Congratulations to All our League and Cup Winners

As the season winds down to its conclusion we pay tribute to those teams that have emerged with silver in their hands; send our congratulations to the successful players and team benchmen and our grateful acknowledgement of the efforts of all those behind the scenes in club management who make it all possible.

Is Your Ground Up To Standards?

The committee will be visiting all our grounds at the beginning of the season to ensure that they meet our standards requirements. Match officials also provide regular feedback to the league throughout the season via their match reports.

Appendix 'A'

The criteria we measure our grounds against are contained in Appendix 'A' to our rules. This is printed in our annual Directory and Rule Book and on the Noticeboard and all clubs are encouraged to check that they continue to meet the requirements therein.

Action was taken against clubs last year and where restrictions or additional requirements were imposed then these remain in force until the underlying reason for them has been remedied or otherwise attended to.

Of particular concern are those clubs which previously conformed to standards but have since experienced weather or other damage which they have not rectified and the small number of clubs given dispensation regarding temporary accommodation or other facilities but which have stopped meeting their end of the agreement.

The league will take action against clubs letting their standards slip and this could, in exceptional cases, include a requirement to play at another location, demotion or expulsion from the league.

Club Secretaries - Check your Details?

I will shortly be relying on the details provided by clubs and recorded on the database on the website to mail out the membership renewal aplication forms together with the AGM papers. I ask all club secretaries to check their information, correct any mistakes and add anything that is missing. If you do change something please be sure to let me know so that I can bring it to the attention of other clubs, league officers, match officials etc, when relevant.

Is Your Email Address Correct?

As per rule change agreed at the AGM every club must have a monitored email address. If yours hasn't charges could follow.

Following this season's successful trial, we will be making it a league requirement for clubs to use the website next year to  enter their match result cards and to record goal scorers. Please make sure that your club is equipped and organised to do this.

Ideally the club secretary would be the club officer with access to the internet and email. Other club members can be designated as your contact point but they must appreciate that the league will expect them to provide a consistent and reliable link to the club in the secretary's place.

If you would like additional usernames and passwords for anyone in your club (who may be operating as your internet and email "officer" for example) please let me know and I will set them up and email them their logging-on details.

DEL’S MATCH
Non League All Stars v Professional/Celebrity Dream Team

Del Deanus, 34, played youth team football for Tottenham Hotspur and is currently co-manager of Ryman Division 1 North side Edgware Town FC.

He has recently been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

The game will kick off at 3pm on Saturday 10th May at Edgware FC’s White Lion Ground, High Street, Edgware. As well as the sure-to-entertain match there will be plenty of non-footballing attractions including bouncy castles, face painting for the kids, a licensed bar, refreshment stalls and on-pitch half time entertainment for adults.

Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s with free admission for children under five years-old. For more information please call Jerry Lyons on 07846 839944 or Richard Wilson on 07717 878370. Alternatively visit www.delsmatch.co.uk

Football stars including former Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers legend Les Ferdinand and Arsenal and England star Paul Merson will be joining music and film celebrities to play against a top notch non-league side. The semi-pro side will consist of players from teams including Hendon FC, Wealdstone FC, Northwood FC, AFC Wimbledon, Edgware FC and many more.

There will even be a chance for two lucky people to rub shoulders, swap tactics and play with the professional side. This once in a lifetime opportunity is being auctioned to raise money for Del’s care and well-being in the future months. To give yourself a chance of realising this dream simply email your bid to http://www.edgwaretownfc.com/Play_Pro_Am.htm. Bidding starts at £100.

An amazing array of unique football, golf and showbiz merchandise will be raffled on the day including signed QPR, Watford and Chelsea shirts. There is also the chance to win Joe Cole’s England shirt from his man of the match performance against Switzerland in Fabio Capello’s first game in charge. Celebrities already confirmed to play are internationally renowned DJ Brandon Block, Radio Five’s DJ Spoony and cast members from Sky TV’s Dream Team and the hit British gangster movie, The Rise of the Foot Soldier.

Del has been a prolific fundraiser for MacMillan Cancer Support having raised more than £15,000 by running the London marathon, losing four stone on a sponsored diet and organising a football match to raise money for the charity.

To find out more about Motor Neurone Disease visit www.mndassociation.org.

TEAM SHEET DEVELOPMENTS
Keeping Your League Ahead of the Game

As a trial, and to give club secretaries a chance to adjust and get used to this new approach, we are asking Premier clubs to use the on-line team sheet from this coming Saturday to enter their team and goalscorers no later than mid-Monday morning following the week-end's game.

If you use the on-line team sheet you do not have to use the Voicemail system to record your goalscorers and you can send your team sheets in to Nik in batches at, say, six weekly intervals.

Please note that this means the AWAY team as well. For the duration of the trial away teams in Premier and Aubrey Cup matches will not have to give their goalscorers to the home side but will have to enter them on their team sheet as described above.

Every club that enters its team sheet via the website saves the league officers who currently spend their Saturday nights and Sundays entering team sheet details, a lot of work, freeing them up to work for the league in other areas. So we earnestly ask for the cooperation of our Premier clubs with the introduction of this new system. Clubs with teams outside the Premier are also free to use this system on a voluntary basis if they want to give it a go but these teams MUST continue to use the voicemail system to record home and away goalscorers as normal.

Full details of how to use the on-line team sheets can be reviewed here but any club officer experiencing difficulty can phone me - 0207 096 3019 - or email me and I will talk them through it. Please give it a try and let us have your feedback.

Brian Smith
Hon general secretary

Remember the Procedure when your Ref is a No Show

Sometimes, and for all sorts of reasons - including a shortage of available officials - your team will find itself at a game with no official referee. It's important to be aware of the league rules that apply in these circumstances.

Workload - Help Lift the Burden

Clubs willing to increase their use of the website can play a major role in eliminating some of the heavy workload that falls onto the shoulders of league officers.

Three ways in which you can extend your use of the website features and by so doing help league officers reduce the demands on their time include:

Team Sheets

Use the website team sheet feature to record your players' matches. When the result cards arrive with the results/registrations secretary they need only enter the changes and the goals scored/discipline details. Don't forget to update the names after the match with any changes, subs used etc. The earlier in a week you do the team sheet the earlier your players will know who's in which team, where they are playing, KO time etc. Premier division hosts can use their oppo's details to produce their match day programmes.

Match Results

Enter your match result card on-line, save a stamp, envelope and a trip to the post box and a lot of work for the assistant referees secretary. Because the information is online and in digital form, record keeping and analysis is carried out automatically by the web software instead of by the league officer. It saves writing and reminds you of all the information you need to provide. (You still send in the handwritten cards but in monthly or thereabouts batches).

Registering Players

When you sign new players, put their details onto the database straightaway. When your registration forms arrive the registration secretary need only check that the details are correct, allocate the registration number and it's job done. And don't forget to keep the details up to date with address changes, new phone numbers and email addresses etc as they occur.

Please make full use of the website; it will save you time and money and take a load off your hardworking league officers.

Charges are and have been going out for these administrative lapses and from next Saturday 24 November additional charges will be imposed under rule 5(i). Clubs continuing to fall short in their attention to this very simple duty are liable to be asked to appear before the management committee to explain why they cannot comply with this requirement.

WHY DON'T YOU COME AND PLAY WITH ME?

Be Careful How You Approach Players Registered With Another Club

Once a player has registered with a club affiliated either to the national FA or a county authority their movement to another club similarly affiliated is subject to FA rules. Each season there are a number of complaints of players being ‘poached’ to play for other teams.

AWARDED GAMES - POINTS BUT NO PRIZES

For Administration, that is. Player Ineligibility Is Costing Clubs Dear

REFEREES - BOOTS UP TO SCRATCH - OR WORSE?

Remember - Boots Must Be Checked

CHOOSING KIT? AVOID COLOUR CLASHES
The Wrong Choice Can Dampen Club Spirits

Clubs replacing their kit need to bear two factors in mind. Firstly, all colour changes - shirts, shorts and/or socks - MUST be approved by the league before the kit is purchased. Secondly, shirts must not clash with the referee's black tunic which they MUST wear in all Herts FA regulated matches.

If you are replacing your kit and changing the colour or style (ie from plain to stripes or from hoops to plain etc) you must get the approval of the league's general secretary first.

If you choose a kit which is sufficiently dark as to raise concerns then it will not be approved. This applies to stripes and hoops where the overall effect is of a colour near to or indistinguishable from the referee's black.

Goalkeepers' jerseys must not be black, nor (dark) navy blue and must be distinguishable from both teams and the opposition goalkeeper.

Do not ignore these requirements. We don't want to rain on anyone's parade unecessarily but we will enforce these rules even when it causes member clubs additional expense which can be considerable where an unacceptable kit has already been purchased.

League Suspensions and other Sanctions

From time to time the league finds it necessary to withdraw a player's registration and/or to impose other sanctions on players and other persons participating in Herts Senior County League football matters.

Anyone who has a mobile phone can take advantage of a free, all-new service introduced by the makers of our website - leaguemanager.biz.

You can use your mobile to access league information when you're not at your PC simply, quickly and for no additional cost (other than what your network provider charges you for internet access). Regardless of the make of phone or ISP you use, if you have internet access on your mob - sometimes called 3G - you're in.

It's free to get details of fixtures, results, league tables; even the address and contact details of the club you're playing and telephone numbers for the match referee and assistants. Click here for more details.

A tip. Set your font size to the smallest your phone allows. You will then see all the information on one screen without having to scroll from side to side.

Another tip. The information provided is not a WAP service; it comes via standard browser pages so don't use your WAP service to access them. On O2 you have a choice but I don't know about other providers. Anyone with useful info or feedback on this topic please get in touch.

Suspended Players

The website is now up to date with county suspensions and releases from county sine die being recorded as they are received.

If you have any concerns about any of your players or current registrations you should contact the County office and check their status with Lauren Halsey.

The league is not able to help with these queries.

Club Announcements

We warmly encourage clubs to send in announcements about their activities etc which we will be pleased to publish here.

If you are looking for new playing personnel, a sponsor, a manager, whatever, and feel that publicity on this site might help then get in touch.

Come On You Scribes (Where are you, where are you...)

For a while now - and possibly too long for our patient readers - John and I have been the only ones scratching our heads trying to fill the empty space on this website and it's time to spread the misery around.

Please give it a try and let me know how you get on and what you think of it; easy to use, impossible to understand, whatever.

This headline could so easily describe the scene in your clubhouse on a Saturday as the league's results come in.