-going problem with Clubs who fail to pay fees / fines on time.  Such Clubs are promptly chased and, in some cases, suspended from the League until fines had been paid.  Charges for late payment will substantially increase next season.

The table below highlights the most common offences:

Ineligible players 21 cases

(16 cases in 09/10) This could be easily remedied by checking with the Hon Registration Secretary or on the web site.

Late Result Sheets 57 cases

(55 cases in 09/10) Please try and post the Result Sheet immediately after the match.

Incorrect Result Sheets 16 cases

(21 cases in 09/10) If you are in any doubt as to how to complete a Result Sheet, please check with the Hon Registration Secretary.

Failure to notify and/or confirm a postponement 64 cases

(33 cases in 09/10) We’re sure you tell your players if a game is off, so try and remember to tell the League as well.  Phone in first then confirm the reason in writing on the form provided.

Failure to phone / text result 11 cases

(23 cases in 09/10) Most people have mobiles nowadays.  This shouldn’t really be a problem

This season saw 149 fixtures postponed for various reasons, a decrease of 14 on last season, though we did have fewer Clubs in membership.  The policy of deducting a point from Clubs found guilty of postponing games without a satisfactory explanation continues to have an ongoing positive effect.  Postponements cause a vast amount of additional work for both the Hon Fixture Secretary and for the Hon Referees’ Appointments Secretary.

There were just 11 cases of Clubs failing to telephone / text in their results (mostly for County Cup ties), which was a decrease of 12 on last season.

The Premier Division title was won by Corsham Town Res, who led most of the season and finished 19 points clear.  FC Chippenham Youth won their games in hand to pip defending Champions, New College Swindon to the Runners-Up position.

The Division 1 title was won in similar fashion by FC Sanford, who also led most of the season and finished 16 points clear.  Due to the late withdrawal of a Club, Ludgershall Sports, who had been in second place for most of the season, had to win their last few games to take Runners-Up spot from Marshfield.

FC Chippenham Youth won the Corsham Print Senior KO Cup, defeating New College Swindon in the final.  A late New College equaliser took the tie into extra time, and then a late Chippenham equaliser took the tie to a penalty shoot-out, which Chippenham won 4-3.  Intel upset the odds and won their first honours in this League with a deserved 3-0 victory over Ludgershall Sports in the final of the Fountain Trophies Junior KO Cup.  Both finals were again played at Corsham Town and we thank them for their hospitality and use of their facilities.

Congratulations must go to Corsham Town Res and FC Sanford for winning the Premier and Division 1 titles respectively, FC Chippenham Youth and Intel on winning their first honours in this League and also to FC Sanford on reaching the final of the Wiltshire FA Junior Cup.

You will see from the proposed Constitution that we’re proposing to operate two Divisions again next season.  Subject to approval at the AGM, congratulations go to FC Sanford, Ludgershall Sports and Marshfield on achieving promotion to the Premier Division.  Moredon Cheney have merged with Wroughton and Wilton Town have dropped down to Division 1 whilst improvements are carried out to their ground.  We have three new Clubs applying to join Division 1: Box Rovers, FC Sanford Res and Malmesbury Victoria Res..

I must thank our President, Dennis Kilford and Chairman, Bill Shail with whom I work very closely and are both always there for help and assistance.  I also extend my thanks to my fellow League Officers and Management Committee for all their help and assistance over the past season.

In closing, I must make mention of Tony Pickett who is retiring from the Management Committee, having served the League since 1988 and several years previously a Club Secretary.  Many thanks to Tony and best wishes for the future.

Best wishes to all Clubs for a good summer break and a successful season in 2011 - 2012.

Jim Thorn

Hon General Secretary