REPORT FOR SEASON 2018/19
The highlight of the 2018/19 season was commemorating the Club's Golden Anniversary. After much deliberation by the sub-committee comprising of Peter Kyte, Tony Espinoza, Mike Shorvon, Nick Waitsman and myself, where we had visited numerous venues for lunches over the course of 2018, we decided to host a lunch on Friday 28th December at the Adam & Eve public house in Mill Hill. The event was attended by several long serving members of the Club plus MGBSFL Chairman David Wolff and one of the original players in Fortune's pre-league days, Brian Melzack. We had an enjoyable time and toasted the Club on reaching this incredible milestone. David presented me with a plaque on behalf of the League to commemorate the occasion.
At the lunch, the TFFC 50 Years Book was launched and copies given out to all those in attendance. The book, commenced in October 2015, took three years to complete and consisted of 104 pages in a colourful and informative format. I managed to get four sponsors to advertise in the book, namely Ellis & Co (through James Ryan), the Maccabi Masters League (Stuart Lustigman), Silver Jubilee Park Stadium (Robert Morris) and Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors (Robert Botkai). Altogether, they provided £1,000 towards the printing costs of the book which came to £1,225. 80 copies were printed and to date I have given out half to 200 Club Members, Management Committee Officers, League and Press dignitaries and various other individuals. A small number were purchased and this brought in an additional £68.50 towards the cost.
The book was well received and presents a suitable souvenir of the Club's marvellous achievement, filled with a large content of TFFC-related material.
Two days after the lunch, we had our fifth 'pilgrimage' back to Princes Park, where everything began in the mid-60s and, although not as well attended as I would have liked, a small-sided game was held amongst the trees to replicate a typical kick-about played by the Club's earliest players all those years ago.
Prior to the 2018/19 season commencing, I purchased a new full playing kit for the First Team, thanks to the generous sponsorship of James Ryan of Ellis & Co (Golders Green). The support of James has been excellent for a number of years and we are again very grateful for his sponsorship commitment. The kit was a modern yellow and red style carrying the embroidered TFFC 50 Years badge, the first time a Fortune shirt had carried a proper embroidered crest.
We also ordered a batch of smart navy and yellow tracksuit tops which featured the same crest on the front, plus individual player initials and TFFC branding on the back. This was followed by another order being placed once the season had begun and I would estimate that at least ten First Team players purchased a top. I would like to thank Lee Fegan for his help in arranging the kit and tracksuit garments.
Moving onto the playing side, it has been a difficult season and both teams have struggled in their respective divisions. Folding the Second Team last season allowed us to merge the two squads together to make a team which, with a few newcomers onboard, we felt would challenge at the upper end of MGBSFL Division 2. With Simon Linden managing for his third campaign, aided by Steven Black and Lee Fegan, the team proved to be very inconsistent and disappointingly lost more games than it won, finishing in 7th position. However, included in the six league wins were victories against eventual champions Hertswood Vale, cup specialists Mill Hill Dons and FC Team.
Unavailability struck a few times over the course of the season and we had to forfeit one league game (at Redbridge) and a cup tie against NLR. Against Faithfold C in the last fixture, Simon had to scrape together a team which lost heavily but this result was subsequently voided because the opposition fielded ineligible players. In the Barry Goldstein Trophy, Fortune reached the quarter-final where a Division 1 team eliminated us.
The Old Boys Team, under new management in Andy Montlake, finished 7th out of nine in the revamped single division which provided very uneven competition. Merging both divisions was bound to be problematical and numerous results showed how disjointed the league has sadly become as a result. Yet the Old Boys competed in most games and collected a few decent results amongst the expected defeats.
On one particular morning – Sunday 28th October 2018 to be exact – I had refereed a game at the Ark Academy and news came through via WhatsApp that the two Fortune teams had lost 16–0 (Firsts v Hendon United in the CA Cup) and 18–0 (Old Boys v Brady 'A' in the Masters League) respectively. It provided one of the lowest points for me during the Club's 43 seasons of participating in Maccabi League football. I admit that I sat there at the venue stunned for thirty minutes before venturing home for a much-needed beer!
Altogether a disappointing season on the playing front and also very much so regarding our finances too. For the first time in 10 years the Club is reporting a loss and sadly it is our largest on record. The Club's generosity in subsidising the tracksuit tops, training costs and the book, added to the cost of pitches, fines and the loss of match income by forfeiting two matches, amounted to a high deficit from which we could not recover.
It is not the first time we have been burnt by expensive training fees – about six or seven years ago our sessions at Middlesex University in Greyhound Hill left us with training costs of over £1,000, leading to the Club deciding to drop providing training sessions. This season's venture at Burnt Oak Leisure Centre and Mill Hill Powerleague added £1,200 to our expenditure. All this will be covered in the Treasurer's Report but nevertheless I am extremely disappointed that our income for 2018/19 did not cover our expenditure this season.
So I have to report that collectively, a season which promised so much – what with our Golden Anniversary being celebrated at the end of 2018 – fell well short of expectations and I hope that lessons will be learned in order to improve our prospects on all fronts next season.
I will conclude by thanking all Officers for their hard work and commitment as always.
NIGEL KYTE, 1st June 2019
PS. Adding to my report after the Maccabi Masters League AGM (on 11th June) for the purpose of the online version, I would like to congratulate Andy Montlake and his Old Boys Team for winning the Masters League's Sportsmanship Trophy, which speaks volumes about how the Old Boys approach and play the game in the right manner. This was the second time they have taken this award in recent years so well done to all concerned.
The highlight of the 2018/19 season was commemorating the Club's Golden Anniversary. After much deliberation by the sub-committee comprising of Peter Kyte, Tony Espinoza, Mike Shorvon, Nick Waitsman and myself, where we had visited numerous venues for lunches over the course of 2018, we decided to host a lunch on Friday 28th December at the Adam & Eve public house in Mill Hill. The event was attended by several long serving members of the Club plus MGBSFL Chairman David Wolff and one of the original players in Fortune's pre-league days, Brian Melzack. We had an enjoyable time and toasted the Club on reaching this incredible milestone. David presented me with a plaque on behalf of the League to commemorate the occasion.
At the lunch, the TFFC 50 Years Book was launched and copies given out to all those in attendance. The book, commenced in October 2015, took three years to complete and consisted of 104 pages in a colourful and informative format. I managed to get four sponsors to advertise in the book, namely Ellis & Co (through James Ryan), the Maccabi Masters League (Stuart Lustigman), Silver Jubilee Park Stadium (Robert Morris) and Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors (Robert Botkai). Altogether, they provided £1,000 towards the printing costs of the book which came to £1,225. 80 copies were printed and to date I have given out half to 200 Club Members, Management Committee Officers, League and Press dignitaries and various other individuals. A small number were purchased and this brought in an additional £68.50 towards the cost.
The book was well received and presents a suitable souvenir of the Club's marvellous achievement, filled with a large content of TFFC-related material.
Two days after the lunch, we had our fifth 'pilgrimage' back to Princes Park, where everything began in the mid-60s and, although not as well attended as I would have liked, a small-sided game was held amongst the trees to replicate a typical kick-about played by the Club's earliest players all those years ago.
Prior to the 2018/19 season commencing, I purchased a new full playing kit for the First Team, thanks to the generous sponsorship of James Ryan of Ellis & Co (Golders Green). The support of James has been excellent for a number of years and we are again very grateful for his sponsorship commitment. The kit was a modern yellow and red style carrying the embroidered TFFC 50 Years badge, the first time a Fortune shirt had carried a proper embroidered crest.
We also ordered a batch of smart navy and yellow tracksuit tops which featured the same crest on the front, plus individual player initials and TFFC branding on the back. This was followed by another order being placed once the season had begun and I would estimate that at least ten First Team players purchased a top. I would like to thank Lee Fegan for his help in arranging the kit and tracksuit garments.
Moving onto the playing side, it has been a difficult season and both teams have struggled in their respective divisions. Folding the Second Team last season allowed us to merge the two squads together to make a team which, with a few newcomers onboard, we felt would challenge at the upper end of MGBSFL Division 2. With Simon Linden managing for his third campaign, aided by Steven Black and Lee Fegan, the team proved to be very inconsistent and disappointingly lost more games than it won, finishing in 7th position. However, included in the six league wins were victories against eventual champions Hertswood Vale, cup specialists Mill Hill Dons and FC Team.
Unavailability struck a few times over the course of the season and we had to forfeit one league game (at Redbridge) and a cup tie against NLR. Against Faithfold C in the last fixture, Simon had to scrape together a team which lost heavily but this result was subsequently voided because the opposition fielded ineligible players. In the Barry Goldstein Trophy, Fortune reached the quarter-final where a Division 1 team eliminated us.
The Old Boys Team, under new management in Andy Montlake, finished 7th out of nine in the revamped single division which provided very uneven competition. Merging both divisions was bound to be problematical and numerous results showed how disjointed the league has sadly become as a result. Yet the Old Boys competed in most games and collected a few decent results amongst the expected defeats.
On one particular morning – Sunday 28th October 2018 to be exact – I had refereed a game at the Ark Academy and news came through via WhatsApp that the two Fortune teams had lost 16–0 (Firsts v Hendon United in the CA Cup) and 18–0 (Old Boys v Brady 'A' in the Masters League) respectively. It provided one of the lowest points for me during the Club's 43 seasons of participating in Maccabi League football. I admit that I sat there at the venue stunned for thirty minutes before venturing home for a much-needed beer!
Altogether a disappointing season on the playing front and also very much so regarding our finances too. For the first time in 10 years the Club is reporting a loss and sadly it is our largest on record. The Club's generosity in subsidising the tracksuit tops, training costs and the book, added to the cost of pitches, fines and the loss of match income by forfeiting two matches, amounted to a high deficit from which we could not recover.
It is not the first time we have been burnt by expensive training fees – about six or seven years ago our sessions at Middlesex University in Greyhound Hill left us with training costs of over £1,000, leading to the Club deciding to drop providing training sessions. This season's venture at Burnt Oak Leisure Centre and Mill Hill Powerleague added £1,200 to our expenditure. All this will be covered in the Treasurer's Report but nevertheless I am extremely disappointed that our income for 2018/19 did not cover our expenditure this season.
So I have to report that collectively, a season which promised so much – what with our Golden Anniversary being celebrated at the end of 2018 – fell well short of expectations and I hope that lessons will be learned in order to improve our prospects on all fronts next season.
I will conclude by thanking all Officers for their hard work and commitment as always.
NIGEL KYTE, 1st June 2019
PS. Adding to my report after the Maccabi Masters League AGM (on 11th June) for the purpose of the online version, I would like to congratulate Andy Montlake and his Old Boys Team for winning the Masters League's Sportsmanship Trophy, which speaks volumes about how the Old Boys approach and play the game in the right manner. This was the second time they have taken this award in recent years so well done to all concerned.