ISSUE 7 – SUNDAY 21 AUGUST 2011
SPOT ON FIRSTS TAKEN ALL THE WAY IN THE 25TH FOUNDERS' SHIELD MATCH!
THE SECOND TEAM NARROWLY LOSE ON PENALTIES AFTER DRAWING 2-2 IN A CLOSE, COMPETITIVE GAME
FORTUNETELLER
News, views and everything TFFC by Nigel Kyte

Welcome to issue 7 of the newsletter
The First Team retained the Founders' Shield by virtue of winning a penalty shoot-out at Clitterhouse Park but full credit must go to the MSFL Fourth Division's Second Team for giving their more illustrious First Division opponents a very close game. The match was keenly contested from the off with the First Team enjoying most of the early possession but the Seconds defended stoutly as their opponents tried to break through. With the Seconds creating little, the First Team continued to have more of the ball. Paul Walker should have given the Firsts, in their change shirts of red, an early lead but headed over the crossbar from close range.

With Adam Field, Simon Allen and Gid Wetrin in particular very solid in defence, that probably was the most clearcut chance until the breakthrough finally arrived just after the half-hour point of the first half. A ball was played in towards ROB BENSON who just about managed to stay onside as he nipped past goalkeeper Tony Hirschstein and found the net from an angle. It was Benson's first appearance of the pre-season campaign and marked the First Team's opening goal of the season after drawing two blanks in their previous two games.

With few chances being created during the remainder of the half, an equaliser looked highly unlikely from the shot-shy Second Team. However, they managed to surprise the Reds by finding the net on the stroke of half-time. The First XI defenders allowed a long Gideon Wetrin throw to bounce about in the penalty area and last season's leading Second XI scorer TERRY JEFFRIES headed home.

During the second half, the Second Team looked much more settled and began with increased possession, play changing from end to end as the tackles started flying in (fairly!). On 55 minutes, a long wide ball found JON FISHER in acres of space on the right. he took the ball wide and appeared to lose his footing but somehow managed to fire in a cross-shot which evaded Hirschstein and nestled inside the far post, an excellent finish.

The Firsts nearly extended their lead after a marvellous run by Paul Rubenstein, breaking through down the left flank and cutting inside but he was unable to finish. Several promising attacks were thwarted at both ends as the game started to become more open. The Second Team went for the equaliser and it came from a corner on the right after 72 minutes when DAN MARKESON rose above two defenders at the far post to powerfully head home. Two-all!

To their credit both teams went for a decisive third in the closing minutes. Tony Hirshstein made a great save low to his right, tipping a goalbound effort for a corner and hurting his hand for his troubles.

The final whistle sounded shortly afterwards and both teams exchanged sporting handshakes. The match went to penalties and the first ten spot-kicks were scored competently. The First XI's sixth kick was converted before goalkeeper Roni Stone dived to his right to keep out Gavin Levy's penalty, giving the First Team a 6-5 victory. Michael Goldberg, Rob Benson, Jason Miller, Paul Walker, Brett Stead and Jon Fisher converted the First Team's penalties whilst the Second Team's scorers were Jeff Bathija, Dan Markeson, Terry Jeffries, Dean Ingram and Ben Glekin.

Lee Fegan, First Team manager, said after the game: "Full credit to the Second Team who battled well and gave us a tough game as I expected. I think it was a very useful workout for both teams and was played in the right spirit. I'd like to wish the Seconds the very best of luck during the 2011/12 season!"

Adam Glekin, the Second Team admin secretary, commented: "We were perhaps a little fortunate to go in level at half time, the Firsts dominated a lot of it but I didn't feel they created a number of clear cut opportunities. In the second half I thought we competed a lot better, we gave as good as we got. Another very pleasing display all round and we will now be going into the season full of confidence and belief."

I thought it was a good game and I have been impressed with the Second Team in particular. They look far more solid than last season and I know they also have experienced players like Jon Dubiner, Marc Herman, Dave Sawyer and the Simpson brothers to add to what appears to be a promising squad. All very encouraging for the new season ahead! The First Team are finding their feet with new players of their own but they have the quality to survive in a tough First Division and I am hopeful they will do just that – and maybe more! Next week, the Old Boys Team play for the first time this pre-season, so good luck to them too!

ADDITONAL TRAINING AT MILL HILL PARK
There will be two additional training sessions at Mill Hill Park on both TUESDAY 23RD AUGUST and WEDNESDAY 31ST AUGUST for ALL Club Members. Meet at 7.30pm at the same place as the July sessions – please do not miss this opportunity to work further on your fitness before the league season commences.

FIXTURES OUT THIS WEEK
I will publish our fixtures on the team pages as soon as I can once released this coming week as expected. MSFL fixtures are released in batches of three or four weeks, whilst the Masters fixtures should be listed up to the end of the year.

MIDWEEK TRAINING ON THE LML 3G
The Club has booked a third of the excellent London Maccabi Lions 3G pitch on Tuesday evenings at 9pm for an hour starting TUESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER so please make a note in your diary. There will be a separate fee for training which can be paid in two installments or as 'pay and play' on the night (which will a dearer way of paying). If you wish to attend training, please email Jack Morris for full details. 

THE TFN FANTASY LEAGUE, 2011/12: STILL OPEN TO ENTER
A reminder that we are running a new season of TFN FANTASY LEAGUE for the 2011/12 season, which will be our SEVENTH annual competition. It's easy to enter on the fantasy.premierleague.com website. In choosing a suitable name, you MUST use Upper and Lower case for both YOUR name (as manager) and the TEAM name – 'Super Stars' is correct, 'super stars' or 'SUPER STARS' is wrong. Any manager or team name which does not follow this will be deleted. Once you have formed your team and chosen the squad, go to LEAGUES, click on 'Join a league', then 'Private league' and enter the following Private League code: 57173-21943. There willl be a trophy at the end of the season and all-time listing on the Club' website as a CHAMPION! Last season we had a record entry of 37 people so come on, give it a go!



TWITTER AWAY WITH TFFC!
For regularly updated news on anything 'official' about the TFFC worth sharing with Club Members, you will now find the Club 'tweeting' on http://twitter.com/YellowsAndReds! Please connect with TFFC because next season this is where you will find access to breaking Club news, such as fixtures, results and anything else going on.

NEW DISCIPLINARY PAGE ON WEBSITE
To maintain a record of suspensions, I have introduced a new feature on the website which is as clear-cut to follow as anything. The disciplinary table will show each player sent off and suspended alongside a week-by-week calendar, with suspensions clearly marked in addition to fines, yellow cards, payments received or outstanding. And Club fines will be logged as well. The table provides a very useful reference for Team Secretaries monitoring a player's availability when suspended. To get to the page, click on any of the Team Page links shown above in the 'Fortune Pre-Seasons' panel, and then click on 'DISCIPLINARY TABLE'.

LIST OF OFFICERS EMAIL ADDRESSES
For a list of all Management Committee Officers' email addresses, scroll to the bottom of this newsletter.

NEWSLETTER BACK ISSUES
Issue 1 • Issue 2 • Issue 3 • Issue 4 • Issue 5 • Issue 6

Regards,
Nigel

Continued next column >>>
FORTUNE PRE-SEASONS
FIRST TEAM
August 7
 Mixed XI v HENDON UNITED (away) Lost 0-7
August 14
 FC TEAM (away) Lost 0-5
August 21
 TF SECOND TEAM (home) Drew 2-2
August 28
 BOCA JEWNIORS (Clitterhouse PF)
SECOND TEAM
August 7
 L'EQUIPE (away) Won 5-1
August 14
 EDRS STONEGROVE (away) Won 7-0
August 21
 TF FIRST TEAM (away) Drew 2-2
August 28
 To be arranged
OLD BOYS TEAM
August 28
 CLAYHALL PARK CASUALS (Gosling)
September 4
 HENDON HARRIERS (Univ. of Herts)

<<< Continued
DELVING DEEP: A new series where we take a look at articles and features deep inside the TFFC website which you may never have seen! No.7: TFFC TIMELINE – an interesting season-by-season summary of the Club's history.

MEN IN BLACK!
TFN'S SERIES ABOUT REFEREEING ASPECTS.

A few things came out of this morning's intriguing match between the First Team and Second Team which are worthy of discussing in this occasional series on refereeing.

First of all, a couple of questions I was asked regarding points of Law. Can a player take a throw-in by throwing the ball high up and then playing it himself without anyone else touching it? I cannot understand why a player would want to do this to be honest when he has more control over the throw than his subsequent heading ability (or a volley as the ball drops!) But the answer is NO, he cannot. You cannot play the ball twice in succession from any deadball situation – another player must touch the ball first before you can play it. This applies to a goal kick, free kick, throw and penalty kick. Staying on the topic of throw-ins, the second question related to the long throws of Gid Wetrin and Matt Gilbery. Can a player score directly from a throw-in and if not, what is the decision if the ball goes directly into the net? Again the answer is NO, the decision would be a goal kick. Incidentally, last season in a friendly against Montana at Brook Farm, Rob Benson took an indirect kick which found the back of the net, but it was touched in by the goalkeeper. Because Rob could not have scored directly from the kick, technically it was an own goal. Had the 'keeper not tipped it in, play would have restarted with a goal kick.

And now onto a couple of incidents. I was amused by comments from both Lee Fegan and Terry Jeffries within two minutes of one another that I was giving their respective team "nothing whatsoever" regarding my decisons! It's funny how managers see these things (in fact a lot of players generally) and how they presume that most decisions go against their teams. All I can say is that, given the same moan at me so close together from BOTH teams, it simply confirms my complete impartiality and utter fairness! I give a decision as I see it, irrespective of the score or circumstances. I don't give a decision to please a player. I give what I believe to be correct at the time! But thanks, Lee and Terry, your 'moans' gave me a chuckle or two.

A First Team player (I cannot remember who) was standing behind me on the edge of the penalty area as a team-mate controlled the ball along the right goal line close to the corner flag, somehow keeping it in play. As the ball was played close to the faded line, there were loud claims for a corner. With the line markings as poor as they were, I judged the ball to have been kept in. I heard a moan or two and as the ball was subsequently pumped into touch, I asked Tony H (the Seconds goalkeeper) if the ball had gone out. He said 'no' which was pleasing to hear. Sometimes gut feelings help a referee make a difficult call because pitch markings and certainly the reaction of players do not make the job any easier.

Lastly from this match, a corner was taken which hit the overlapping branches of a large tree. I stopped play and awarded a drop ball. The reason for this was because if there is any outside influence which halts play, such as a dog running onto the pitch and chasing the ball or a spectator touching the ball before it crosses the touchline, play restarts with a drop ball. Since the ball from the corner kick was still in play, technically the 'correct' decision was to restart play by dropping it nearest to the point of contact. Although in hindsight, a retake of the corner in this instance would have been a 'fairer' outcome. So if any of you think I should have asked for the corner to be retaken, I agree – although technically correct in giving the drop ball, I apologise to the Second Team who lost the advantage of having the corner in the first place!

Earlier this month, after the Second Team had played L'Equipe in their opening pre-season friendly, I received an email from Ben Glekin, the Second Team midfielder. During the game, as several Second Team players will recall, there was one unpleasant outburst by a L'Equipe player who decided to bawl a loud, heated objection to me following a tackle by Adam Field which I deemed to be fair. The player ran half the length of the pitch to make his comments known for which I yellow carded him and was very close to showing him a red. "Hi Nigel, hope you are well. Good refereeing on Sunday, thought you coped well with the abuse hurled at you." In my reply, it gave me the chance to give a refereeing perspective about the situation. I know Ben appreciated the explantion and I think it's worth telling the rest of the Second Team who were present (and all of you for that matter) to give an insight into how the refereeing mind works!

So here goes: "Hi Ben, thanks for the email. Actually, I did not see it as abuse. If I had, he would have been red carded. His initial reaction was to swear from the halfway line as I ran with play down the other end during a Temple Fortune attack. I think there was a corner and I heard him bellow his objections because he disagreed with me playing on after Adam had committed that tackle. I ignored it and he raced up to me and starting arguing. He was always going to be cautioned because of his belligerent attitude but I chose to ignore his original "fuck off" because it was from afar. When he wouldn't give his name and started leaving the field for a substitution, I was poised to yellow card for dissent, yellow card again for refusing to give a name and leaving the field of play without permission, and red card for the second caution!!! He saved the day by changing his mind at the last moment, coming over to me and taking the yellow. He was soooooooo close to being sent off but looking back, I'm glad I was tolerant. I think the primary objective is to calm someone down rather than take the ultimate sanction (unless he crosses the line and resorts to abuse). It was a friendly, the player apologised to me and we ended the game with a handshake. I deal with that kind of incident frequently and on this occasion I think common sense prevailed!" Dan Cordell (L'Equipe) apologised to me after the game had finished but it won't prevent an admin charge from the London FA for dissent!

The morale of this little tale, apart from the insight into the refereeing mind, of course, is that showing any form of dissent to a referee gets you nowhere but having to fork out a £16 fine.

To finish this first refereeing feature of the season, on a personal note I have just reached a milestone of which I am proud during a whistle-blowing career spanning some 36 seasons now. The 25th Founders' Shield match between the First Team and Second team was match number 2,400! I aim to try to make 2,500 and then think about whether I want to carry on doing it – it doesn't get any easier as my aches and pains verify each week during the 'proper' season! Maybe 3 competitive matches a week is stretching it a bit! Have a great season and above all, RESPECT YOUR REFEREE!

FORTUNE FACTS & FIGURES: A series to entice you to study the Club's collection of records and stats over many seasons! No.7: ALL-TIME CLUB 'BESTS' – a list of records such as most matches played in a season, most goals, most wins, most unbeaten etc etc!

Management Committee, 2011/12
Chairman: Nigel Kyte – mobile: 0777 323 0477
Email: info@tffc.co.uk
Vice Chairman: Nicholas Waitsman
Email: nicholas@timezoneseurope.co.uk
General Secretary: Nigel Kyte
Email: info@tffc.co.uk
Treasurer: Peter Kyte
Email: pdk@enablinguk.com
First Team Secretary: Lee Fegan
Email: lee.fegan@googlemail.com
First Team Administration Secretary: Jack Morris
Email: jack.morris@dynamiclinks.co.uk
Second Team Secretary: Terry Jeffries
Email: terry@kingsland-lettings.com
Second Team Administration Secretary: Adam Glekin
Email: adamglekin@hotmail.com
Old Boys Team Secretary: David Goldberg
Email: David_Goldberg@eu.omron.com
Old Boys Team Administration Secretary: Hilton Teper
Email: hteper@ymail.com
Website: www.tffc.co.uk
>>>>>> end of this issue <<<<<