Northumberland Schools Football Association

Hon Secretary's Report 2013-14

NORTHUMBERLAND SCHOOLS’ FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

Hon Secretary’s Report, 2013-14

This has been another season with plenty of football and with success at all levels - but also a season when some of us who have been responsible for organising and administering football at county level have come to realise that ‘succession planning’ needs to be a vital concern and a priority for our Association.

This report will concentrate on:

• county competitions
• county teams
• acknowledgements
• future planning
  
  

County cup competitions were organised at all age levels and brought to a successful conclusion.  Many more matches were played by the deadline dates - although, as ever, there were a number of matches ceded by schools unable to fulfil fixtures promptly.  The results of these competitions are shown in a separate appendix below.

The format of the inter-association competitions was changed.  Our U12 competition was extended by inviting teams from Durham while our own competitions were played as straight knock-outs.  Nigel Shields took over the running of the Tyne and Wear competitions where our associations compete against associations from Durham.

Our heartiest congratulations go to our two national champions from the ESFA Danone Under 11 Seven-a-side competitions: Newcastle School for Boys were winners in the Small Schools competition and Valley Gardens Middle School triumphed in the School Teams competition. This is an outstanding achievement.

Our county teams had very good seasons.  The culmination was our U16 boys becoming Northern Counties champions when they defeated Greater Manchester, who had already been crowned national champions, in a thrilling 4-3 win away in Stockport.  This was an especially sweet result because Manchester had eliminated our team in the ESFA national trophy by the same score earlier in the season. The team topped the East League and defeated Lancashire in their semi-final.

The U18s had a heart-breaking loss to Humberside that saw them go out of the ESFA national trophy at the quarter-final stage.  Leading 4-3 with two minutes to go, they conceded two late goals to lose 4-5. In the Northern Counties competition they finished runners-up to a strong Durham team and then were heavily defeated in their semi-final by Cheshire - who went on to become Northern Counties champions.

Tom Devitt (Monkseaton HS) was a member of the England Schools’ U18 team that won the Centenary Shield in competition with all the home nations.  Tom upheld the proud tradition of his school and his county at this level of representation.

The U16 girls had a good run of results in their East league which saw them, once again, finish runners-up to Durham.  In their semi-final against Lancashire they took an early surprise 2-0 lead but gradually they were worn down by superior opponents and several late goals gave the final score of 8-2 a lop-sided look.

We entered an U15 team in the end-of-season ESFA North East Festival and, happily, the boys won all their games - which bodes well for next season.

Our thanks are extended to team managers Chris Bland, Mark McCutcheon, Natalie Henderson and Lee Savory and all the colleagues that support them, for their dedication to their players and the admirable way that they organise the teams on our behalf.

ESFA acknowledged the 40 year contribution of Peter Tracey, John Farnie and Neil Pont at a reception held at St James’ Park.  As a county association we are very fortunate to have such committed individuals - there are many others like them that have served and continue to serve schools’ football in our area.

As County Secretary I am minded to pick out Chris Newman for the work he does on behalf of the association.  Not only are our books in good order and our finances sound because of his endeavours but also we must acknowledge all the other work he does in arranging transport and grounds and so many other unseen details.

Our relationship with the Northumberland FA continues to flourish and we are particularly indebted to Lucy May for the appointment of referees to county matches and our finals.  We thank the referees themselves for their time and expertise - it is especially pleasing to see a talented bunch of young referees being appointed.

Our Executive Committee continues to meet monthly and, although at times we have been concerned at the number of attendances and the age profile of those on show, we are undoubtedly in a position of strength from which we can move forward.  Thanks go to all those who took on the responsibility of organising cup competitions and to Andy Littleton for his inimitable (and painstakingly accurate) minute-taking.

Looking forward is not easy - and perhaps not comfortable.  A productive meeting was held with other stakeholders in youth football in our area in April.  Issues around communication and ‘joined up thinking’ for the future of football were very much at the forefront of our discussions.  The writing of a Development Plan is an important task to be undertaken very soon - with succession planning an important part of this plan.

Of course, a plan is no good without action. In my year as Chairman I was instrumental in devising a 3 year plan for ESFA at a national level.  Last year in this report I wrote that we could look forward to exciting developments in primary-aged football linked to Premier League clubs and to the development of Futsal.  Unfortunately there is very little to report on either of these fronts - an issue that I shall make it my business to pursue with ESFA.

This report is the place for me to flag up that season 2014-15 will probably be my last as County Secretary.  The place of school football in the whole ‘family of football’ is changing; the place of football - and competitive sport in general -in the life of a school is changing; the role of teachers - and teachers as volunteers beyond their classroom commitment - is changing.  The personnel who take on the challenges of these changes need to understand them at first-hand and be part of the evolution of sport in schools.  I, and others of my generation, will always be happy to support, help and advise but, very soon, the work needs to be done by others.

Thanks to all who have made this another successful season for our association - to all teachers throughout our area who continue to provide a first-class product for our young people and to all others who support them in whatever way.

Neil Pont

June 2014

Northumberland CSFA competition results 2013-14