News and similar items about the League
Menu:
News and Development
Sponsorship of the League
The League is delighted to announce that it has reached an agreement with its existing sponsors, Crown Fire Protection Ltd. of Dereham, to extend the present sponsorship deal for the League for a further five years. The company, which is a family run local business, also has an outlet in central London. The company specialises in high risk fire protection and provides large fixed fire-fighting equipment. The company has worked on several large contracts including the Channel Tunnel, the Limehouse Link Tunnel, Nuclear Electric and, abroad, for FSO Cars in Poland and Cerestar in France and Germany. The company has present contracts with Lotus Cars, Birds Eye and the Bank of Bilbao together with the work it does for long term clients such as London Underground and J
The League uses the sponsorship monies for the direct benefit of its member clubs. There are cash awards to the winners of the annual Sporting Award and the Club of the Year award, a Club of the Month award during the season including a match ball, reductions in club subscriptions and further investment and enhancement in the League's web site.
The League which has been known as the Crown Fire Central and South Norfolk League for the past seven years is very pleased to be able to continue the very successful relationship with the company developed over this period. Hector Chambers, the League President and Chairman, said "The League is very pleased to be associated with Crown Fire and the continuation of our sponsorship arrangement with Crown Fire is seen as being a very important part of our development plans for the future".
One of the local directors of Crown Fire Protection is Charlie Lubbock who has played an active part in local football in Norfolk for many years as a player, club official, Class 1 referee and referee's assessor. In settling the sponsorship deal, Charlie said "The Company is pleased to be able to support the League and help it to continue to grow and develop".
Club Support Scheme
At the end of season 2006/07, the Management Committee agreed to establish a Club Support Scheme for the League as part of the Financial Strategy it had adopted. One of the objectives from the Strategy was to adopt an annual scheme where excess balances may be used to assist member clubs on a selective or annual basis. The intention is to use the League's financial resources to assist and encourage clubs on an annual basis, either generally or by a selective method. For the first season, the Scheme was used to provide every team in the League with a match ball and these were distributed at the Annual General Meeting. The following season, the Management Committee decided to reward clubs with good disciplinary records by means of financial awards at the end of the season. The scheme which the Management Committee agreed was based on simple principles including:
• points allocated for cautions and sendings off
• a cut off point of the top 15% for deciding which teams receive awards
• unit values being used so that the team(s) with the better records receive proportionately more awards rounded up or down to the nearest pound
The amount of the pool for that season's Scheme was £1,125 made up of £1,000 from the Club Support Scheme (an increase of £100 on last season) and £125 from the Sporting Award winners fund. Eight teams from seven clubs received awards at the Annual General Meeting in June 2008 and were presented with cheques ranging in value from £43 to £303.
The Management Committee has agreed to use the same scheme again for this season. The amount of the pool for this season's Scheme has yet to be determined but it will not be less than the £1,125 fund used for last season's awards.
Respect Programme
The Management Committee has agreed to recommend clubs that the League should participate in the Respect programme which was launched at the start of this season by the FA. Information about the programme can be found on the FA website by clicking here. The first step in agreeing to participate is to ask all clubs whether they wish to participate as part of the League's commitment given that this is currently a voluntary scheme. To measure whether there is sufficient support, all clubs have been asked to give a definite indication of support or otherwise by way of a written confirmation of each club's position or, if necessary, by holding an Extraordinary General Meeting. Clubs have been asked to advise the League whether the club:a) wishes to participate in the Respect programme; or
b) does not wish to participate in the Respect programme; or
c) would prefer an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held to discuss the matter.
As a result of the responses received, the Management Committee has agreed to hold an Extraordinary General meeting in the new year. However, this decision has now been put on hold following advice received from Norfolk County FA. It is likely that the matter will now be discussed at the AGM in June.
Training Seminar for Club Administrators
The Management Committee now provides a training seminar for club secretaries and other club officials who have responsibility for or are interested in club administration. The objective of the seminar is to provide a detailed hands-on advice session of the do's and don'ts of club administration relative to the League's Rules and Byelaws. This year's seminar took place at Aldiss Park, Dereham on Monday, 11 August.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting for 2008 was held at Ketts Hall, Wymondham on Tuesday, 24th June. The meeting elected seven new teams to membership giving the League 55 competing teams for next season, one short of the highest number ever. The new teams are Breckland Wanderers, Castle Acre Swifts, Fakenham Town A, Hethersett Athletic, Methwold Rovers, Northwold Sports & Social Club and Shropham Utd. Res.
Dick Davey, the League Deputy Chairman, was made a life member of the League in recognition of his long and valued service to the League.
Colkirk were presented with the Sporting Award Shield for the second consecutive season, having achieved an excellent record with regard to disciplinary offences over the past two seasons. Thetford Athletic were named as the Club of the Year for their excellent season in which they won Division 2, reached three Cup Finals and the quarter-finals of the Norfolk Primary Cup and received the Ricky Brown Memorial Shield. Simon Bell, Secretary of Bridgham Utd., received the Nigel Riches Memorial Shield as Secretary of the Year.
The Club Support scheme which was based on disciplinary records for the past season meant that 8 teams with the best records received cheques totalling £1,125 from the scheme pool. The teams (in order of their share of the pool) were Colkirk, Splitz Utd., Yaxham Res., Swanton Morley, Bunwell, Bunwell Res., Beetley and East Harling Res.
Rule changes approved at the meeting included an increase to the annual subscription, a new restriction on changing the club name during the season, a requirement to switch a fixture if the home team’s ground is not playable and increases in fines for withdrawing from the League. The meeting also approved the creation of a Trust for the League with the main purpose of safeguarding the League’s financial resources.
There were no changes to the officer posts and the following were elected:
President & Chairman - Hector Chambers Deputy Chairman - Dick Davey
Secretary/Treasurer - John Turner Deputy Secretary - Mick Utting
Peter Venables was elected to serve on the Management Committee along with the existing members of the Committee. Reg Parker who has served on the Committee for 12 years since the merger with the Dereham and District League and who was previously secretary of that League has retired from the Committee.
The constitution of the League for next season was agreed at the meeting and is as follows:
1ST DIVISION
Bridgham Utd.
Dereham Posties
Dereham Town A
East Harling Res.
Gressenhall
Hingham Athletic
Mulbarton Wanderers
North Elmham
Rockland Utd.
Saham Toney
Shipdham
Thetford Athletic
Toftwood Rangers
Yaxham
2ND DIVISION
Attleborough Town A
Brandon Town A
Bunwell
Cockers
Dickleburgh
Hingham Athletic Res.
Morley Village Res.
Necton Res.
Saham Toney Res.
Swaffham Town A
Tacolneston
Watton Utd. A
Wymondham Town A
Yaxham Res.
3RD DIVISION
Bawdeswell
Bradenham Wand. Res.
Foulsham Res.
Great Cressingham
Gressenhall Res.
Rockland Utd. Res.
Shipdham Res.
Shropham Utd.
Sporle
Swanton Morley
Thetford Rovers Res.
Toftwood Rangers Res.
Wendling
West End
4TH DIVISION
Beetley
Breckland Wanderers
Bunwell Res.
Castle Acre Swifts
Colkirk
Fakenham Town A
Hethersett Athletic
Hindolveston
Methwold Rovers
Northwold S&SC
Shropham Utd. Res.
Splitz Utd.
Thurton & Ashby
The Annual General Meeting for 2009 will be held on Tuesday, 16th June.
Committee Meetings
The Management Committee met on Monday, 22nd December. Among the items discussed were:
- League Trust
- Withdrawal of Bunwell Res.
- Conduct of Club Manager
- Financial Report
- Benevolent and Development Funds
- Sponsorship
- FA Respect programme
- Referee coverage
- Club of the Month Awards - August/September, October and November
- Venue for Annual General Meeting
- Cup Draws
- Cup semi-finals representation
- An abandoned match
- Players suspended for non-payment of monies owing to former club
The Rules Compliance Sub-Committee last met on Monday,10th November. Fines amounting to £840 were imposed on 13 clubs and 2 players for various breaches of the Rules.
The Emergency Sub-Committee met on Wednesday, 19th March to deal with an application for a transfer after the transfer deadline.
League Trust
The first Annual General Meeting of the League Trust was held on 22nd December following the establishment of the Trust earlier in the year. The three new trustees hads been appointed by the Management Committee and are Simon Barnes, Simon Bell and Dale Brown. They were confirmed as members of the Trust's Executive Committee along with the League Chairman, Secretary and Deputy Secretary. Dale Brown was elected as the Trust's Chairman with Hector Chambers as his Deputy and John Turner as Secretary to the Trust.
League Representative Match - 7th May
In 2005, the League played a representative match to mark the League's centenary. The Management Committee has agreed to introduce this on an annual basis and, as a result, the League invited the North East Norfolk League to play us. The match was played at Aldiss Park, Dereham on Wednesday, 7th May. The League beat the North East Norfolk League 4-2.
Promotion and Relegation
Lucozade Sports Performance Challenge
FA Charter Award
The following clubs in membership of the League have been awarded the FA Charter Standard for Adult Clubs: Bunwell, Hindolveston, Mulbarton Wanderers, Swanton Morley, Wymondham Town A