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June 4, 2011
Metheringham Football Club Review Summer 2011
A very difficult season has at last come to an end. We have been pushing for better changing facilities since before I became Chairman (some 21 years ago) and for the last five years we have been expecting to get the go ahead to build on the Village Sports field. Sadly the Parish and County Council have once again failed to reach an agreement over the ownership / usage of the land and so again our plans have been put on hold.
Clearly as a FA Charter Status Football Club it is not sufficient to ensure that we have the correct number of coaches and that everybody involved is CRB checked, it is also important that we have changing rooms and toilets, especially for the many ladies and the disabled visitors we entertain each weekend.
Further major disruption to the smooth running of our club has been caused by the untimely illnesses of two of our stalwart committee members: Steve Asher has been battling his illness for over a year now and his involvement with the Sunday First Team has been sadly missed. Also this year, groundsman Brian Blackband, had to have an operation which has finally curtailed his excellent work in keeping the sport field and pitches up to scratch. We have tried during the season to keep the pitches up to Brian's standard but have in reality failed miserably. As always it is only when people are not there, that you realise how important their contribution was and we wish them both well. Add to this the loss of major sponsor and helper, Butch, together with the effective loss of our HQ (The Star). Then losing over half a team to the newly formed AFC Red Lion and then the snow, it has made the running of the Football Club difficult, to say the least, this season.
In hindsight, we made a major blunder in withdrawing our Under 18s from their league. With the loss of the bulk of our Reserves to Dunston, we assumed that we could replace them with these U18s, together with their Management Team. Unfortunately we lost Alan Ward to the Olympic Stadium construction and Ant Jones left eventually to support his son in his football and after several defeats those lads who did play, decided that enough was enough. We therefore had to withdraw our Reserves from the Sunday League with just six games left. We have applied to re-enter the League again for next season as Dave Inman, a School Master at Branston Academy has offered to run the team. Dave has run the school football teams there for the last five years, which included the majority of our ex-U18s. The early response on his arrival from the players has been very favourable, so hopefully next season will be a little better.
Both Saturday and Sunday First Teams are now under the stewardship of Stu Robinson and have had mixed fortunes this season. The Saturday side started very well but floundered a little due to lack of proven goalscorers (always a problem since we lost scorers of the calibre of Ben Garrick to his Aussie travels) and finished middle table. The Sunday side also struggled with a lack of goals and lost several games that could easily have been won. With Hunter's Leap withdrawing from the league it is hoped that their Meg lads will look to 'come home' next year and strengthen our very young side. We are the longest serving 'Premier' side but results indicate that we may be playing in Division One next season.
On the youth front, the Under 16s disbanded during the summer and our Under 15s struggled in the 'B' league. Manager Roy Rogers has now decided to call it a day after having taken the team on at Under 10s. A big thank you to him for all he has contributed to the Club during that time. A players meeting has been held recently and they have agreed that they want to carry on next season for their final year in the Youth League.
After promotion the Under 13s found their new league somewhat harder but pulled themselves around, performing well against some of the top sides. The Under 11s had an interesting first season at eleven-a-side and should improve now they have had a year's experience. We introduced a second U10 side this year in Division 'D' and again after a slow start they did themselves proud, ending the campaign in fifth place. Our 10A side proved to be our most successful this season, having finished equal second and then winning their play-off for Runners-up on penalties at Woodhall against arch rivals N Lindum Hawks 'A'. Last, but not least our U9s finished a very creditable fourth in their first competitive season. Well done everybody.
One of the other problems we are experiencing at the present time is the lack of non-managers on the Committee. It is unfair to expect Managers to look after their own teams and then do extra work to keep the Club going, volunteers are always welcome. One person who has done a sterling job this season though, is Liz Rogers as our Funding Officer and now she has agreed to take on additional duties as Welfare Officer. I am very lucky to be supported by an excellent Committee and thank them all for their efforts. However I must make special mention of our esteemed Secretary and Treasurer Pete Ford, without whom we would not be able to function.
John Wood (Chairman)
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