ANNUAL REPORT 2010

Thursday 27th May 2010 | Bob Waygood

ANNUAL REPORT 2009-2010

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

It is my privilege on behalf of the Officers, Life Members and Council Members of the West Wales Football Association to present the Annual Report for Season 2009-2010.

 

FINANCIAL

 

The surplus for the year amounted to £2326 based on receipts that were lower than the previous season by £4976 primarily due to a decrease in cup sponsorships and development grants (£2150) and disciplinary income (£1332).  Bank and Building Society interest was lower by £838 despite some funds being placed on fixed notice period in order to maximise our income from this source.  The additional training grant for refereeing matters received in the current season had been offset against the expenditure for Referees Seminars, Courses and Assessing and will continue to be so shown in future years accounts.

 

In terms of expenditure out-goings in respect of normal expenditure required to run the Association was reduced by £1678. Cup competitions reflect the lower gate monies received compared with the previous season whilst the UEFA Regions Cup competition includes the cost of a competition scheduled over a two season period. Monies were set aside to fund winners of the Tesco Cup Winners to the Welsh Finals and the possibility of further travel costs to the National Finals should either side succeed. This year, Tesco who sponsor Girls Football through their development grants, did not provide medals for their Cup Final, hence the decision of Council to fund this at a cost of £305. Ground Hire charges reflect Council’s decision to pay the hire fees in respect of grounds used for semi-final ties include some cost from the previous season when the games were played in April and payment made in the current year. This should revert to a one season cost in future years unless games are delayed by adverse weather conditions.

 

Having reviewed the Association’s surplus at the year end, Council increased the grants made to Leagues in order to subsidise their administrative costs by £950, an increase of 11.25%. Merit payments to cup finalists in the Tesco, Junior and Youth cups were maintained along with those for those clubs reaching the quarter final stage of the Intermediate Cup. Finalists received £400 each and will again be so rewarded for the current season. The retiring chairman’s gift is a bi- annual cost intended to reward the service given over the two-year period for which the Chairperson is appointed.

 

The Benevolent Fund awarded three grants during the season for persons sustaining lengthy football incurred injuries, whilst the S B Williams and Les Ellis Memorial Fund made one coaching grant. Both funds maintain healthy balances at present with the payments meeting the strict criteria under which grants can be made. 

 

The Balance Sheet of the Association continues to reflect a strong and stable position with all outstanding costs having been provided for.     

 

DISCIPLINE

 

The Season saw a good reduction in the number of recorded discipline cases. Hopefully, this sets the record high of last season as a one-off.

 

There were 700 players sent off (68 fewer than last Season!) and a further 101 charges of misconduct were preferred (72% of last Season’s total). 43 players amassed 5 cautions before the end of February, sitting out one match as punishment and one of these went on to reach 10 cautions before the 2^nd Sunday in April to sit out a further 2 matches! Happily, there was a vast reduction in charges preferred under the FAW Regulations governing assault of the match referee. 3 players incurred 4 charges, although 3 of the 4 charges were of a serious nature! 

 

Referees are reminded that the Association cannot act upon misconduct following a sending off which is reported on the sending off form. All misconduct, other than the field offence which results in dismissal, must be reported on plain paper and in duplicate.

 

There was also a reduction in Club misconduct cases, to 116, of which 13 were dismissed/not proven. 40 of these cases attracted deduction of points for the appropriate team.

 

Thanks go to League Secretaries for their assistance in operating the automatic disciplinary procedures. The most up-to-date list of suspended players can be found on the Association web site. Hopefully, those Clubs who have supplied e-mail addresses will have noticed an improvement in the speed of suspension clearances being issued. Please review the e-mail addresses supplied and ensure any changes are notified.

 

REFEREEING

 

This has again been an eventful season for our three International Officials, Ceri Richards, Mark Whitby and Eddie King.  They have officiated throughout Europe and it is pleasing to see that FIFA and UEFA have retained their services for another year.  They set the standard to which all referees should endeavour to attain.  We look forward to our younger referees joining them in the near future. 

 

To this end UEFA, through the FAW, have funded a scheme whereby each Area Association has an experienced official, in our Association Ceri Richards, whose function it is to progress the referees who have the perceived potential to climb the ladder of promotion and emulate our present International Officials.

 

We congratulate our Cup Final Referees, Nigel Howes, Ian Baxter, Aylwin Jones and Mike Hopkins, on their appointments, and thank them for their contribution to local football within our Association over many years.

 

We also congratulate Dean John on his appointment to referee the FAW Welsh Cup Final.

 

During the past season, new Referee Courses have been held in Neyland and Swansea. It is pleasing to note that the majority of candidates were aged 20 or below.  Our thanks go to our Referee Instructors on these courses, Pedr McMullen, David Rees, Roger Upward.

 

Assessors play an important part in the development of our referees, in particular for referees who apply for promotion.  They are out looking and assessing the performance of a referee an all weather conditions, pointing out the good and bad points of the referee’s performance.  The Association wishes to thank them for the help and guidance they have given to these Referees.

 

Referee Seminars have also been held during the season at Swansea, Llanelli and Neyland.  These are important to the development of our referees.  Unfortunately, the attendance overall was below that of last season.  The Referees Committee of the Association decided that they should be held on the normal Referees Society meeting night in our four areas. It is to be hoped that this will improve the attendances in each area.

 

Earlier in the season a course was held in Swansea for all grades of Referees who wished to officiate on the Welsh Football League’s Assistant Referee List.  This was well attended and all were accepted by the League.

 

There is still a shortage of Referees.  However, our numbers are remaining steady, and compared to other Associations we do quite well.  We would again urge each League and Club to address this problem.  We have the Instructors to impart their knowledge and experience, and also have the most up-to-date training equipment and facilities.  What are needed now are the people to whom this knowledge can be imparted.

 

UEFA REGIONS CUP

 

The Competition came to a close this season with the Association being defeated in their final two matches in very closely fought contests.  The Competition, which is arranged over a two year period, will start again next season.  The Association places on record our sincere thanks to the Team Manager, John Cornelius, and his assistants, who voluntarily give up their time to undertake this responsibility.

 

CUP COMPETITIONS

 

Once again, negotiations took place during the season with the Swansea Stadium Management Company Limited to secure the use of the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. We were delighted to be able to reach another agreement to stage our Tony Nakonecznyj Insurance Brokers Intermediate Cup Final.

 

We place on record our thanks to Swansea Stadium Management Company Limited for all their work involved in staging this match.

 

We also place on record our thanks to all at Carmarthen Town AFC and Llanelli AFC, where all our other Cup Finals took place at their excellent football grounds. 

 

LIFE MEMBERSHIP

 

We congratulate Mr Terry East who completes 21 years active service on the Council of the Association and becomes a Life Member.

 

Terry was elected onto Council in 1989 as the representative of the West Wales Referees Association and became Chairman from 2008 to 2010.

 

GENERAL

 

This season has been exceptional as far as weather conditions are concerned.  Numerous League and Cup fixtures were delayed, causing a major backlog.  Our Leagues have done a tremendous job in catching up, and they are to be applauded for the manner in which they have succeeded in bringing this season to a satisfactory conclusion.

 

We place on record our grateful thanks to all at the Evening Post for the extensive coverage of our Cup Competitions and local soccer in general.

 

We also place on record our sincere thanks to Tony Nakonecznyj Insurance Brokers for their generous sponsorship of our Intermediate Cup, and also to Tesco’s for their generous sponsorship of our Under 13’s Cup Competition.

 

Also, to our kit sponsors, Sportscene – Morriston, who has supplied kit for the Association’s UEFA Regions Cup squad and also to the two Intermediate Cup Finalists.  Our grateful thanks are extended to them as well.

 

Finally, we thank our League Secretaries, Dave Beynon, Brian Hawkins, Colin Jenkins, Kevin Jones, Andrew Norman, Bob Smith and Steve Hammett, together with their respective Officers, for their help throughout the season.  We thank all who have assisted in the running of the Association during the season, and look forward to your continued support.

BOB WAYGOOD