This was the 42nd season of the League and this is my 16th Annual Report as Hon General Secretary.

My first item is one of sadness as I must comment on the loss of our League President, Bill Shail on 24th May.  Like his father before him, Bill was very well known and respected in local football.  Bill joined this League in 1991, served on the Management Committee until being elected Vice-Chairman in 1996.  After 10 years in that post, he was elected Chairman in 2006, a position he held for a further 10 years until 2016, when he was made President.  Prior to joining this League, Bill had served on the Swindon Sunday League as Registration Secretary and also on the Wiltshire FA Council.  Bill was also the Club Secretary of a very successful Black Horse Sunday League Club for many years.  His knowledge and experience will be greatly missed.

In my Annual Report, I would firstly like to extend the League’s sincere thanks to our sponsors: Chris Perry and David Kilmurray of Corsham Print who are the main sponsors of the League; Paul and Denise Sebastianelli of Fountain Trophies, who sponsor the Senior KO Cup and Ken Clarke of Westernsport Trophies who sponsors the Referees Appreciation Award.  Without their continued support, we would struggle to keep fees to a lower level than most other Step 7 Leagues.

The FA have been continuing their review of the National League System structure.  In April, the Chairman and myself attended a meeting with The FA and other Step 7 Leagues.  The FA announced that, from season 2020/21, they are to create additional Leagues at Step 5 and reduce the number of Leagues at Step 6.  This will lead to a considerable movement of Clubs at the end of next season.  As I mentioned in last year’s report, The FA have restricted permissible numbers at our level to 16.  We also had confirmation from The FA that Development teams would be classified as Reserve teams and that the restriction on having no more than 25% Reserve / Development teams at Step 7 is to be changed from a recommendation to a rule.

The pyramid agreement that we established with the three District Leagues in the county a couple of years ago allows for the top three Clubs in each of the Salisbury, Swindon and Trowbridge Leagues to apply for promotion to this League.  At the same time, and providing our constitution is at our capacity, we will relegate up to 3 Clubs from this League.  I’m pleased to report that Holt FC, Champions of the Trowbridge & District League have applied for promotion, as have Stratton Juniors FC, who were runners-up in the Swindon & District League and also won the Wiltshire FA Junior Cup.  Also joining us this season will be Frome Collegians, a very successful Club from the Mid Somerset League.  Because of The FA ruling on numbers and Reserve / Development teams, we’ve unfortunately had to relegate Devizes Town Res to the Trowbridge & District League.  Pewsey Vale Development were also in line for relegation this season but, we had one Club with a very poor disciplinary record and the Management Committee didn’t feel that they could recommend them for membership for the coming season, which has allowed Pewsey to remain.  When I conveyed this to the Club in question, they advised that they would not be entering but, as they’ve not formally resigned from the League, we will need a vote at the Annual General Meeting to formally exclude them.  I believe that the three new Clubs coming in will certainly strengthen the League and make it extremely competitive.

You will see from the proposed constitution that the U.18’s Youth Floodlight Division is doubling in size to 12 Clubs.  I’m very pleased to be welcoming Marlborough College and Radstock Town to the League and also to be welcoming back Chippenham Town, Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Shrivenham and Warminster Town.

During the season, we’ve had meetings with the Wiltshire FA regarding starting up Veterans’ Divisions.  We had a meeting with interested Clubs, which was very positive.  At the time of writing this report, we’re awaiting some teams to confirm that they’re entering and we’re confident that we will be running Veterans’ Divisions in the coming season.  This is an aspect of football that’s becoming increasingly popular and we hope it will grow in the coming seasons.

As most of you are aware, we were awarded Charter Standard League status by The FA back in season 2012/13 and this will soon be coming up for review.  It’s imperative that at least 60% of our Clubs are Charter Standard Clubs ….. preferably 100%.  In this League, there are currently some Clubs who have yet to submit their applications and I would urge them to do so.  To become a Charter Standard Club 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.  Amongst other benefits, being a Charter Standard League gives us access to grants from The FA, which should mean fewer increases in fees for Clubs.  With the League being at capacity and potential new Clubs applying, Charter Standard is one of the factors we have to take into consideration when accepting a new Club or considering whether to relegate an existing Club.

We’ve continued to operate our Premier Division with Level 5 Referees as The FA withdrew our Supply League status some 7 years ago.  Due to a lack of Match Officials and with Step 5 and 6 Leagues taking priority, this past season has again been a difficult one for Adie Cripps, trying to ensure that all games were covered.  This was only possible as Adie has developed a good relationship with the District Leagues and was able to move Match Officials around when postponements occurred.  If you have a game called off, it’s imperative that you let Adie know as soon as possible so that this can continue. 

I mentioned last year that The FA were running pilot schemes for the use of “sin bins” (for dissent only).  As you all probably know, this has now become mandatory for all Leagues from Step 5 down.  The Wiltshire FA held a presentation for us in May, which was quite well attended by both Clubs and Referees.  If you haven’t yet attended such a presentation, I urge you to do so before the start of the season.

Last season was our second season of using the Whole Game System (WGS) for players’ registrations and transfers.  Despite some issues with Transfers, which The FA say they have now remedied, this largely went very well.  The most noticeable change to the registration process for the coming season is that a player’s e-mail address will need to be included, along with a photograph.  We hope that this helps reduce the incidents of alleged ineligible players.  Use of The FA Full-Time web site for fixtures, Match Officials’ appointments, results, tables, etc continued last season, though again there were a few issues integrating the WGS with Full-Time.  Clubs can use Full-Time for player statistics, match reports, etc.  We’re currently looking to get all the League Forms uploaded so that, Clubs who wish to, can submit Result Sheets and Referee Reports on-line.

Mark Smedley has continued to develop the www.wiltshireseniorleague.co.uk web site and results, tables, etc have been added to the History Section, which is now extremely comprehensive.  if you have any information, photographs, old programmes, etc I know that Mark would be keen to see them.  Marks match reports are well received and his number of tweets on Twitter continues to increase.

You will see from the Election of Officers sheet; we have a couple of vacancies on our Management Committee and also for Club Representatives from each Division.  We will accept nominations at the Annual General Meeting but, if such a post is of interest to you or you have any queries as to what it would entail, please do not hesitate to contact me.

During the close season we again had to update our League Development Plan for submission to The FA and a further updated Plan and Report has to be submitted again 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 of which was for the provision of water bottles and crates for each Club.  These have just been delivered and will be distributed at the AGM.  The next initiative is to provide substitutes’ bibs for every team, and we hope to have these during the coming season.

Contrary to last season, you will see that very few Rule Revisions are proposed.  The main one being to make it mandatory for home Clubs to provide refreshments for Match Officials and the away team, both at half-time and after the match.  It’s a rule for the majority of Leagues at our level and most Clubs already do this, so we just want to ensure that everyone does.  Following the withdrawal of Westbury Utd Res from the League and all the ensuing issues concerning the expunging of their results, we’re proposing to increase the maximum fine for such action which, again brings us in line with other Step 7 Leagues and will hopefully make Clubs think twice about withdrawing.

Finally, I thank our Chairman, John Gingell and my fellow League Officers and Management Committee for all their help and assistance over the past season. 

Best wishes to all Clubs for a good summer break and a successful season in 2019 - 2020.

Jim Thorn

Hon General Secretary

I would like to thank Corsham Print for their continued support and sponsorship of the League.  I would also like to thank Fountain Trophies for providing all the trophies for our Senior KO Cup Final, which was between Kintbury Rangers and Wroughton.  After a great game, Kintbury Rangers were the victors, winning 3-2.  The Final was held at Corsham Town FC on 4th May and we thank them for the use of their excellent facilities.

Thank you to all the Club Secretaries for all their hard work in fulfilling their fixtures during this season.

Finally, as League Chairman, I would like to thank all the League Officers and Management Committee for all the excellent work they do.

I am looking forward to working with you all in the coming season which, with the introduction of Sin Bins and hopefully the Veterans’ Divisions commencing, looks to be an exciting one.

Thank you for your attendance this evening and have a safe journey home.

John Gingell

Chairman

This is my seventh Annual Report.

For the 2018/19 season, the League made a loss of just under £500 as opposed to a loss of last year £1,857. It is disappointing that this is the case as, had one or two clubs paid outstanding fines, the League would have shown a profit.

The account balances remain strong and I am aware that many Leagues similar to ours do not carry such healthy balances.

As usual the majority of the League’s income is mainly due to FA Grants of £5,400.  However, subscriptions, registrations and transfers accounted for an additional £3,258.

Fines accounted for £1,055 this year and, with the assistance of the Wiltshire FA’s Debt Recovery System, the League is hoping to recoup fines from defaulting clubs and the registered players thereof.  Whilst the Management Committee would prefer not to use such systems, it is evidence that we will do all we can to protect your interests and pursue those who owe the League money. 

On a personal level I would like to see fines reduced and I believe that clubs could assist themselves greatly by simply consulting the handbook!   

Donations have increased significantly, in part due to the management of monies due to the Treasurer and a kind donation from another Management Committee member.   

I have also returned to the accounts’ historical deposits any outstanding cheques that have not been encashed.  As a result, income has increased by approximately £900. 

Expenditure reduced by approximately £444.  Costs have generally increased as one would expect, but the Management Committee have endeavoured to reduce costs where possible.    

The League is in an extremely healthy position with total assets of £40,092.37p. 

On a final point, can I please encourage clubs to approach the League if they are experiencing financial difficulty?  No one wishes to see a club fold due to financial issues, but the first the League normally hears about it, is after the event!  It is your League and your money and there may be things we League can do to assist clubs through difficult times. 

I would like to thank the Management Committee for their assistance especially the Registration and Discipline Secretaries, who assist on the financial side of things and also to the sponsors for their continued financial support.

I can confirm that the accounts have been audited by our Auditor, Mr Peter Mundy.

Robert Cook

Hon Treasurer

Well, here we are at the end of another season.  Congratulations to Wroughton on winning the league and Kintbury Rangers on winning the Fountain Trophies Senior Cup.  I hope that all teams have enjoyed the season.

This season has been a lot easier with the Whole Game System for registrations.  There were still a few problems with transfers, but all in all it has gone very well.  WGS has been updated for transfers ready for next season so hopefully the transfer of players will not be a problem.  A total of 978 players were registered in the Premier Division, 160 in the U.18’s Floodlight Division and 34 Transfers were processed.

This season I have only been receiving registration through the WGS which has been very successful.  From next season we are going to start using photo ID with player registrations in an attempt to reduce the number of ineligible players.  Players’ e-mail addresses will also need to be entered when registering them.  

In the case of the under 18’s, either the Team Manager or Club Secretary must check proof of date of birth (driving license, birth certificate or passport) then check the box that ID has been seen before submitting it to me.  Photo ID will also apply to the U18’s Floodlight Divisions.

We will be continuing the system of sending statements out at the end of September, December and March for the payment of registration and transfer fees.

I would like to thank all the Club Secretaries and Team Managers for their help and support this season.  Most teams now submit the Result Sheets and Referee Reports via e-mail (which is the preferred way) as a scanned attachment which makes it quicker for me to receive the reports and getting the information on to the Full-Time website.  Unfortunately, again this season, has seen an increase in the number of times I have had to chase match paperwork, which has led to a lot of unnecessary fines for Clubs.

Now the season has ended its time to relax and recharge the batteries ready for the start of next season.

Brian Busson

Hon Registration Secretary

This year, both of the Cup Finals were played by very good sides.  The Runners-Up in the Premier Division won the Senior Cup final and the Runners-Up in the cup won the Premier Division.  The U.18’s Cup Final was also played by two good teams.  Congratulations to all teams who won silverware and congratulations to the Match Officials who got appointed to our Cup Finals, who all had very good games.

The league has seen four of our Level 5 Referees get appointed to Level 4 for next season by The FA, so congratulations to them.  The league is always keen to support our local officials gain promotion and climb the refereeing ladder.

Next season we will see the introduction of Sin Bins.  This is a mandatory move, implemented by The FA.  It will be new to all of us, so patience is needed until we get used to the workings of it.  Let’s hope it works, as feedback tells us, and it cuts out dissent.

Coverage of our games this season was good although there were one or two games not fully covered.  I have a good relationship with the District Leagues in Wiltshire and we support each other cover to make sure all our games have the correct amount of Match Officials.  This will carry on into next season.

Enjoy your close season break. 

Adie Cripps

Hon Referees’ Appointments Secretary

The number of cases dealt with by the Discipline Sub-Committee reduced again last season.  The increased use of technology, eg: texting of scores, e-mailing of Result Sheets and Registration Forms, being able to make on-line payments, etc has hopefully reduced the workload for Club Secretaries.  The problem with Result Sheets being submitted too late has reduced again as most Clubs now scan and e-mail theirs.  It does save you the cost of postage!

The most common offence involves Clubs who fail to notify the League (Fixtures Secretary and Referees’ Appointments Secretary) that a game is postponed.  We’re sure you phone / text your players if a game is off, so please avoid fines by making those two extra calls to the League.  If we get sufficient notice, Phil Cook may be able to rearrange a game for your opponents or Adie Cripps may be able to send the Match Official(s) to a fixture that is short.  Some Clubs also fail to notify Match Officials about postponements, which resulted in them turning up, us having to chase you for payment, then you having to pay them again when the match is rearranged.  When you tell your players and the opposition that a game is off, please remember the third team and save your hard earned money.

The number of offences involving ineligible players was possibly the lowest ever.  It is very easy for Clubs to check a player’s eligibility.  Access to the County FA web site is available to all Clubs whereat you can see lists of players under suspension.  This also applies when you register a new player.  It isn’t the League’s responsibility to inform Clubs if a player is suspended, so please check the County FA web site at least weekly.

A few Clubs still incur additional charges for late payment of fees / fines.  All fines have been sent out by e-mail, which has reduced League expenditure on postage.  All fees / fines can be paid by Bank Transfer.  Again, some Clubs already use this method and it does save you the cost of postage and the risk of things going astray in the post.

As Media Officer I am responsible for the league’s website and the social media feed.  With regard to the website, most of you will be familiar with the weekly roundups on the website but don’t forget there is also a lot of other useful content to be found on the website.  For example, all of the league rules can be easily accessed from the site, FA Full-Time league tables, results and fixtures are pulled into the website, Referee contact details are contained under the “League Rules and Advice” tab, as our details of FA ground grading rules etc.  The site is mobile friendly so content can be viewed on your phone easily as well as on the laptop.  

The most extensive information on the website is in the history section which I have continued to build up over the season and now includes final league tables for all seasons, together with results and cup details for many of the seasons.  This continues to be work-in-progress, but I would recommend a nostalgia trip during the summer months whilst you are waiting for the new season to start, exploring the content that is contained within the history section.  If any clubs have historic photos of championship winning sides from the past to include in the website these would be greatly appreciated. Just a reminder that the website can be found at www.wiltshireseniorleague.co.uk

With regard to social media feeds, this season I have been able to Tweet a preview of every single game played in the Premier Division.  If you are not on Twitter these can still be viewed on the website which pulls the league Twitter feed in and which appears at the bottom of the home page. The number of “likes” for these previews is increasing with the short video of Wroughton’s championship presentation celebrations receiving the most likes of any tweet so far.  As the season ended, the number of followers of our twitter feed crashed through the 600 mark and hopefully will continue to increase with more sides coming into the U.18’s Division and with the Veterans Division starting.  Our Facebook Group currently has 147 members and is also used as a source of disseminating information about updates and new information that appears on the website.

Once again, we are indebted to the fantastic support of a number of photographers across the county who have provided pictures in support of the league over the season.  So, a big thank you to Martin Pearce, Jacob Price, Estelle Bowden at Starsphinx Photography, Steve Green and John Cuthbertson for the use of your photos over this last season.  John not only provided the brilliant coverage of this season’s Fountain Trophies Cup Final this season but also allowed the league website to get off the ground with a series of photos at the start of last season.  All of the photographers provide us with photos free of charge for which we are immensely grateful.  Thank you also to the various newspapers who continue to provide excellent coverage of the league and whose back catalogue of coverage dating back to the late 1970’s contained in the libraries in Swindon and Chippenham provides the source of the content included in our history pages.  A big thank you also to Steve Butt and his Your Sport Swindon team for the brilliant coverage of the Fountain Trophies Cup Final and a number of other games they have covered at the sides in the Swindon area over the season. 

I would also like to personally thank all the clubs for their twitter feeds this season which provide invaluable information to allow the Saturday night round-ups to be completed.  Similarly, a big thank you to all of the Team Managers and club twitter feed owners for dealing with all the messages from me where I am chasing any missing information on a Saturday evening or late night for midweek games.  I know some leagues make it a rule that clubs have to provide goalscoring information within a set time to their leagues, but I much prefer to keep it informal as it is currently is without clubs having to worry about another rule and most weeks I have all the scorers in good time.

Finally, I would like to thank all the other officers for their support and encouragement over the season, in particular Jim with his advice and guidance when there have been sensitive issues that have provided communication challenges over the season. 

Enjoy the summer break and remember to let me know about your pre-season friendlies and new signings so I have plenty of content over the summer months.

Mark Smedley

Hon Media Officer

This season saw 98 fixtures postponed for various reasons, a decrease of 23 on last season, which is encouraging.  The Premier Division runs with a policy of deducting points from Clubs found guilty of postponing games without a satisfactory explanation and this has continued this past season.

Early on in the season it was clear that the title race was going to again involve a number of sides who were involved in the race the previous season, with Wroughton, Kintbury Rangers, Shrewton United and Melksham Town Reserves all starting the season strongly. 

Wroughton kicked-off the season by going unbeaten in their opening nine games, seven of which were won. That sequence included a 5-1 home win over reigning champions Kintbury who up until then had registered a 100% record in their opening five league games.  Wroughton’s first defeat came in midweek encounter under the lights at Malmesbury.  After then drawing away at Corsham Town Reserves, a ground where no visiting team won this season, they then won six league games on the bounce to take pole position in the title race.  A 3-0 home defeat to Purton could have knocked the confidence but Wroughton responded with an impressive ten game unbeaten run, which saw eight of those games being won ahead of their final game against their main rivals Kintbury.  Kintbury had fallen behind with their fixtures and with a number of games in hand they could still catch Wroughton, but when they came to play the games in hand in the run-in, draws away at Pewsey Vale Development and Trowbridge Town proved costly in the end, the latter game in more ways than one, with that Trowbridge game seeing the end of their title aspirations.  Unfortunately for Kintbury, the title had been decided ahead of their penultimate game, having been deducted the point they gained away at Trowbridge on Easter Saturday as a result of the playing of ineligible players.  Despite the final game between the top two sides in the end having nothing at stake, credit to both sides for putting on another superb game in the circumstances, this was certainly no end of season, players on the beach encounter as Kintbury came from 2-0 down at half time to win 3-2.  In the final analysis, Wroughton had been the best and most consistent side throughout the season, leading from the front and in the end fully deserved their third league title, having also won the league in Seasons 2007-8 and 2016-17.

Special mention also to the other sides in the Division who have all played their part in what has been an entertaining season.  Shrewton United finished third and along with Melksham Town Reserves stayed in the race for the title until the closing couple of months of the season.  Unfortunately for Shrewton, they lost six points when disappointingly, Westbury United Reserves pulled their side out of the league having played 20 of their 30 scheduled games.  Corsham Town Reserves went unbeaten at home all season and Melksham Town Reserves nearly matched that, losing their only home game in their penultimate game when title chasing Wroughton inflicted their only defeat at the InfiLED Stadium.  A number of sides have had also had strong finishes to the season and will be hoping to continue that form at the start of next season. Included in that bracket are Purton, who have finished in 5th spot and who lost just twice in the league since the turn of the year.  Meanwhile, Trowbridge Town finished the season with a 14-game unbeaten run, and will no doubt also be looking forward to looking to extend that at the start of next season.  At the bottom end of the table the bottom three are Pewsey Vale Development, Devizes Town Reserves, and Football ID.  In the end Football ID finished bottom after a number of points deductions both for the calling off of games and the playing of ineligible players.  With Westbury United having withdrawn during the season the lowest two Reserve/Development sides are scheduled to be relegated with three new clubs set to join the league next season.   Both Devizes Town Reserves and Pewsey Vale’s second side have been members of the league since formation in 1976, so the league is very sad to be losing these long-standing participants.  Hopefully both will bounce back and perhaps win promotion back into the league from one of the feeder District Leagues in future seasons.

In the Fountain Trophies Cup honours go to Kintbury Rangers who won the cup for the first time defeating their big rivals Wroughton 3-2 in one of the best finals seen at the Southbank Ground in many a year.  After racing into a 3-0 lead, an impressive second half performance from Wroughton saw them bring it back to 3-2 and they then won a penalty.  Unfortunately for Wroughton the penalty was saved, and it was Kintbury who lifted the cup.

In the Under 18’s Floodlight Division, the title looked to be Melksham Town’s very early on.  In the end they won all ten of their league games to take the title with some ease.  FC Chippenham eventually edged out New College Swindon for runners-up spot.  Calne Town were also there or thereabouts and it was Calne Town and New College who contested the U.18 Cup final.   Like the Senior Cup Final, this was also an excellent game and followed a similar pattern to the Senior Cup when New College took a three goal lead.  However, Calne mounted a comeback, scoring twice in the second half, but just ran out of time in their search for an equaliser.

No welfare issues in relation to Under 18’s have been reported to the League this year and therefore I have nothing to report.  Long may this continue!

Robert Cook

Hon Welfare Officer