REPORT FOR SEASON 2023/24
In working alongside Kerry Higham as Administration Officer for the second season running the Club's admin business ran smoothly overall. Kerry has looked after membership and match subs collecting and she will report independently on both. Regarding other areas, this report consists of a breakdown of various admin categories and includes statistical comparisons with the previous two seasons. As usual, at the end of this report will be a conclusion covering the 2023/24 season.
Membership: As stated, Kerry will cover this topic in her report. On the statistical front, we had 51 Club Members between the two teams and the Full Membership quota topped the annual target of at least 15 per team. The income of over £3,400 from all membership bettered the previous season's average per team. Again, well done to Kerry for ensuring that membership income was significantly high.
Registrations: For the third season running Kerry handled WGS (the Whole Game System), looking after all TFFC registrations plus the transfer of Masters guests both in and out of the Club.
Pitches: Again we used Silver Jubilee Park for our MGBSFL fixtures, but with the Second Team folding we were able to offer their allocation to Hendon United FC. This alleviated a financial commitment of £2,400 by reducing our initial pitch allocation from 24 weeks to a manageable 12. One paid-for pitch was used for a pre-season training session when an intended inter-club friendly did not materialise – to me a waste of £200 when such a session could easily have been staged as Mill Hill Park.
I negotiated a favourable rate per match with Rob Morris (increased from £190) which was under the new rate other teams were paying. We staged a total of 11 First Team home games at SJP – 8 competitive fixtures and 3 friendlies. (2022/23: 23 of which 12 were First Team games; 2021/22: 11). The Old Boys Team continued to play at venues arranged by the Masters League, mainly at Hertfordshire Sports Village and Thomas Parmiter Sports Centre.
Unplayed matches: Due to player unavailability, we were forced to forfeit one fixture, this being for the Old Boys Team which is very rare. (2022/23: 5 – Firsts 3, Seconds 2; 2021/22: 6). What was pleasing was that on the MGBSFL front we did not concede any games for the first time in several seasons – full credit to Stevie and Sammy for ensuring that all fixtures were fulfilled.
Discipline: Season 2021/22 gave the Club its second worst disciplinary campaign on record and there was a high number of cases in season 2022/23, albeit improved. However, in comparison, I am pleased to report a very good season which Kerry will expand upon. Well done to our team managers for overseeing two relatively disciplined teams.
League fines: The First Team collected no MGBSFL fines (2022/23: £55.00; 2021/22: £135.00). Including the Second Team's record, the Club collected £150.00 in MGBSFL fines during the 2022/23 season. However, the Old Boys Team incurred one fine (£10) for defaulting the one game, which was a group fixture in the cup competition. So collectively this vast improvement reflects another plus from the season.
Match subs collection: As previously mentioned, Kerry supervised the match-day collection in the accounts and will cover this category in her report. I commented in last year's report that the whole purpose of buying the iZettle devices was to maximise our match subs income and I am pleased to see an improvement this season.
Events: We were pleased to stage the 2023/24 Club Awards Presentation Event (CAPE) on Sunday 2nd June. The new format of a 7-a-side tournament that we tried a year ago was successful so again we held a round-robin event involving 5 teams. I did get a moan or two from TF Founders players who had to play four fixtures in a row and this will be mentioned under AOB. Once again, a lot of hard work went into arranging the CAPE, involving the trophies, awards, programmes, food etc and I would like to thank Kerry Higham for her invaluable help in coordinating this event. I'm pleased to report that the morning was a big success.
Equipment: With the Hamptons playing kit topped up following shortages during the previous campaign, the kit situation did not work out too well again which was disappointing. Evidently, too many players took kit home, which is forbidden. I would have liked First Team management to stop this practice because we were short of kit too often during the season. As a result, I had to replenish the First Team kit with shorts during the season, taken from the unused Second Team kit. I also purchased 9 pairs of Sondico navy socks to ease a sock shortage.
The Old Boys Team were presented with a brand new dynamic playing kit in a striking yellow and dark red design, partly funded by income moved into a Kit Fund from the previous season. Also contributing towards the cost was a generous £250 donation by a member of the Old Boys Team who wishes to remain anonymous – a sincere thank you goes to him.
Next season, at the time of writing this report, the Club has secured much-appreciated sponsorship through mainly Harris Balcombe who will help finance a set of First Team shirts and also M & Sons who will have sponsorship on the shirt backs, the first time we have had two sponsors on a playing kit. Grateful thanks go to Sammy Samuelson and Dudi Edreyi for initiating these arrangements.
With the 'buy-back' shirt scheme completed, we have stored two full sets of shirts (yellow and red stripes, nicknamed the 'Covid' shirts) for future use. All 31 shirts are in excellent condition.
At the beginning of the season, I ordered a new batch of navy/black and yellow tracksuit tops carrying the standard TFFC crest. I purchased two batches of Mitre Calcio yellow/black footballs from Pendle Sportswear to keep the MGBSFL team well stocked up in addition to Stevie Allen's own footballs, although we lost quite a lot of balls at SJP.
In storage are a number of spare playing kits including the Daniel Stewart set of shirts (yellow and red), the Founders’ shirts (red and yellow broad stripes), the all-yellow and navy Bekhors kit, the Winckworth yellow and navy shirts (a full set of 14), the Ellis/Winckworth jointly sponsored red/yellow kit, two sets of red Ellis & Co shirts (with yellow curved band) and the 2020/21 'Covid' shirts as previously mentioned. There is also a set of 10 outfield Kingsleys shirts (yellow with the large navy ‘stars’ design) and a green/white Bekhors kit in storage too, plus a set of orange ex-Blizzard Storm shirts. The Fantasy Five kit used by the Second Team has a set of shirts in storage although quite a few shorts were utilised by the Firsts due to shortages.
Training: The lack of organisation and preparation over the summer meant that we were unable to hold our usual training sessions at Mill Hill Park. However, midweek sessions were arranged for a relatively short period at the Mill Hill Powerleague thanks to Simon Linden covering the cost and players reimbursing him directly. Thanks go to Simon for helping book these sessions.
Management structure/social media: The sub-committees for the Admin team and Team Managers, which were initially set up for season 2021/22, worked relatively well again in WhatsApp. TFFC Facebook, X (replacing Twitter) and Instagram continued to be used intermittently when it was required to post notifications.
Conclusion: Administratively, once again the Club had a strong season behind the scenes where Kerry and I handled the majority of Club admin efficiently. Again, I would like to thank our Administration Officer for her help with the Club's main administration and both Sammy Samuelson and Jonathan Abrams who managed the match-day admin side of both teams very efficiently. A big thank you to Stevie Allen and Simon Black plus anyone else who helped this season."
NIGEL KYTE, 3rd June 2024
In working alongside Kerry Higham as Administration Officer for the second season running the Club's admin business ran smoothly overall. Kerry has looked after membership and match subs collecting and she will report independently on both. Regarding other areas, this report consists of a breakdown of various admin categories and includes statistical comparisons with the previous two seasons. As usual, at the end of this report will be a conclusion covering the 2023/24 season.
Membership: As stated, Kerry will cover this topic in her report. On the statistical front, we had 51 Club Members between the two teams and the Full Membership quota topped the annual target of at least 15 per team. The income of over £3,400 from all membership bettered the previous season's average per team. Again, well done to Kerry for ensuring that membership income was significantly high.
Registrations: For the third season running Kerry handled WGS (the Whole Game System), looking after all TFFC registrations plus the transfer of Masters guests both in and out of the Club.
Pitches: Again we used Silver Jubilee Park for our MGBSFL fixtures, but with the Second Team folding we were able to offer their allocation to Hendon United FC. This alleviated a financial commitment of £2,400 by reducing our initial pitch allocation from 24 weeks to a manageable 12. One paid-for pitch was used for a pre-season training session when an intended inter-club friendly did not materialise – to me a waste of £200 when such a session could easily have been staged as Mill Hill Park.
I negotiated a favourable rate per match with Rob Morris (increased from £190) which was under the new rate other teams were paying. We staged a total of 11 First Team home games at SJP – 8 competitive fixtures and 3 friendlies. (2022/23: 23 of which 12 were First Team games; 2021/22: 11). The Old Boys Team continued to play at venues arranged by the Masters League, mainly at Hertfordshire Sports Village and Thomas Parmiter Sports Centre.
Unplayed matches: Due to player unavailability, we were forced to forfeit one fixture, this being for the Old Boys Team which is very rare. (2022/23: 5 – Firsts 3, Seconds 2; 2021/22: 6). What was pleasing was that on the MGBSFL front we did not concede any games for the first time in several seasons – full credit to Stevie and Sammy for ensuring that all fixtures were fulfilled.
Discipline: Season 2021/22 gave the Club its second worst disciplinary campaign on record and there was a high number of cases in season 2022/23, albeit improved. However, in comparison, I am pleased to report a very good season which Kerry will expand upon. Well done to our team managers for overseeing two relatively disciplined teams.
League fines: The First Team collected no MGBSFL fines (2022/23: £55.00; 2021/22: £135.00). Including the Second Team's record, the Club collected £150.00 in MGBSFL fines during the 2022/23 season. However, the Old Boys Team incurred one fine (£10) for defaulting the one game, which was a group fixture in the cup competition. So collectively this vast improvement reflects another plus from the season.
Match subs collection: As previously mentioned, Kerry supervised the match-day collection in the accounts and will cover this category in her report. I commented in last year's report that the whole purpose of buying the iZettle devices was to maximise our match subs income and I am pleased to see an improvement this season.
Events: We were pleased to stage the 2023/24 Club Awards Presentation Event (CAPE) on Sunday 2nd June. The new format of a 7-a-side tournament that we tried a year ago was successful so again we held a round-robin event involving 5 teams. I did get a moan or two from TF Founders players who had to play four fixtures in a row and this will be mentioned under AOB. Once again, a lot of hard work went into arranging the CAPE, involving the trophies, awards, programmes, food etc and I would like to thank Kerry Higham for her invaluable help in coordinating this event. I'm pleased to report that the morning was a big success.
Equipment: With the Hamptons playing kit topped up following shortages during the previous campaign, the kit situation did not work out too well again which was disappointing. Evidently, too many players took kit home, which is forbidden. I would have liked First Team management to stop this practice because we were short of kit too often during the season. As a result, I had to replenish the First Team kit with shorts during the season, taken from the unused Second Team kit. I also purchased 9 pairs of Sondico navy socks to ease a sock shortage.
The Old Boys Team were presented with a brand new dynamic playing kit in a striking yellow and dark red design, partly funded by income moved into a Kit Fund from the previous season. Also contributing towards the cost was a generous £250 donation by a member of the Old Boys Team who wishes to remain anonymous – a sincere thank you goes to him.
Next season, at the time of writing this report, the Club has secured much-appreciated sponsorship through mainly Harris Balcombe who will help finance a set of First Team shirts and also M & Sons who will have sponsorship on the shirt backs, the first time we have had two sponsors on a playing kit. Grateful thanks go to Sammy Samuelson and Dudi Edreyi for initiating these arrangements.
With the 'buy-back' shirt scheme completed, we have stored two full sets of shirts (yellow and red stripes, nicknamed the 'Covid' shirts) for future use. All 31 shirts are in excellent condition.
At the beginning of the season, I ordered a new batch of navy/black and yellow tracksuit tops carrying the standard TFFC crest. I purchased two batches of Mitre Calcio yellow/black footballs from Pendle Sportswear to keep the MGBSFL team well stocked up in addition to Stevie Allen's own footballs, although we lost quite a lot of balls at SJP.
In storage are a number of spare playing kits including the Daniel Stewart set of shirts (yellow and red), the Founders’ shirts (red and yellow broad stripes), the all-yellow and navy Bekhors kit, the Winckworth yellow and navy shirts (a full set of 14), the Ellis/Winckworth jointly sponsored red/yellow kit, two sets of red Ellis & Co shirts (with yellow curved band) and the 2020/21 'Covid' shirts as previously mentioned. There is also a set of 10 outfield Kingsleys shirts (yellow with the large navy ‘stars’ design) and a green/white Bekhors kit in storage too, plus a set of orange ex-Blizzard Storm shirts. The Fantasy Five kit used by the Second Team has a set of shirts in storage although quite a few shorts were utilised by the Firsts due to shortages.
Training: The lack of organisation and preparation over the summer meant that we were unable to hold our usual training sessions at Mill Hill Park. However, midweek sessions were arranged for a relatively short period at the Mill Hill Powerleague thanks to Simon Linden covering the cost and players reimbursing him directly. Thanks go to Simon for helping book these sessions.
Management structure/social media: The sub-committees for the Admin team and Team Managers, which were initially set up for season 2021/22, worked relatively well again in WhatsApp. TFFC Facebook, X (replacing Twitter) and Instagram continued to be used intermittently when it was required to post notifications.
Conclusion: Administratively, once again the Club had a strong season behind the scenes where Kerry and I handled the majority of Club admin efficiently. Again, I would like to thank our Administration Officer for her help with the Club's main administration and both Sammy Samuelson and Jonathan Abrams who managed the match-day admin side of both teams very efficiently. A big thank you to Stevie Allen and Simon Black plus anyone else who helped this season."
NIGEL KYTE, 3rd June 2024