REPORT FOR SEASON 2023/24
"Before I begin my report of the playing season, I must start by congratulating Serge Weinberger on reaching 500 appearances for TFFC. Such an achievement must be viewed as outstanding given that only two players had previously passed this incredible milestone – my brother Peter and Jeremy Fess. There is nothing more uplifting than rewarding a player's amazing longevity for TFFC so I was delighted to see Serge receive his award at the Club Awards Presentation Event at the beginning of the month.
On the playing front, season 2023/24 has been a very poor campaign. The overwhelming fact coming out of months of adversity was that the Club endured one of the worst First Team seasons on record. It is inescapable to notice that since season 2019/20 when the Firsts were promoted to Division 1 of the MGBSFL, this team has suffered four consecutive seasons of hardship. Season 2020/21 brought bottom place in Division 1 with a mere single point from 18 fixtures, a dire campaign that should have resulted in relegation but for the Second Team entering the League for the next season.
Then the following season saw the team finish 8th from 11, albeit with 22 points from 20 matches. In season 2022/23, the Firsts halved that points tally and finished 7th out of 8 teams and were saved from relegation by the general shortage of teams in the League and also arguably by the Club's intention of maintaining the Seconds for season 2023/24, which never happened. Moving onto the League campaign which finished on Sunday 24th March, our First Team finished rock bottom in Division 1, gaining just 4 points from 14 fixtures, after losing the first 11 in a row.
The pre-season could not have been more disjointed and in all the years of overseeing the Club, I have never seen such poor organisation and uncertainty running through the First Team camp over the summer, caused by numerous reasons. Simon Linden stepped down, as we all know, and he managed to bring in Stevie Allen – a qualified coach who had been with the Highgate & Muswell Hill youth set-up – as First Team manager.
Through no fault of Stevie, our summer preparations were simply dreadful, with very limited time to train and a few pre-season friendlies thrown in for which the team were not prepared. Not helping the situation in the least was the uncertainty regarding the Second Team's future. We had already committed the team to rejoining the MGBSFL (the deadline was 15th June 2023) yet, with Jacob Kalms standing down as manager, we did not have anyone in place.
So Simon appointed Sefton Monk, who had managed Boca Jewniors FC for a number of years previously in the MGBSFL. Unfortunately, Sefton, for whatever reason, could not be 'hands-on' with the players and the lack of communication lost us several weeks of vital pre-season preparation time to get the Seconds together. The knock-on effect was that the commitment from a lot of the squad was non-existent; with Kerry trying to get memberships in, she was virtually flogging a dead horse so to speak.
A decision was made to release Sefton with essentially nothing put in place by him. Even though I approached Ashley Hirschberger to run the Seconds, the damage had been done with all too few Second Team players wishing to continue. Therefore, with the pitch hire of 24 weeks at SJP needing to be booked, the Management Committee decided to fold the Second Team, withdraw from the League and attempt to offload the commitment of 12 weeks at SJP. Fortunately, we managed to get Hendon United FC to take on the 12 weeks, which immediately saved the Club £2,400, an enormous financial millstone removed from around our necks.
With the First Team match-day admin side looking bleak, Sammy Samuelson agreed to become Assistant Manager which, on top of Hendon United taking 12 permits, was one of the major highlights coming out of the summer's shambles.
This left us with one MGBSFL side for the first time since season 2020/21 but more importantly enough players to form Stevie's first squad to start the season. He took on a few experienced players from the previous season's First Team, a small band of Second Teamers who wanted to stay on, plus the new youngsters he brought in. Even so, allowing for the fact that it can take time for a new squad to find their feet, the results from the off were poor, with only one draw from three friendlies, including a loss to a quickly-assembled Second Team.
Another pitch booking for an intended friendly turned out to be merely a training session – an unacceptable situation given that £200 was laid out for a pre-season match; again, far from ideal. For me personally and Kerry essentially (who travelled to London specifically for the match), we gave our time to officiate what should have been a proper friendly which never happened, having turned down another 'paid' game. Looking back, it was part of the disappointing disorganisation prevalent over the summer. Never again will I sanction a costly pitch for a training session – lesson learned.
Perhaps what was to come may have been telling by the First Team losing 9-0 in the first League fixture of the new season, a record opening day defeat. There followed a run of 15 consecutive defeats in league and cup matches, including 4 games in a row without scoring, which had Simon, Kerry and myself all scratching our heads in disbelief.
Thanks to Simon, Stevie managed to get midweek training going at the Mill Hill Powerleague which were self-financing via the players attending and although attendances were generally decent to start with, perhaps predictably, they tailed off as the colder weather set in. Despite rebranding as 'football sessions' rather than training, the sessions came to a halt by mid-November when interest dropped alarmingly.
Admittedly, there was an air of disappointment and bewilderment at what was going on, almost on a weekly basis, but to the immense credit of Stevie though, his commitment was outstanding and unwavering throughout several months of acute failure after failure on the pitch. Stevie constantly kept in contact and never hid away from the disappointing results, always believing that things would improve and for us to keep the faith in what he was trying to build.
Our amicable Canadian, always with an uplifting smile on his face, must have questioned his own sanity at times to turn up and organise such a poor team – let's not cover up and say otherwise because any half-decent side does not lose so many games on the trot and received some wallopings, such as the 12-1 trouncing by Real Salt Beef in mid-January.
I mention this one shocking result because the First Team finally won a game in early March, gleefully beating the same opposition at SJP, following the 'celebration' of gaining a 2-2 draw against Boca Chillers a month earlier – that was the team's first point in an otherwise miserable League season.
So the Firsts finished with 4 points from a possible 42, not the worst League season the Club has ever encountered but hardly anything to make us think that a fifth consecutive season in Division 1 would be welcomed. On the contrary, my firm belief is that we deserve relegation, as we did in two of three previous seasons, and we need to rebuild this First Team in Division 2 for next season, the same position that Simon Linden took on when he joined the Club as manager in 2016.
A big thank you to Stevie and Sammy for all their hard work, and Adam too as captain; they did not allow their heads to drop and kept going despite the dreadful shortfalls of the team. Agreed, a dismal season overall but I cannot question the commitment and spirit of the management and team through very difficult times. Indeed, the number of players available for most games and the general buzz in the WhatsApp group were very encouraging. Sammy's organisation in this respect was exceptional.
One major plus from the season was the disciplinary record. After a dreadful season during the previous campaign where there were over 50 cases, Kerry only had to deal with less than 10 from both teams. She will no doubt revel in the glory of this vast improvement and it's a massively pleasing part of the 2023/24 season. I applaud our management teams for keeping the discipline on track across the Club.
Now onto the Old Boys Team. Temple Fortune started the Maccabi Masters League's 25th campaign as the only ever-present club in the League, an achievement that we commemorated with a fantastic new yellow and dark red 'tiger stripe' kit from EV2. The aspirations of Simon Black's team were always going to be restricted before a ball was even kicked in September because of the presence of mainly London Maccabi Lions and Scrabble – they have the best players so a daunting campaign beckoned when the season commenced for the older Masters League teams, namely EHRS Stonegrove, Glenthorne United, Hendon Harriers and Temple Fortune.
Yet Simon put together a competitive squad which, ignoring a couple of heavy losses, competed throughout the season. So although Fortune can compete with the trio named above plus Brady and St John's Wood Tigers, the other two sides remain too strong. Therefore, third place was the highest Simon's team could aim for and to finish in fifth position out of eight was far from being too shabby! The season included a tremendous 8-0 drubbing of old adversaries Glenthorne.
I think the Old Boys Team are a well-oiled side managed effectively by Simon and helped enormously to tick over smoothly by Jonathan's efficient admin skills and Wayne Davison's assistance as captain. During Simon's absence due to travelling, Jonathan took over running the team which was not easy as he would be the first to admit. The camaraderie in the Old Boys WhatsApp group was very pleasing on the eye – I believe Simon and Jon have a very good group there and it's clear that they enjoy their football, which is what it is all about.
Nevertheless, what really could have given the Club a huge lift in an otherwise poor season came in the Masters Cup. Fortune qualified for the Plate competition (named the Jack Morgan Memorial Cup) by finishing third in their group. However, in the semi-final against the worst team in the league (who Fortune had beaten twice earlier in the season), the Old Boys contrived to lose 4-2 after leading 2-0 at half-time, giving Hendon Harriers a berth to the final for the second season running. This result was extremely disappointing and just about capped off the Club's general misery endured since the season began.
On other admin fronts, the majority of administration ran smoothly. This was largely due to Kerry Higham's fantastic help in monitoring various aspects of Club admin. I cannot underestimate the contribution she offers to this Club. This was her second season as Administration Officer and again she has done a most sterling job.
Sammy Samuelson and Jonathan Abrams excelled with their respective teams, both doing excellent jobs on the money side, so thank you both. I won't report on the financial aspect other than to briefly say that the Club did pleasingly well. Thank you to everyone else for their invaluable contribution this season in whichever capacity they helped the Club and congratulations to the award winners.
To sum up, we suffered a miserable MGBSFL campaign (yet again, one could say) after too much had gone wrong from the outset. I feel that this Club deserves better for all the hard work put in by various individuals. Overall a season that will not last long in the memory and my hope is that with good planning and hard work we will see a vast improvement next season.
Finishing on a positive note, I am pleased to report that the Club has once again been very strong on the administration side and has enjoyed a decent profit financially. Stevie's team finishing the season with a welcomed upsurge was a huge inspirational high too. And for next season, we have secured a pitch-side display board at SJP and also shirt sponsorship for the new First Team playing kit from both Harris Balcombe, the insurance claim consultancy firm, and M & Sons, building contractors. Even after a tough campaign, this Club is full of positiveness and we look forward to season 2024/25 with relish."
NIGEL KYTE, 3rd June 2024
"Before I begin my report of the playing season, I must start by congratulating Serge Weinberger on reaching 500 appearances for TFFC. Such an achievement must be viewed as outstanding given that only two players had previously passed this incredible milestone – my brother Peter and Jeremy Fess. There is nothing more uplifting than rewarding a player's amazing longevity for TFFC so I was delighted to see Serge receive his award at the Club Awards Presentation Event at the beginning of the month.
On the playing front, season 2023/24 has been a very poor campaign. The overwhelming fact coming out of months of adversity was that the Club endured one of the worst First Team seasons on record. It is inescapable to notice that since season 2019/20 when the Firsts were promoted to Division 1 of the MGBSFL, this team has suffered four consecutive seasons of hardship. Season 2020/21 brought bottom place in Division 1 with a mere single point from 18 fixtures, a dire campaign that should have resulted in relegation but for the Second Team entering the League for the next season.
Then the following season saw the team finish 8th from 11, albeit with 22 points from 20 matches. In season 2022/23, the Firsts halved that points tally and finished 7th out of 8 teams and were saved from relegation by the general shortage of teams in the League and also arguably by the Club's intention of maintaining the Seconds for season 2023/24, which never happened. Moving onto the League campaign which finished on Sunday 24th March, our First Team finished rock bottom in Division 1, gaining just 4 points from 14 fixtures, after losing the first 11 in a row.
The pre-season could not have been more disjointed and in all the years of overseeing the Club, I have never seen such poor organisation and uncertainty running through the First Team camp over the summer, caused by numerous reasons. Simon Linden stepped down, as we all know, and he managed to bring in Stevie Allen – a qualified coach who had been with the Highgate & Muswell Hill youth set-up – as First Team manager.
Through no fault of Stevie, our summer preparations were simply dreadful, with very limited time to train and a few pre-season friendlies thrown in for which the team were not prepared. Not helping the situation in the least was the uncertainty regarding the Second Team's future. We had already committed the team to rejoining the MGBSFL (the deadline was 15th June 2023) yet, with Jacob Kalms standing down as manager, we did not have anyone in place.
So Simon appointed Sefton Monk, who had managed Boca Jewniors FC for a number of years previously in the MGBSFL. Unfortunately, Sefton, for whatever reason, could not be 'hands-on' with the players and the lack of communication lost us several weeks of vital pre-season preparation time to get the Seconds together. The knock-on effect was that the commitment from a lot of the squad was non-existent; with Kerry trying to get memberships in, she was virtually flogging a dead horse so to speak.
A decision was made to release Sefton with essentially nothing put in place by him. Even though I approached Ashley Hirschberger to run the Seconds, the damage had been done with all too few Second Team players wishing to continue. Therefore, with the pitch hire of 24 weeks at SJP needing to be booked, the Management Committee decided to fold the Second Team, withdraw from the League and attempt to offload the commitment of 12 weeks at SJP. Fortunately, we managed to get Hendon United FC to take on the 12 weeks, which immediately saved the Club £2,400, an enormous financial millstone removed from around our necks.
With the First Team match-day admin side looking bleak, Sammy Samuelson agreed to become Assistant Manager which, on top of Hendon United taking 12 permits, was one of the major highlights coming out of the summer's shambles.
This left us with one MGBSFL side for the first time since season 2020/21 but more importantly enough players to form Stevie's first squad to start the season. He took on a few experienced players from the previous season's First Team, a small band of Second Teamers who wanted to stay on, plus the new youngsters he brought in. Even so, allowing for the fact that it can take time for a new squad to find their feet, the results from the off were poor, with only one draw from three friendlies, including a loss to a quickly-assembled Second Team.
Another pitch booking for an intended friendly turned out to be merely a training session – an unacceptable situation given that £200 was laid out for a pre-season match; again, far from ideal. For me personally and Kerry essentially (who travelled to London specifically for the match), we gave our time to officiate what should have been a proper friendly which never happened, having turned down another 'paid' game. Looking back, it was part of the disappointing disorganisation prevalent over the summer. Never again will I sanction a costly pitch for a training session – lesson learned.
Perhaps what was to come may have been telling by the First Team losing 9-0 in the first League fixture of the new season, a record opening day defeat. There followed a run of 15 consecutive defeats in league and cup matches, including 4 games in a row without scoring, which had Simon, Kerry and myself all scratching our heads in disbelief.
Thanks to Simon, Stevie managed to get midweek training going at the Mill Hill Powerleague which were self-financing via the players attending and although attendances were generally decent to start with, perhaps predictably, they tailed off as the colder weather set in. Despite rebranding as 'football sessions' rather than training, the sessions came to a halt by mid-November when interest dropped alarmingly.
Admittedly, there was an air of disappointment and bewilderment at what was going on, almost on a weekly basis, but to the immense credit of Stevie though, his commitment was outstanding and unwavering throughout several months of acute failure after failure on the pitch. Stevie constantly kept in contact and never hid away from the disappointing results, always believing that things would improve and for us to keep the faith in what he was trying to build.
Our amicable Canadian, always with an uplifting smile on his face, must have questioned his own sanity at times to turn up and organise such a poor team – let's not cover up and say otherwise because any half-decent side does not lose so many games on the trot and received some wallopings, such as the 12-1 trouncing by Real Salt Beef in mid-January.
I mention this one shocking result because the First Team finally won a game in early March, gleefully beating the same opposition at SJP, following the 'celebration' of gaining a 2-2 draw against Boca Chillers a month earlier – that was the team's first point in an otherwise miserable League season.
So the Firsts finished with 4 points from a possible 42, not the worst League season the Club has ever encountered but hardly anything to make us think that a fifth consecutive season in Division 1 would be welcomed. On the contrary, my firm belief is that we deserve relegation, as we did in two of three previous seasons, and we need to rebuild this First Team in Division 2 for next season, the same position that Simon Linden took on when he joined the Club as manager in 2016.
A big thank you to Stevie and Sammy for all their hard work, and Adam too as captain; they did not allow their heads to drop and kept going despite the dreadful shortfalls of the team. Agreed, a dismal season overall but I cannot question the commitment and spirit of the management and team through very difficult times. Indeed, the number of players available for most games and the general buzz in the WhatsApp group were very encouraging. Sammy's organisation in this respect was exceptional.
One major plus from the season was the disciplinary record. After a dreadful season during the previous campaign where there were over 50 cases, Kerry only had to deal with less than 10 from both teams. She will no doubt revel in the glory of this vast improvement and it's a massively pleasing part of the 2023/24 season. I applaud our management teams for keeping the discipline on track across the Club.
Now onto the Old Boys Team. Temple Fortune started the Maccabi Masters League's 25th campaign as the only ever-present club in the League, an achievement that we commemorated with a fantastic new yellow and dark red 'tiger stripe' kit from EV2. The aspirations of Simon Black's team were always going to be restricted before a ball was even kicked in September because of the presence of mainly London Maccabi Lions and Scrabble – they have the best players so a daunting campaign beckoned when the season commenced for the older Masters League teams, namely EHRS Stonegrove, Glenthorne United, Hendon Harriers and Temple Fortune.
Yet Simon put together a competitive squad which, ignoring a couple of heavy losses, competed throughout the season. So although Fortune can compete with the trio named above plus Brady and St John's Wood Tigers, the other two sides remain too strong. Therefore, third place was the highest Simon's team could aim for and to finish in fifth position out of eight was far from being too shabby! The season included a tremendous 8-0 drubbing of old adversaries Glenthorne.
I think the Old Boys Team are a well-oiled side managed effectively by Simon and helped enormously to tick over smoothly by Jonathan's efficient admin skills and Wayne Davison's assistance as captain. During Simon's absence due to travelling, Jonathan took over running the team which was not easy as he would be the first to admit. The camaraderie in the Old Boys WhatsApp group was very pleasing on the eye – I believe Simon and Jon have a very good group there and it's clear that they enjoy their football, which is what it is all about.
Nevertheless, what really could have given the Club a huge lift in an otherwise poor season came in the Masters Cup. Fortune qualified for the Plate competition (named the Jack Morgan Memorial Cup) by finishing third in their group. However, in the semi-final against the worst team in the league (who Fortune had beaten twice earlier in the season), the Old Boys contrived to lose 4-2 after leading 2-0 at half-time, giving Hendon Harriers a berth to the final for the second season running. This result was extremely disappointing and just about capped off the Club's general misery endured since the season began.
On other admin fronts, the majority of administration ran smoothly. This was largely due to Kerry Higham's fantastic help in monitoring various aspects of Club admin. I cannot underestimate the contribution she offers to this Club. This was her second season as Administration Officer and again she has done a most sterling job.
Sammy Samuelson and Jonathan Abrams excelled with their respective teams, both doing excellent jobs on the money side, so thank you both. I won't report on the financial aspect other than to briefly say that the Club did pleasingly well. Thank you to everyone else for their invaluable contribution this season in whichever capacity they helped the Club and congratulations to the award winners.
To sum up, we suffered a miserable MGBSFL campaign (yet again, one could say) after too much had gone wrong from the outset. I feel that this Club deserves better for all the hard work put in by various individuals. Overall a season that will not last long in the memory and my hope is that with good planning and hard work we will see a vast improvement next season.
Finishing on a positive note, I am pleased to report that the Club has once again been very strong on the administration side and has enjoyed a decent profit financially. Stevie's team finishing the season with a welcomed upsurge was a huge inspirational high too. And for next season, we have secured a pitch-side display board at SJP and also shirt sponsorship for the new First Team playing kit from both Harris Balcombe, the insurance claim consultancy firm, and M & Sons, building contractors. Even after a tough campaign, this Club is full of positiveness and we look forward to season 2024/25 with relish."
NIGEL KYTE, 3rd June 2024