Bedfordshire FA Annual Report 2015

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3
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
The past season has been one of
change
and
progress
at
the
Bedfordshire FA, and it is with pride that
we, as a County FA can reflect on many
successes in all areas of activity in
Football. Throughout the report, Clubs,
Coaches,
Players,
Volunteers,
Referees, Council members and Staff,
will be mentioned indicating statistics,
success and plans for the future.
On the pitch it is great to report that the
U16 Representative team won the
Eastern Counties Championship and I
congratulate the team, Steve Damon
and his management on their success,
well done! For our clubs, it has not been
a great season for promotions, cups,
runs etc…though the stand out
performance from this is Barton Rovers
reaching the play-off final of the
Southern League Central Division and
Stevington who won the treble this year.
However, I would like to record a big
thank you to the tireless work being
done by volunteers in clubs throughout
grassroots football.
In the office there have been big changes
and all these are detailed within the Chief
Executive report. I would like to thank all
of those who have left the association in
the past 12 months, for their hard work
and dedication in supporting the county.
I give a warm welcome to all those joining
the team and I am confident they will soon
feel at home in our superb facilities, and
help drive forward the county under the
excellent leadership of Chief Executive
Dan Robathan.
During the past twelve months we have
taken bold steps to ensure Bedfordshire
FA is fit for purpose as we embark upon
the new National Game Strategy to 2019.
This will help us deliver and support
football in all areas of the game to the
benefit of all its participants.
I would like to thank all the staff, council
members and volunteers throughout the
county for this support during the past
season and wish them every success
during the 15/16 season.
Richard Everitt
Chairman
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE REPORT
From the first day in this job, I have
understood what an honour and
responsibility it is to be Bedfordshire FA
Chief Executive Officer. Over the past
year, it has been my belief that we need
to improve as an organisation and, as
tasked by the Board of Directors, drive
Bedfordshire FA into a period of
substantial change. I want to ensure we
meet the needs of every participant
within the county. Having identified
various areas of improvement that were
required, the Board and Council have
supported me through one of the
toughest years I could have ever
envisaged. Given our previous track
record of achievement and the
incredibly dynamic times we live in, I
can honestly say, I have never been
more optimistic or enthusiastic about
what lies ahead for Bedfordshire FA.
Having consulted with stakeholders and
devised a Business Plan to lead us for
the next 5 years, we have recently
undergone a full workforce re-structure
to ensure we support the success of the
priorities we have set ourselves. The
roles of County Development Manager,
Referee
Development
Manager,
Operations Manager, FDO - Youth,
FDO - Adult, General Administrator,
Finance Officer and Welfare Officer
have been made redundant. Some
members of staff that occupied these
positions have been redeployed across
the CFA, as outlined later on.
Throughout the year we have also had
changes that are not related to the
workforce review. Ashleigh Cunningham
left the association in February to take up
a full time role at University, having spent
some time at college training to become a
Nurse. Holly Skinner has also left the
association after just a year. We have lost
Debbie Carr and Rebekah Monro, both
leaving the association in September for
new adventures. All of which remain in
contact with the CFA and we wished them
the best of luck for their new futures. New
staff in Nicky Fearn, Mike Desborough,
Jon Gardner and Alec Hill, have joined
the team over the previous year.
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Nicky replaces Debbie with a wealth of
grassroots football experience and is
supporting the Discipline department
through the integration of the Whole
Game System and then will join the
development team in the Playing the
Game department when the new roles
start in July 2015. Mike joined us in
November following the departure of
Chris O’Donnell and has transformed
the Central Appointments System,
details follow in referees report.
Jon and Alec are our two apprentices
supporting
Football
Development,
Disability Football and Marketing and
Communications. All four have settled
into the CFA really well. We will see a
vast amount of staff come into the office
as part of the new strategy. Alan
Young, currently Referee Development
Officer for Cambridgeshire FA, was
successful in the RDO application
process. Alan has a wealth of
experience across refereeing, having
worked in the same role for 2 other
counties.
Katie Quinlan joins us in a new and
exciting
role
supporting
the
development of Players and Coaches
across the county. Katie is an
experienced coach, having worked for
Chelsea and within various other
Centres of Excellence. Katie has been
working as Sports Development Officer
for the University of Bedfordshire and
has an excellent relationship across all
stakeholders.
We also have Charlie Mann joining us
in a new role to support Facilities and
Funding. Charlie is fresh out of
university,
though
has
lots
of
experience within grassroots and
professional football, having been a pro
at Crystal Palace.
Charlie has a drive and desire to support
grassroots football that will make him an
excellent addition to Louis Mark’s team.
Lauren Impey will join Katie in the Playing
the Game Team as Recreational Football
Officer, Lauren currently plays football
within the Women’s Super League and
has vast experience within our current
initiatives. Our final new recruit will be an
Administrator to support the Spartan
South Midlands League – this has not
been appointed at time of print. We wish
all the members of staff that have left us
over the previous year the best of luck
with their futures and are excited to hit the
ground running with the new members.
Though there has been a lot of change
within staff, there has also been a lot of
change within processes and systems.
One of the first challenges I faced was a
‘corporate governance clear up’. A review
took place to overhaul all the processes
within county to ensure we were legally
compliant. Having spent many months,
including the use of consultants to support
the speed of the process, the county now
has everything to ensure the organisation
can move forward.
6
The Board of Directors supported this
process and have been excellent in
ensuring we have what is best for our
staff and stakeholders. Having integrated
new systems such as the Whole Game
System, Central Appointments System as
well as going through the design and
development of a 5 year business plan
and workforce review, it has been an
incredibly busy period for the association.
There have been many positives
throughout the year where football has
shown its excellence, as highlighted
throughout the content of the document.
The implementation of the Whole Game
System has seen the department work
tirelessly
to
support
secretaries
throughout the county. There have been
various teething problems, as anticipated
within any new system; though these
have all been minimalized by the work the
team have completed to ensure the effect
on clubs is as small as possible. There
are always areas of improvement within
any system and the department are
committed to ensure their great work
continues to ensure a smooth introduction
to the new season.
The continued support from the volunteer
workforce has seen a greater level of
success for another year running. Our
Deaf and VI Centre of Excellence
achieved great success throughout the
year having reached the National Finals
and the Girls Player Development Centre
continues to be one of the most
successful in the region. Next season we
will be changing the Player Development
Centre and adopting an Advanced
Coaching Centre, giving the girls a direct
link to the England talent camps.
This has been offered to us by The FA from
the great amount of success of the PDC
staff have done in promoting the centre and
developing the girls involved.
So where does this leave the county for the
new season?
The County FA is coming to an end of an
era. We now embark upon a new 4 year
National Game Strategy and 5 year
Business Plan, which has been created to
ensure we are seen as the most
progressive, innovate and supporting
County FA in the country.
There will be challenges along the way and
moving forward, with a 9% deficit due to
funding cuts from The FA, we are
committed to supporting football within
Bedfordshire. As with any management of
change, there are areas of improvement
required; especially within communications
and contact with the general football
community. This is something both my team
and I have identified as areas of
improvement and we are dedicated to
address. The new staff structure will support
the priorities of The FA and the results of
the England Commission, as well as focus
on our local priorities. Our priorities have
been identified from the feedback received
as part of the consultations we held across
the county.
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The new structure, positions and people
to successfully deliver the priorities and
their new roles are below, with all contact
details on the back of the document:
Business Development Department
Business Development Manager
Tim Sergeant
Running the Game Department
Bar and Events Manager
Jason Gault
Running the Game Manager
Louis Marks
AGP Officer
Stephen Williams
Clubs and Competitions Officer
Nick Snelson
Marketing & Communications Officer
Jon Gardner
Discipline Officer
Jane Cunningham
Financial Control Officer
Tracy Bailey
Referee Development Officer
Alan Young
Business Development Administrator
Sharon Lloyd
Referee Liaison Officer
Mike Desborough
Facilities and Funding Officer
Charlie Mann
Facility Officer
Alec Hill
Playing the Game Department
Playing the Game Manager
James Petty
Participation and CYP Officer
Marc Di Carlo
Recreational Football Officer
Lauren Impey
Player and Coach Development Officer
Katie Quinlan
Education Officer
Lesley Farrah
Playing the Game Administrator
Nicky Fearn
Inclusion and Safeguarding Officer
Sarah Da Costa
FA Skills Team Leader
Steve Maker
Every day I have the great honour of
working within football with extremely
talented and experienced members of staff,
which constantly push the envelope of
excellence, to ensure Bedfordshire FA is
progressing forwards.
We share the same passion for football as
everyone that Plays, Coaches, Referees or
Volunteers and my staff deserve the highest
praise and will always have my sincere
gratitude for the professionalism and
success we have had through a very
challenging year.
On behalf of everyone at the Bedfordshire
FA, I thank you for your continued support
and assure you that we will continue to
challenge ourselves to set the standard for
excellence
in
Football
Governance,
Development and Refereeing, to make a
positive impact on the football family within
Bedfordshire, and to earn everyone’s trust
and respect, not only for what we achieve,
but for how we achieve it.
Dan Robathan
Chief Executive
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REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS
Season 2014/15 Results: U18
DOUGLAS FROST MEMORIAL TROPHY (Under 18)
Sunday 14 September 2014
A v Berks & Bucks
L 5-4
FA COUNTY YOUTH CUP
R1 Sunday 5 October 2014
L 2-3
H
v
Cambridgeshire
EAST ANGLIAN COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP - U18 SECTION (The Len Cordell
Trophy)
L 5-2
Tuesday 14 October 2014
A v Norfolk
W 2-3
Sunday 30 November 2014
A v Essex
D 3-3
Sunday 15 February 2015
H v Hertfordshire
L 3-0
Thursday 19 March 2015
A v Cambridgeshire
L 0-3
Thursday 26 March 2015
H v Suffolk
1
2
=
4
5
6
Hertfordshire
Cambridgeshire
Norfolk
Essex
Suffolk
Bedfordshire
P
5
5
5
5
5
5
W
3
2
2
2
1
1
D
2
1
1
1
2
1
L
0
2
2
2
2
3
F
14
9
11
10
9
8
A
7
8
10
11
9
16
GD
7
1
1
-1
0
-8
Pts
11
7
7
7
5
4
The Under 18 Representative Team lost a 9 goal thriller to Berks & Bucks in the Doug
Frost Memorial Trophy and for the second season running lost in the First Round of
The FA County Youth Cup to Cambridgeshire. The East Anglian Counties
Championship campaign started with a heavy defeat away to Norfolk but an excellent
win at Essex followed by a good 3-3 draw at home to the eventual champions
Hertfordshire had looked to pick the season up, but two 3-0 defeats to finish left
Bedfordshire bottom of the table in the end.
Caps were awarded to Ryan Spencer, Carl Chambers & Pat McCafferty for 10
Appearances. The Leigh Glenister Trophy (U18 Player of the Season) was awarded to
Tyler Ingham.
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U16
RODNEY REDMOND MEMORIAL TROPHY (Under 16)
Sunday 7 September 2014
A v Middlesex
L 1-0
EAST ANGLIAN COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP - U16 SECTION (The Boardman
Trophy)
L 2-1
Sunday 7 December 2014
A v Hertfordshire
W 2-1
Sunday 25 January 2015
H v Cambridgshire
W 1-2
Sunday 8 February 2015
A v Essex
W 3-2
Sunday 22 February 2015
H v Suffolk
1
2
3
4
5
Bedfordshire
Hertfordshire
Essex
Suffolk
Cambridgeshire
P
4
4
4
4
4
W
3
2
2
1
0
D
0
1
0
1
2
L
1
1
2
2
2
F
8
8
8
8
7
A
6
10
8
6
9
GD
2
-2
0
2
-2
Pts
9
7
6
4
2
The Under 16 Representative Team started the season with a 1-0 defeat to Middlesex
in the Rodney Redmond Memorial Trophy and then a last minute goal saw them go
down 2-1 to Hertfordshire in the first East Anglian Counties Championship game of the
season. From then on though it was all uphill, a 2-1 defeat of Cambridgeshire followed
up by a 2-1 win in Essex had put Bedfordshire top of the table and in the final game a
3-2 win over Suffolk had a least secured a playoff for the title with Essex. They had to
wait nearly 2 months for Essex to play their final game of the season at home to
Hertfordshire and with the scoreline 3-0 at half time a playoff looked a certainty but 4
second half goals from Hertfordshire gave them a 4-3 win and took them up into
second and ensured that Bedfordshire won the title.
Thanks go to the Management Teams for all their work throughout the season: Iain
Rennie & Jon Reed for the U18s, Steve Damon, Harj Singh & Lee Moore for the U16s
and to the Physio for both sides Ian Cooper.
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DISCIPLINE
Here are the Discipline figures for 2014/15 in comparison with previous years:
Season
Caution
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
4893
4991
4819
4421
3985
4409
+10.64%
Season
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
Standard
Charges
672
694
735
629
527
634
+20.3%
Personal
Hearings
42
43
24
20
16
-20%
Misconduct
Charges
340
431
372
312
211
208
-1.42%
Total
Charges
5905
6116
5926
5362
4723
5251
+11.18%
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AFFILIATED CLUBS
Here is a comparison of Affiliated Clubs/Teams:
Season
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999/2000
2000/2001
2001/2002
2002/2003
2003/2004
2004/2005
2005/2006
2006/2007
2007/2008
2008/2009
2009/2010
2010/2011
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014
2014/2015
Number of Clubs
503
472
462
505
477
501
507
504
509
505
509
510
505
408
438
421
414
403
381
363
Number of Teams
821
851
846
892
871
917
928
940
985
1139
1255
1304
1354
1277
1310
1320
1316
1302
1271
1326
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NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
The 2014/15 season saw some excellent achievements by Bedfordshire clubs in
the Senior leagues and FA Competitions as they once again put the county in the
spotlight.
A.C. Sportsman (Stopsley) - FA Sunday Cup Fourth Round (Last 16)
A.F.C. Dunstable - 3rd in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier
Division
Barton Rovers - Southern Football League Division One Central Play-off
Finalists
Bedford - 3rd in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One &
Promoted
Crawley Green - (Sunday) - FA Sunday Cup Fifth Round (Last 8)
Potton United - 3rd in the United Counties Football League Division 1
Stevington - Winner of the Treble including Junior Challenge Cup
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Barton Rovers finished 5th in the Southern Football League Division One Central and
having narrowly missed out the season before, this time round they booked a place in
the Playoffs. They defeated Royston Town on penalties in the Semi Final and then
faced a trip to Bedworth United in the Final for a place in the Premier Division, 2 goals
in the final 10 minutes saw them lose 2-0 and miss out on promotion. AFC Dunstable
enjoyed a successful campaign in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division, after a
slow start they lost just 2 games after the middle of October, a run of 29 matches, one
of which was the last game of the season. They finished the season in 3rd spot and will
be looking for a title challenging campaign next season. Bedford once again looked to
have missed out on promotion by the narrowest of margins. Last season goal
difference meant they missed out and this season they had the goal difference sorted
but finished a point short of second place, however at the beginning of June it was
confirmed the top 3 had been promoted.
Potton United built on last season’s improvement with an excellent 3rd place finish in
the United Counties Football League Division One missing out on a promotion spot by
just a single point. Just 1 defeat in the final 19 games is a platform to build on for next
season when they will be hoping to secure Premier Division football once again. In The
FA competitions there wasn’t a lot of success but sides continued to do well in The FA
Sunday Cup. This season it was AC Sportsman (STOPSLEY) who made the last 16,
and Crawley Green (SUNDAY), who made the last 8, flying the Bedfordshire flag in the
latter stages of the competition both losing out to eventual Runners-Up OJM of
Birmingham.
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COUNTY CUP FINAL RESULTS
Senior Challenge Cup @ Luton Town FC - Tuesday 12th May 2015
Biggleswade Town
0-4
Barton Rovers
Senior Trophy @ Arlesey Town FC - Wednesday 11th March 2015
A.F.C. Oakley M&DH
0-4
Crawley Green
Intermediate Cup @ Biggleswade United - Wednesday 15th April 2015
A.F.C. Dunstable Reserves 3 - 1 Great Barford
Junior Challenge Cup @ Biggleswade Town - Friday 10th April 2015
Stevington
1-0
Caddington Rangers Reserves
Sunday Cup @ AFC Kempston - Sunday 26th April 2015
Green Man (LUTON)
1-2
Club Lewsey
Sunday Junior Cup @ AFC Kempston - Sunday 26th April 2015
Slip End United
1 - 1, 3 - 4 pens St. Josephs Reserves
Sunday Lower Junior Cup @ Barton Rovers - Sunday 12th April 2015
F.C. Houghton Centre Reserves 0 - 1 Green Man (LUTON) Reserves
Sunday Centenary Cup @ Barton Rovers - Sunday 12th April 2015
A.F.C. Flitwick
1-3
Houghton Athletic (U21)
Women's Cup @ AFC Kempston - Sunday 19th April 2015
Bedford Ladies 9 - 3
Offley & Stopsley Womens
U18 Youth Challenge Cup @ Stotfold FC - Friday 27th March 2015
Bedford Town F.C. Eagles
2-1
Caddington Youth
U16 Youth Challenge Cup @ Ampthill Town FC - Friday 20th March 2015
Eastcotts
1 - 1, 5 - 3 pens A.F.C. Sundon
U14 Youth Challenge Cup @ Stotfold FC - Friday 13th March 2015
Barton Rovers
2 - 2, 3 - 4 pens A.F.C. Dunstable Blues
U16 Saturday Youth Challenge Cup @ Shefford SC - Saturday 9th May 2015
Ampthill Town
0-4
Sacred Heart Youth Offley
U14 Saturday Youth Challenge Cup @ Shefford SC - Saturday 9th May 2015
Riverfield Raiders
1-3
Sundon Park Rangers Colts
Senior Girls Development Cup @ AFC Kempston - Sunday 19th April 2015
Woburn & Wavendon (Lionesses) 2 - 0 A.F.C. Kempston Girls & Ladies
Junior Girls Development Cup @ AFC Kempston - Sunday 19th April 2015
A.F.C. Kempston Girls & Ladies 11 - 0 E.B. Lions A.F.C.
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CUP FINAL APPOINTMENTS
Senior Challenge Cup
Sunday Centenary Cup
Referee: Andrew Aylott
Assistant Referee: Ayrton Hursey
Assistant Referee: Mark Stevens
Fourth Official: Tom Ratheram
Referee: David Faulder
Assistant Referee: Mark Robinson
Assistant Referee: Rhys Davies
Fourth Official: Zahid Hussain
Senior Trophy
Women’s Cup
Referee: Richard Horswell
Assistant Referee: Nicholas Fuller
Assistant Referee: Bradley Hallybone
Fourth Official: Lukas Wood
Referee: Rachel Evans
Assistant Referee: Andrew Gordon
Assistant Referee: Andrew Gellender
Fourth Official: John Casey
Intermediate Challenge Cup
U18 Youth Challenge Cup
Referee: Paul Mihalache
Assistant Referee: Anthony Fitch
Assistant Referee: Yemi Elegunde
Fourth Official: Brian Humphries
Referee: Babatunde Ajisola
Assistant Referee: Lee Evans
Assistant Referee: Alex Francioni
Fourth Official: Hugh Reilly
Junior Challenge Cup
U16 Youth Challenge Cup
Referee: Derek Osborne
Assistant Referee: Jack Giles
Assistant Referee: Nick Wiltshire
Fourth Official: Nerino Vianello
Referee: Calum Bright
Assistant Referee: Daniel Jones
Assistant Referee: Christopher Ansell
Fourth Official: Brian Cooper
Sunday Cup
U14 Youth Challenge Cup
Referee: Manoj Dhokia
Assistant Referee: Jack Scott
Assistant Referee: Giani Pop
Fourth Official: David Jones
Referee: Jake Kebble
Assistant Referee: Tom Patrickson
Assistant Referee: Solomon Brown
Fourth Official: Duncan Culver
Sunday Junior Cup
U16 Saturday Youth Challenge Cup
Referee: Michael Bradley
Assistant Referee: Christopher Jackson
Assistant Referee: Gareth King
Fourth Official: Tony Beal
Referee: Oliver Dooley
Assistant Referee: Jake Toyer
Assistant Referee: Luke O’Toole
Fourth Official: Terry McCarthy
Sunday Lower Junior Cup
U14 Saturday Youth Challenge Cup
Referee: Tristan Ryder
Assistant Referee: Neil Howard
Assistant Referee: Stephen Prietzel
Fourth Official: Ian Wright
Referee: Tom Burns
Assistant Referee: Joshua Norman
Assistant Referee: Ross White
Fourth Official: Angus McIntosh
Senior Girls Development Cup
Junior Girls Development Cup
Referee: Chloe Williams
Assistant Referee: Megan Gordon
Assistant Referee: Amber Lee
Fourth Official: Dean Carney
Referee: Jack Murphy
Assistant Referee: Daniel Coskeran
Assistant Referee: Robert Harris
Fourth Official: Gerry Catania
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REFEREEING
The implementation of our development initiatives is driven by the work of the Referee
Development Team (RDT) alongside the Referee Development Manager and Referee
Liaison Officer. By working to recruit, retain and develop referees, Bedfordshire FA
continues to support officials from their entrance onto a course through to senior levels of
football.
Appointments
The introduction of the Central Referee Appointments System for the 2014/15 season initially
proved to be challenging and had a substantial impact on stakeholders. Dramatic
improvements throughout the season have seen appointing timeframes and the level of
communication with clubs and leagues significantly improve. This in turn has positively
affected levels of referee coverage with the second half of the season at a comparable level
to the corresponding period for previous seasons. A key priority continues to be the
aspirational target of 100% of affiliated 11v11 & 9v9 games being covered by a qualified and
able match official; the Central Appointments System remains instrumental to achieving this.
As we continue to improve the service offered to our stakeholders, additional benefits of
the system are being utilised within the Referees’ Department. Newly qualified referees
now have a smoother transition into their first games and this process can be managed
closely to ensure appropriate support is offered to inexperienced officials. Furthermore,
referees targeting promotion are more stringently monitored and assessed as a result of
administrative work not being duplicated.
Development
The continuation of the Academy and Development Group has provided development
opportunities to our talented officials through a combination of practical, theoretical and
fitness sessions throughout the season; including workshops hosted by Premier League
referees such as Anthony Taylor and Kevin Friend. The 2014/15 season also saw the
Academy link up with Arsenal FC for the first time, with 3 aspiring referees officiating an
Under 13 fixture. The 2015/16 season promises greatly for those involved with continued
collaboration with Arsenal and updated structure.
Members of the referee workforce have also been provided with CPD events throughout
the year with training taking place for assessors and coaches respectively. The expansion
of these workshops to include mentors and tutors is targeted for the 2015/16 season.
Further opportunities have been provided to officials at Cedars Upper School. Monthly
training supported both their refereeing at a local level and their PE GCSE’s.
17
Improvements have been made to the referee pages of the Bedfordshire FA website
throughout the past year to ensure that content is up to date, relevant and
informative.
Recruitment
5 Basic Referee Courses have been held over the season. These 82 new referees
bring the number of officials to 419 (27 female / 392 male). The introduction of an
online Referee Interest Form will allow for smarter recruitment as levels of interest
can be tracked, both geographically and in terms of potential availability. This insight
offers more control over those registering on courses and can be managed to ensure
that candidates are enrolled based upon the shortfall across existing match officials.
2015/16 will see the implementation of the new FA Referee Course. For the
first time newly qualified referees will be judged on their ability to referee a
game of football before being allowed to enter grassroots football.
Promotions
Following another successful season a number of promotions were achieved by our
match officials. Our congratulations go out to all of the individuals:
Promotion to National
List Assistant Referee
(Football League)
Josh Smith
Promotion to Panel
Select Assistant
Referee (National
League)
Lee Forrester
Promotion to level 2B
Josh Smith
Promotion to level 3
Tom Danaher
Darren Knox
Promotion to level 4
Jordan Cushen
Nicholas Fuller
Ben Weldon
Promotion to level 5
Rachel Evans
Anthony Fitch
Timothy Gibson
Julia Robathan
Giani Pop
Tristan Ryder
Tom Welsh
Lukas Wood
Ian Wight
Promotion to level 6
Jake Bloom
Mark Brookes
Andrew Gordon
Christopher Jackson
Matthew Langthorne
James Rees
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FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT
We have now completed the last month of the current National Game Strategy that has
taken us up until the end of June 2015. There have been a number of significant
achievements and accolades that have happened over the past year and strategy itself
(see success summary on pages 22 & 23).
The Beds FA Youth Council received 3 National Awards at St George’s Park for the
excellent work they have continued to produce that followed the Football Legacy Award
in 2013. The FA Coach Mentor programme has now been implemented for a 2nd full
season and during this season we have seen the workforce increase to benefit 10
Charter Standard Club coaches across Bedfordshire. It has also been another
successful season for the County FA’s Representative teams as the U16s triumphed
over the other County FA’s in the East Region to win the East Anglia County Cup U16
title.
As we enter a new strategy there have also been staff members that have moved onto
pastures new. Holly Skinner and Kevin England have left the association whilst Katie
Quinlan (Player and Coach Development Officer) and Lauren Impey (Recreational
Football Officer) have both recently been recruited to fill the vacant roles. The
workforce changes will coincide with the start of the new 4 year NGS coming into effect
as of 1st July 2015. The team will be managed by James Petty (NGS Manager- Playing
the Game) with Lesley Farrah (Education Coordinator), Marc Di Carlo (Participation &
Children Young People Officer), Sarah Da Costa (Inclusion and Safeguarding Officer),
Nicky Fearn (Administrator) and the 2 most recent arrivals to join the association that
form the Playing the Game team.
This new direction and approach poses a very exciting time ahead for the association,
however there will no doubt be obstacles along the journey in order to deliver success
in Bedfordshire. Nevertheless we will be looking to further enhance and support
excellence within coach development whilst introducing innovative methods and
incentives we have not yet explored previously to get more people participating in
football.
Integration of volunteers is a continual priority as is improving relationships between
grassroots clubs and professional clubs. We will aim to give the football community a
voice and ownership over how football is delivered, engaging minority groups to
maximise potential and implementing an Inclusion Advisory Group and local antidiscrimination plan helps provide an insight into some of the work you can expect in the
delivery of the next strategy.
19
Barton Rovers have been able to revel in the huge success of Keshi Anderson (20 years
old) who has progressed through the Barton Rovers system and realised his dream by
signing for Premier League club Crystal Palace in February. This emphatic achievement
capped an excellent year for Barton Rovers who proudly missed out on promotion to
Step 3 football in the play-off final but were crowned Senior Cup winners after beating
Biggleswade Town 4-0 at Kenilworth Road.
Disability
Our provision for school children and adults with disabilities continues to expand in
Bedfordshire. Our County Disability League has grown to 22 teams with 4 leagues
comprised of an SEN School League and 3 adult ability counts leagues. This involves
over 200 players, volunteers and referees that contribute to the programme. Games are
played every Friday at Beds FA 3G pitch all year round except for the school holiday with
the individual leagues playing once a month.
Games are refereed by young adults who also have a disability or special need, all of
whom have recently qualified. We have also held an FA level 1 coaching course for
players with disability and special needs with financial support from Team Beds and
Luton. All candidates on the course have been supported by mentors and we are very
proud to say that 16 new coaches have qualified this year alone. This is the third year we
have held this course and over that period over 30 new coaches have obtained the
certificate.
As we progress it is anticipated that funding will be removed completely for the 2016-17
season so the sustainability and sponsorship is vital as we approach this time period. We
are again very grateful for the continued support of The Rotary Club of Dunstable who
has kindly donated £750 towards the running cost of our league, which helps with its
continuation and growth annually.
20
Women’s & Girls
School football has been well supported across the county with festivals being
organised by the School’s Games Co-ordinators that effectively caters for 6-16 year
old girls in education. This is a fantastic opportunity for girls to take part in small sided
festivals in their school environment. It is also great to see a large number of female
players taking part in the Dunstable Lower schools league which can act as a feeder
for school activity.
The School Club Link programme continues to support clubs looking to introduce
new girl’s mini soccer teams. There
are an increasing number of
established CS clubs that regularly
provide a pathway for the
generation and inclusion of new
teams each year as a natural
succession plan. For the coming
season (2015/16) the league are
inviting youth teams to enter age
groups from U8 upwards with
formats starting at 5v5. The
Bedfordshire FA are interested to
support any club who may be able to enter a new girls team at the introductory age
groups of U8/9/10 for the new season as our commitment to grow girls football in the
county continues.
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Girls and Women’s Football League (BHGWFL)
have continued to provide football opportunities for all female youth teams in
Bedfordshire. With 7 Youth Leagues catering for U9-U16 age groups and 3 open age
Divisions it enables a smooth transition to adult football. The League also
incorporates a free Futsal Festival that was hugely popular with 33 teams from the
U9-U16 age groups taking part.
Female Football has had great success in the FA People’s Cup Competition, with
both AFC Kempston Girls U14 and Toddington Rovers Ladies FC getting through to
the National Final in Manchester in May. We are very proud of both teams and
delighted that AFC Kempston Girls U14 won the competition that saw them pick up
their trophy at Wembley Stadium during the opening ceremony of The FA Cup Final
where Arsenal triumphed 4 - 0 over Aston Villa.
Bedfordshire FA has also supported Luton Town FC in their recent female football
programme. The Community Trust have been running The Football League Trust
programme Female Football Development (FFD). They have been working with girls
aged 13-15 in local schools to encourage physical activity with a football theme.
21
As a first year club in the programme Luton have been very successful with engaging
young people to take part, including hosting a girl’s schools football festival at Luton’s
Home Ground Kenilworth Road in May.
The Female County Cup Final Day was held at AFC Kempston on Sunday 19th April,
it was great to have all of the female finals taking place at the same venue on the
same day. With help from the Women’s and Girls Sub Group, there was also a raffle
which raised money for the clubs on the day. In the Senior Girls Development Cup
Final, Woburn & Wavendon Lionesses won 2 - 0 against A.F.C. Kempston Girls &
Ladies. In the Junior Girls Development Cup A.F.C. Kempston Girls & Ladies
triumphed over E.B. Lions A.F.C and in the Women's Cup Bedford Ladies won 9 - 3
against Offley & Stopsley Women’s.
At local adult level the Charter Standard BHGWFL league consist of 11 teams that
are based in Bedfordshire. Congratulations to all teams on a successful season but
also to those who have overcome barriers of small squad sizes to retain their teams
for next season. There have also been successes in the retention of regional league
status being maintained by Offley
and Stopsley Ladies and AFC
Dunstable as well as our two
highest performing teams taking
part in the newly formed FA
Women’s Premier League: Bedford
Ladies and Luton Town Ladies.
The Bedfordshire FA has had a very
successful fourth season running
the Girls Player Development
Centre (PDC). The PDC selected
squads at U9, U11, U13 and U15
receive specialist coaching and advice along with fixtures representing the county
throughout the region. The PDC feeds into licensed Centre of Excellence (COE)
programmes at a number of professional clubs.
The new addition of an U18 team has seen female players supported through the
transition into open age football at local level as well as promoting 12 newly qualified
female level 1 coaches into local charter standard clubs. Well done to all players that
have represented the county this season.
17.6%
Centres
20+
Mini
Soccer
Teams
407
Female
Teams
46
Logged
Volunteer
Hours
10,000 +
Disability
Teams
120%
22
of the Year
Nationally
8%
75%
Percentage of Mini
Soccer / Youth Teams
in CS Clubs
Invested in
Facilities
16.5m
SUCCESS SUMMARY
BEDFORDSHIRE FA
33.3%
10 Clubs
Teams
500+ hours
of support
5 Mentors
6 CS Leagues
11 Community
8 Development
25 Dev. Plans
2015
Organised
Small Sided
372
Central
Referee
Appointments
Implemented
New Chief
Executive
& Senior
Management
Team
Youth Male
Teams
Granted
Licence for
Girls ACC
2015/16
All Affiliated
Leagues now
using Full-Time
535
5.3%
3
800+ Teams
100+ Health Checks
£10,000
Invested in
Coach
Education
Awards
National
24
For the 2015/16 season the county will be running a Girls Advanced Coaching
Centre (ACC) in line with the NEW FA Eastern region talent pathway (subject to an
FA license). This poses an exciting new challenge for coaches and players alike and
we are looking forward to the new season ahead.
Finally our female referees have taken part in a variety of showcase games and
events this season. This has encompassed successful promotions as well as two
national appointments (Rachel Evans and Mary Harmer) to the FA Girls Youth Cup
Final between Arsenal and Aston Villa on May 31st.
Club Development
The Charter Standard Programme has continued to flourish and we are thrilled that
over 80% of our mini soccer and youth teams are playing in Charter Standard Clubs.
To summarise the achievements of the programme effectively equates to over 800
teams,11 Community Clubs, 8 Development Clubs and 25 development plans
spanning aspiring non-CS clubs as well as those wanting to progress through the
hierarchy as they develop.
The clubs are supported through the 6 Charter Standard Leagues that enable
provision and structure to grow and develop further. This has resulted in mini soccer
teams growing by 18% and youth male teams by 5.3% from 2013/14 to 2014/15.
Targeted work with existing clubs have seen impressive maintenance of the renewal
process with over 100 annual health checks completed. Working in partnership with
the leagues has enabled a follow up process that has made this season far more
enjoyable for the club and Beds FA staff in signing off annual health checks and
identifying the needs of the workforce as they prepare to enter another season.
Significant achievements this season have been the development of youth boys and
girls futsal through the Bedfordshire Youth Saturday League and Bedfordshire &
Hertfordshire Girls and Women’s Football League organising futsal competitions
across their age groups. These competitions have acted as a local qualifier for the
Regional Futsal Finals that have seen entries at all age groups: U10, U12, U14 and
U16 (boys and girls).
25
The Charter Standard scheme will continue to have tangible and intangible benefits
as supported by The FA and McDonald’s community football programme until 2018.
This commitment to the programme beyond this season is further highlighted through
Nike match balls, first ever opportunity to access England Senior tickets, purchase of
one Nike team kit for U7 to U18 teams up until 2018 (Sandy Colts pictured below)
and Nike football distribution upon successful completion
of the annual health check.
This year the Luton & District South Beds Football League
th
has become the 6 league in Bedfordshire to achieve
Charter Standard League status. This has been a season
long effort with support meetings to integrate new and
existing clubs whilst providing growth across the two
divisions. The culmination of this achievement is the league embracing the
organisation and delivery of the annual Unity Cup event. The community cohesion
event is designed for 16+ year olds to be united through football. It also provides a
platform for newly formed teams to be created and existing teams to be bolstered
prior to the new season starting.
Coach Education
Bedfordshire FA continues to lead by example by providing the highest quality of
support and training to our Clubs and Coaches at a number of venues across the
County. We have processed over 1500 candidates on a wide variety of Coach
Education courses and continually work to increase our high standard of pass rates.
Course
No
Pass Rate
Level 1 Coaching
421
91%
Level 2 Coaching
54
72%
Youth Award Module 1
29
96%
Youth Award Module 2
15
99%
Our work with local Clubs and organisations to provide flexible bespoke courses in
the County continues to increase.
Bespoke Courses
Level 1 Coaching
3
Safeguarding Children
5
Emergency Aid
11
26
With the help of funding from Team Beds & Luton we have also supported
candidates with a disability and run another specific Level 1 Coaching course for the
3rd consecutive year in a row to benefit the workforce in disability football. We have
also worked in partnership with
Luton Town FC and Princes’
Trust to deliver the qualification
to young people not in
education,
employment
or
training (NEET) further to
deployment into local clubs and
Luton Town through community
engagement schemes.
There has also been an increase is the number of Junior Football Leader (Student)
Courses, seven courses of which five of those were requested by local Schools. The
two remaining courses were to support young volunteers as part of the Football
Futures scheme with the ultimate end goal of progressing through to the Football
Futures programme and volunteering locally.
To support The FA Licensed Coaches Club (LCC) we have also increased the
number of free CPD Events this year running a total of 11 and processing over 250
attendees. Unfortunately due to the fact these are free, we get a high proportion that
book on but do not attend. We have seen a massive increase of 240 new LCC
members last season and it helps we provide bespoke CPD events that cater for our
600+ LCC members in maintaining their status whilst being supported on their own
journey through the coaching pathway.
We continue to support the Clubs and Coaches from both in and out of the County on
a wide number of daily queries, from setting up FAN records, help with password
setup, course information, lost certificates and qualification queries.
With the Charter Standard Programme being a key focus we have also offered
several Level 2 Certificates in Coaching, Youth Award Module 1 & 2 courses to our
Charter Standard Clubs at heavily reduced rates. Members of the public and general
football community are continuing to benefit from our partnership with Tresham
College that help keep the cost of courses down to a minimum. This partnership
enables subsidised prices for our candidates and we are extremely proud that we
have not increased the cost of our Coach Education courses since 2010.
27
Young Leaders- Football Futures
The Bedfordshire FA have utilised many volunteers again this year through
developing the club workforce, school work experience programmes and college and
university cohorts. Bedfordshire FA will be represented by two young leaders due to
the success of the county’s programme at The FA’s National Football Futures Camp.
The Young Leaders that will represent the county are Chris Howes and Rhys Shekle
The current season has seen well over 150 Young Leaders (aged 13-25) that have
been accepted and have volunteered locally as part of the Football Futures
programme. The Bedfordshire FA also held the annual County Football Futures
Camp (56 young leaders in attendance) in February half term. This County Football
Futures Camp was held for various ages ranging from 13 upwards. The Camp was
run over two full days of which our Young Leaders took part in various activities and
workshops. The Football Futures Camp and programme rewards young volunteers
for their hard work and supports them with their continued personal development.
The County’s Football Futures programme runs alongside the Youth Council who
have direct representation on the Bedfordshire FA Council.
Youth Council
The Bedfordshire FA Youth Council is continuing to have a positive impact on
grassroots football supporting Bedfordshire FA. The Bedfordshire FA Youth Council
were successful at The FA National Football Futures Awards 2014 achieving the
following awards:
28
-
County FA Youth Council of the Year Award: Winner
(Bedfordshire FA Youth Council)
Refereeing Award (Male): Winner (Jordan Cushen)
Refereeing Award (Female): Winner (Mary Harmer)
The Bedfordshire FA Youth Council continues to be a
lead county whereby other counties continue to request
guidance with establishing their own Youth Committees.
The Youth Council continued the successful Mentoring
Referee Scheme, this season led by Chris Howes
(Project Manager Referee), to support newly qualified
referees (12 referees supported). The programme has
been recognised as best practice nationally.
The Youth Council have also seen the inaugural season for a new Young Coach
Mentor Scheme. This scheme was designed and implemented by Courtney Harding
(Project Manager Coach). The purpose of the scheme is to support aspiring young
coaches after completing their Level 1 course and offering CPD to support their
development as a coach (16 young coaches supported).
You can follow the progress of the Youth Council via Twitter @BedsFAYC
29
FA Skills Team
th
The FA Skills programme celebrated its 6 Season within Bedfordshire during 2014/15.
During the season the coaches continued to support local Schools, Charter Standard
Clubs, Professional Clubs, and develop players and create pathways into football
through our local FA Skills Centres and FA Skills holiday courses for 5-11 year olds.
Some of our highlights include;
-
-
Supported 85 different schools and over 180 teachers across Bedfordshire
Delivered in 29 different Charter Standard Clubs to 48 different teams, supporting
74 Grassroots Coaches within their training sessions
Provided opportunity for over 250 children to attend our weekly FA Skills Centre
training at 5 locations across Bedfordshire, including provision of Futsal and Girls
only.
Helped 37 children join a local Charter Standard Club and 5 boys and 1 girl join a
professional club programme.
Delivered Introduction to Futsal events for local Charter Standard Clubs
Supported growth and development of 8 girls teams
Delivered FA Skills Centres in Luton, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Sharnbrook
and Shefford.
Plans to support 5-11 year olds for next season include:
-
A comprehensive Futsal programme that will enhance ongoing pockets of activity.
Change to our Skills Centre programme to include new venues and a Skills Extra
programme.
Support of local Charter Standard Clubs, with particular impact on support of girls
only and needs led development.
Continue to deliver a support programme within our local primary schools.
Thank you to the Bedfordshire FA Development Team
for their continued support of The FA Skills team. If
you would like to know more about The FA Skills
programme
in
your
area
please
visit
www.thefa.com/skills
or
contact
stephen.maker@thefa.com, Team Leader for The FA
Skills programme in Bedfordshire.
30
FA Coach Mentors
nd
We have just finished the 2 year of the FA Coach Mentor programme and we are
delighted the team have continued to provide excellent
support, knowledge of grassroots football in abundance and
have allowed for extensive networking of clubs across the
county as a result.
Matt Smith - Matt.Smith@TheFA.com
Matt has been mentoring AFC Oakley M&DH and AFC
Kempston throughout the 2014/15
season. Highlight of the season was the
organisation of a bespoke Goalkeeping
CPD event for his mentor clubs involving 34 coaches and 16
club goalkeepers ranging from U7 to U16 age groups.
Butch Fazal - Butch.Fazal@TheFA.com
Butch has enjoyed working with mentees at Ampthill Town and
Barton Rovers Youth in his first year of the programme.
Improved communication lines between the clubs and the CFA
have ensured all coaches receive up to date information about
the opportunities. Observing the positive impact mentors have
on the coaches which is then transferred to the children
manifesting themselves in excellent coaching sessions.
Gary Breeden - Gary.Breeden@TheFA.com
Gary has been mentoring E.B. Lions and A.F.C. Dunstable in
his first year of the programme. Gary’s highlight was giving
coaches the support and confidence to develop their coaching
knowledge and then seeing the knowledge used to develop the
players as a high point through the scheme.
31
Mike Nolan - Mike.Nolan@TheFA.com
rd
Mike will be entering his 3 year of being an FA Coach Mentor.
Mike was the only mentor from the
original pilot that started in 2013. In this
time he has worked with Flitwick
Eagles, Leighton United and Houghton
Athletic. The highlight of his 2 years to
date have been developing a club
philosophy
at
Leighton
United,
supporting coaches with their teams
and linking coaches with others at their
respective clubs. Mike has also helped
to set up Communities of Practice to support candidates on
the Level 2 and B Licence courses.
32
Walking Football
Regular Walking Football sessions coordinated by Bedfordshire FA, Central
Bedfordshire Council and local clubs
now take place on a weekly basis in
Dunstable, Flitwick, Redborne and
Shefford. Aimed at the 50+ Walking
Football is vastly becoming more
popular across the country, providing a
great opportunity for people to take
part in physical activity at their own
pace and providing social gains.
Flitwick Eagles have now taken ownership of the Redborne session and it runs as
part of their community programme with a regular group of attendees. Shefford
Saints have recently shown their support to the initiative with a new session running
at the Shefford Sports Centre. Participants from the Dunstable, Flitwick and
Redborne sessions culminated together to take part in the local round of the FA
People’s Cup competition in February along with the Bedford Walking Football Team
who progressed to the National Final in Manchester in May.
Local Authority Projects
A group of 12 young Asylum seekers in Kempston have progressed from turning up
and playing football to taking part in a local small sided league. By working with
Central Bedfordshire Council, this group of young players attended 10 weeks of
football coaching in an informal environment and were given the support to enter the
local small sided league once these sessions were complete.
Football Mash Up Sessions
Football Mash Up has continued to provide informal football opportunities for 14-16
year olds with 14 centres in total around the county, an increase of 6 more centres
from 2013/14. These centres include female, disability and futsal specific that provide
links into local clubs at an age group where dropout rates are high nationally.
33
Mars Just Play
Just Play Centres and Just Play Fund Activity sessions are still proving very
popular in Bedfordshire. A great example of development is the University of
Bedfordshire Friday Night Futsal League. The original sessions progressed from
recreational futsal into an affiliated league whilst still providing informal
opportunities for students at the Bedford campus. The Just Play Teachers League
has been a huge success, with local school teachers having the opportunity to take
part in a small sided league across the academic year against different schools in
the county. There are 15 teams in the North Division and 11 in the South Division,
with these divisions looking set to grow still in 2015/2016.
Social Inclusion Projects
A network of social inclusion projects are beginning to be formed across
Bedfordshire and with the opening of the new 3G site at Wixams this has further
been enhanced. Provision for informal football for 16+ year olds on a Friday
evening are proving popular, with Wixams and Beds FA delivering projects
between 8pm-10pm every week in a safe and enjoyable environment.
We are pleased to be able to offer various informal football opportunities across a
range of age groups in the community. We are looking forward to expanding and
introducing new initiatives in 2015/16 including conversion leagues, business
leagues and further enhancing the work of the existing veteran and U21 provision.
34
ARTIFICAL GRASS PITCH
This season has seen further development at our 3G Artificial Grass Pitch with a
continued use of grassroots clubs throughout the season and a variety of
programmes increasing participation as we find new and innovative ways to make the
most of our top facility.
The Mini Movers programme for 3-5 year olds best represents that progression. This
activity runs on a Saturday morning to provide young children with a safe introduction
to football and after moving to 2 groups for the first time last year now runs with 6
groups of children participating.
This
substantial
increase has come
through the easy of
an online booking
system, new staffing
structure
and
development to a
second venue on
Saturday mornings
at Wixams.
Once old enough,
players from this
programme are fed
into the FA Skills
Sessions or local
grassroots clubs to help create new mini soccer teams in Bedfordshire.
While Mini Movers is excellent for our youngest participants we also aim to be as
inclusive as possible and cater for everyone in the community. Be it from 5-11 year
olds in our FA Skills Session on a Thursday to our Walking Footballers on a Monday,
we have diverse range of opportunities to play no matter your age, gender, race or
ability.
35
Perfect examples of this are the Adult and Schools Disability League we host during
our off peak periods and our Women’s 5aside League which provides a casual
opportunity to keep the Women Footballers engaged throughout the summer and
uses the casual environment to recruit new players.
The Friday Night Football Social Inclusion Project continues to have a consistent 35+
participants every week and provides young people with an informal way to play
football with direct links to local clubs and keeping them from trouble in the local area.
By providing this age group with something constructive to do on a Friday night we
have seen crime rates & anti-social behaviour progressively decreased and seen
more local young people with an interest in getting involved with helping the County
FA.
The Bedfordshire FA's facilities continue to be the home of increasing coach
education events including CPD's, Level 1’s and Youth Module Courses as well as
being used more by the refereeing department too.
The AGP has become the new home of the County Referees Academy who will use
it for training events throughout the year to give referees a practical practice
opportunity as they progress as officials.
36
WELFARE & SAFEGUARDING
During the season 2014/15, every club complied with the requirement to have a fully
trained CWO in place. Many of them have been in role for several seasons and
continue to support their clubs efficiently and proactively. Poor practice cases are
managed effectively by CWO’s and the County Welfare Officer offers support and
advice as required. Serious incidents are managed by the County Welfare Officer
who works closely with The FA Safeguarding Team and Statutory Agencies
Over the course of the season, approximately 700 people attended Safeguarding
Children Workshops (through 15 standalone workshops and 18 level 1 courses) We
trained 24 new CWO’s at 2 Welfare Officers’ Workshops. There was also a significant
increase in online safeguarding recertification and we continue to work closely with
the Football Development team to ensure courses are offered where required.
37
A new Workshop will be delivered in 2015/2016 called Safeguarding Deaf and
Disabled Footballers. It’s a workshop designed to help CWO’s support children with
additional needs within clubs and may also be offered to managers and coaches in
the future.
30 Club Welfare Officers attended January’s CPD event, focussing on social media
and the DBS process and online checks are now being carried out by 135
Bedfordshire Clubs. There have also been quarterly newsletters sent to the
Bedfordshire FA CWO cohort, updating them on local and national FA Safeguarding
matters.
At the start of 2014/2015 season, we asked all clubs to name their managers and
coaches on the Whole Game Affiliation in order to ensure that all those working with
children have had an accepted Enhanced FA DBS check. This task was completed
by all clubs with youth teams and continues to be updated throughout the season.
The County Welfare Officer has been working closely with the Discipline department
to manage incidents involving youth teams and provide guidance and education
where appropriate.
Large clubs have been encouraged to recruit an assistant CWO to help them in their
roles and this has proved a valuable support to many. We would also encourage
clubs to formulate succession plans in clubs where CWO’s are planning to step
down.
As a result of the recent Beds FA workforce review, the role of the County Welfare
Officer will be changing to become the Inclusion and Safeguarding Officer. This will
be a full time role which will encompass the current welfare and safeguarding
responsibilities but also support the delivery of the FA Inclusion and AntiDiscrimination Plan and implement the design and delivery of a local antidiscrimination plan The role will also be responsible for the FA’s RESPECT
programme locally and will continue to work with local and national stakeholders to
provide a safe environment for children to play football in Bedfordshire.
38
FACILITIES & FUNDING
There are a number of initiatives in place to provide improvements to facilities across
Bedfordshire.
These range from advice on grass pitch renovation, resurfacing of wearing football
turf pitches, extension of changing rooms, advice on programme usage and
maintenance of new football turf pitches. Clubs are supported to access small grants
for new 9v9 goalposts, Respect equipment, supported with applications to help
progression through the National League System and strategic plans to support the
local authorities to plan and deliver their playing pitch strategies to service the need
of the customers.
The Football Foundation continues to be a major partner in revenue funding through
the Grow the Game Scheme. This year’s applications saw an oversubscription
nationally and due to success in Bedfordshire previously the county’s allocation to
clubs has increased. This season will see 9 additional clubs from Bedfordshire that
will be supported with the total amount of funding allocated to Bedfordshire clubs
being £28,500. This funding will support these clubs to develop (59 qualified
coaches) and grow (19 new teams) throughout the next 3 seasons.
The biggest achievement in the past year in terms of fully developed sites has been
the new state of the art Flitwick Football Centre. The new football centre that received
over £214,000 funding was proudly opened to the public in December and is the
home of Flitwick Eagles and Flitwick Town who boast a variety of pitches to cater for
its 28 teams. The facility enables 5,7,9 and 11aside teams to play matches whilst
possessing dual-gender changing rooms for players and referees, function suite,
kitchen and additional car parking spaces making it a hub site for football.
39
Charlie Mann will be starting the Facilities and Funding Officer role in July with one of
his priorities being to ensure that affiliated football and competitive match play are
permitted on a host of existing football turf pitches. This is based upon successful
testing and subsequent listing on the 3G register in addition to the newly developed
sites at Etonbury, Lea Manor School, Ashcroft School & Lincroft School that are due
to come into fruition throughout the new strategy.
The Wixams 3G has finally been used to pilot flexi leagues, social inclusion project,
local clubs training nights and a small sided leagues for adults. The great news
moving forward is that the facility will roll out a greater programme of use for
grassroots football activity from the 2015/16 season.
40
SMALL SIDED PROVISION
Bedfordshire FA currently have over 381 affiliated small sided teams that are a direct
result of 11 small sided providers that account for 2286 players that regularly
participate across the county.
The Bedfordshire FA hosted The Regional Futsal Finals for U10’s and U12’s at the
University of Bedfordshire on the 30th May 2015. This event had teams competing
and representing counties from the east region totalling 150 players on the day. The
teams representing Bedfordshire played some great futsal in the process and
finished 2nd in the U10’s (Leighton Town Youth) and U12’s (Kempston Futsal) Boys
sections and 3rd in the U10’s (Mid Beds Tigers) and U12’s (Leighton United) Girls
sections.
The discipline and spirit of the event was evident throughout with each team being a
credit to their respective County FA. Despite the competition acting as a qualifier for
The FA National Futsal Finals the atmosphere created was typified by repeated
mexican waves rippling across the bleacher seats of the 200 strong crowd.
41
A number of futsal projects have been set up to ensure that Sixth Form and College
students can engage in Futsal to keep active and this has resulted in a number of
Football Mash Up (14-16 year olds) and Just Play Centres (16 years +) being set up
across the County to engage more 14+ year olds through small sided games and
informal activity.
The Bedfordshire Teachers 5 a-side League continues to grow with 26 teams/schools
competing throughout 2014/15 on a monthly basis in North Bedfordshire and South
Bedfordshire sections. The fourth season of the Bedfordshire Veterans 9aside
League has been completed and this has resulted in regular activity of 21 teams,
initially 8 teams in first season, across the County on a Sunday evening that has also
led to the use of Football Foundation facilities.
This year has seen the continuation of 2 small sided leagues creating 17 new small
sided teams that have been developed and affiliated through the University of
Bedfordshire students seeking local and small sided provision. The University of
Bedfordshire (Bedford Campus) has seen the Futsal league grow to 9 teams. The
University of Bedfordshire (Luton Campus) 6 a-side league continued with 8 teams
competing to fill the demand of intramural football for Luton based students.
The Development team will be working closely with our small sided providers to
develop on small sided football and lead into 11v11 adult football in ways that have
not been previously explored including conversion leagues and short term flexi
leagues.
42
COUNTY LOUNGE
Apart from December 2015 every
Saturday is booked here at the Peter
Newton Pavilion which is fantastic to see.
More Friday’s are being booked as we
offer a slightly reduced rate to Customers
as they are not able to book the Saturday
they require. We have seen an increase in
Weddings & Wedding Anniversary’s in
2015 and have had a couple of new
bookings to include Luton Scrabble club
holding their Tournaments here as well
as accommodating School Reunion
parties for those memorable times.
Looking forward, we aim to make Parties
& Events held at the Peter Newton
Pavilion enjoyable & memorable greeted
by friendly and helpful Staff. We look
forward to see New and Existing
Customers for the rest of 2015 &
beginning 2016.
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Our Training Room and Council Chambers are available to book for Business Meetings
and Training Days and are getting busier as we go through 2015. The rooms are
equipped with Overhead Projectors and Screens with Flipchart available to use. We
can also provide Catering & Beverages to suit all requirements.
We are currently taking bookings for 2016 for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings and
Engagements. If you would like more information on prices and dates available then
please contact Jason Gault on 01582 567726 or email him at
jason.gault@bedfordshirefa.com and we would be more than happy to deal with
any questions you may have about bookings, packages or what we can help you with
to make your event a Memorable & Special One.
BEDFORDSHIRE FA STAFF
CONTACTS
Chief Executive Officer
Dan Robathan
Tel: 01582 565111
Dan.Robathan@bedfordshirefa.com
Playing the Game Manager
James Petty
Tel: 01582 567719 / 07432 702697
James.Petty@bedfordshirefa.com
Participation and CYP Officer
Marc Di Carlo
Tel: 01582 567718 / 07984 222441
Marc.DiCarlo@bedfordshirefa.com
Recreational Football Officer
Lauren Impey
Tel: 01582 565111
Lauren.Impey@bedfordshirefa.com
Player and Coach Development Officer
Katie Quinlan
Tel: 01582 565111
Katie.Quinlan@bedfordshirefa.com
Education Officer
Lesley Farrah
Tel: 01582 567716
Lesley.Farrah@bedfordshirefa.com
Playing the Game Administrator
Nicky Fearn
Tel: 01582 567723
Nicky.Fearn@bedfordshirefa.com
Inclusion and Safeguarding Officer
Sarah DaCosta
Tel: 01582 567721 / 07960 500723
Sarah.DaCosta@bedfordshirefa.com
Marketing and Communications Officer
Jon Gardner
Tel: 01582 565111
Jon.Gardner@bedfordshirefa.com
Business Development Administrator
Sharon Lloyd
Tel: 01582 567714
Sharon.Lloyd@bedfordshirefa.com
Financial Control Officer
Tracy Bailey
Tel: 01582 567715
Tracy.Bailey@bedfordshirefa.com
Disability Football
Les Dedman
Running the Game Manager
Louis Marks
Tel: 01582 567724 / 07525 592200
Louis.Marks@bedfordshirefa.com
Clubs and Competitions Officer
Nicholas Snelson
Tel: 01582 567712 / 07834 955549
Nicholas.Snelson@bedfordshirefa.com
Discipline Officer
Jane Cunningham
Tel: 01582 567722
Jane.Cunningham@bedfordshirefa.com
Referee Development Officer
Alan Young
Tel: 01582 565111
Alan.Young@bedfordshirefa.com
Referee Liaison Officer
Mike Desborough
Tel: 01582 567724 / 07803 623374
Mike.Desborough@bedfordshirefa.com
Facilities and Funding Officer
Charlie Mann
Tel: 01582 565111
Charlie.Mann@bedfordshirefa.com
Facility Officer
Alec Hill
Tel: 01582 565111
Alec.Hill@bedfordshirefa.com
Business Development Manager
Tim Sergeant
Tel: 01582 567725
Tim.Sergeant@bedfordshirefa.com
Bar and Events Manager
Jason Gault
Tel: 01582 567726 / 07919 597368
Jason.Gault@bedfordshirefa.com
AGP Officer
Stephen Williams
Tel: 01582 567725
Stephen.Williams@
bedfordshirefa.com
FA Skills
Steve Maker
Stephen.Maker@
thefa.com
Female Football
Julia Robathan
Century House, Skimpot Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU5 4JU