Westmorland County Football Association Limited ANNUAL REPORT 2016 Introduction In this, the Association s 119 th year, the Governance of the Game, delivery of The FA National Game Strategy, growth of the game and opportunities for everyone to be involved in the game remain a high priority. Many people give a huge amount of time and energy to the game that they love as volunteers, the monetary value of this is unmeasurable but we are very grateful. The FA s continued support has seen the Association s work in grassroots football grow significantly. National Game Strategy 2015/16 We delivered the 2015/16 strategy; many of our strategy s challenging targets have been achieved, thanks to significant funding from The FA. County FA Scoreboard 2015/16 Key Performance Indicators Achieved 47 57 13 50 1 2 1 96.7 1 Target 45 54 12 49 2 2 1 95 0 0 0 Council The Company have begun a Corporate Governance Review which will, if accepted, see further change of the Articles of Association in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. Part of this work saw the Committee structure disbanded on a trial basis now Council oversee policy, governance and smooth running of the game in the county. Meetings were well attended throughout the season. The policy and decision making process was often lively and well debated, although always in an impartial, fair and reasonable manner. The Board of Directors control the Association s business activities, finances and management of staff, with Council continuing their responsibilities for managing football matters by making policy for professional staff to implement. Council and Board of Directors have been led throughout the year by Chairman, Gary Aplin, who has also been the Association s Representative to The FA where he serves on the Women s, FA Trophy, Rules and Judicial Committees.
The Football Foundation The Football Foundation is a registered charity established to improve pitches and facilities in grassroots football. Funding is provided by football (The FA and FA Premier League) and Government (Sport England Lottery Fund). The Association has given advice on many projects and supported a number of applications. Total investment into facilities is over 1.2m since The Foundation was established. The Association continues to support clubs and organisations with small and major grant schemes. This season a number of leagues, clubs and organisations received revenue grants and flood repair funding, but it must be remembered that organisations need to meet the minimum 50% match funding criteria. Football Development The FA s major investment into the development of the game has continued and the county has made significant achievements in the past year in the following areas:- Club and League Development The 2015/16 season saw the continuation of the Charter Standard Annual Health Check process. Every youth club within Westmorland is Charter Standard and all completed an annual health check and have retained their status. The health check process is designed to make renewals for existing Charter Standard Clubs a less onerous process and also ensure the high standards set with the initial award are continually met year on year. As part of their ongoing commitment to raising standards and creating better players, the Kendal and District Sunday League, Westmorland Under 25 League and South Lakes Girls League retained their Charter Standard League status in the 2015/16 season. This allows them to continue to deliver their development plan. Future developments in the leagues will include a qualified referee at each game and this will be supported by a Referee Development programme tailored for each league. The Kent Valley Junior Football League maintained Charter Standard League status and 100% of junior football played within the league is at clubs who have a qualified Level One Coach, who have completed Emergency Aid and Safeguarding Children training. The Westmorland Association Football League continues to be a Respect League. The Respect League status aims to raise the standards of behaviour by players, coaches and spectators to make the game a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Coach Education Level 1 in Football Coaching 2 Courses in 2015/16 Season 28 Males attended 2 Females attended Emergency Aid 4 Courses in 2015/16 Season 56 Males attended 2 Females attended Safeguarding Children 2 Courses in 2015/16 Season 40 Males attended 3 Females attended In Service Training 2 Events in 2015/16 this season saw the introduction of Web-Ex for In-Service Training 25 Males attended 0 Females
FA New Coach Education Pathway
Girls and Women's Football The FA Charter Standard South Lakes Girls League has provided local girls with regular opportunities to play in a festival format. Each festival has been a great success, with more and more girls now taking up the game. We are currently piloting a new festival format, which equates to more football for all ages. This crucial step up in the girls game reflects its current strength and continued growth. The School-Club links have been sustained this season following the success of last year s partnership work. Westmorland County FA now work to identify low team numbers in Charter Standard Clubs and target schools nearby. Kendal Town FC Ladies Team had their most successful season to date in the North West Women s Regional League, finishing 4 th. The transition of youth players and the developmental focus among the squad last season has resulted in a well-rounded team with depth in numbers and quality. Girls Player Development Centre The 2015/16 season has been fantastic for the Westmorland Girls Player Development Centre (PDC). The three squads, Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15, have demonstrated huge progress over the course of the season. The squads have played fixtures against Cumberland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Manchester and Isle of Man centres. The future of the centre is in doubt following a restructure of the excellence system by The FA. Disability The 2015/16 season saw the continuation of Riversiders FC for adults with physical and learning disabilities in Westmorland. Working in partnership with the Oaklea Trust and Riversiders Community Group, we delivered a regular programme of coaching with the group meeting every Wednesday evening at Kendal Leisure Centre which includes structured coaching and small sided games. The programme looks at developing the ability of the players and also the fun side of getting together in a facility which is both accessible and warm throughout the year. The programme creates the chance to play and improve against different opposition teams. The team travelled to Burnley every month to put the skills and team work they have learned into games in the Lancashire Ability Counts Football League. The team also travelled to Penrith to participate in the Carlisle United Ability Counts League competing against all teams successfully. Through these working relationships, we can ensure good quality development of the disability football pathway and the best use of financial resources to continue the growth in football for disabled people. School Holiday Courses / Events Westmorland County FA and The FA Skills Coaches provide Football Fun Days and holiday sessions across Westmorland. These sessions provide opportunities during the school holidays for any young players (boys and girls aged 4-11 years) keen to play football, learn new skills and above all have fun. Over 300 young people have attended sessions during the season. The sessions take place at various venues across Westmorland and each fun-packed day incorporates skills sessions, competitions, quizzes, fun games and small sided matches. Westmorland County FA also continues to support the Football Futures Programme. The Football Fun Days and local Charter Standard Clubs provide a training event during school holidays to support our young volunteers. Following this one male and one female volunteer are selected to represent Westmorland at The FA National Leadership and Volunteering Camp, which this year is being held at St George s Park.
School Coaching and Club Links The Community Coach has been able to offer over 35 schools high quality coaching that focuses on developing the core skills of agility, balance, co-ordination and speed (The Fundamentals of Movement). The emphasis is to work on these skills in a fun and challenging way to give children a positive first experience of sport. Football and Physical Education sessions are delivered to create a county wide structure that develops these abilities and increases involvement both in football and physical activity in general. Futsal, Club In-Service training, Girls Player Development Centre, Disability and inclusion sessions are all part of the work programme looking to develop the whole community at every age, ability and gender. The sessions have ranged from in-school curriculum time to after school clubs where the Community Coach has helped show the participants skills and tricks while keeping the emphasis on fun sessions which they may want to carry on out of school. Representative Matches In the Northern Counties Senior Competition, Milnthorpe Corinthians represented the Association. The team were beaten by Lancashire, 3-4 in the first round. In The FA County Youth Cup, the Under 18 team lost at home to Northumberland County FA in the 1 st Round 1 4. The side went on to play the following fixtures in the Association of Northern Counties Youth Competition. Lancashire FA (home) 3-11, Lincolnshire County FA (away) 0-2, Cumberland FA (home) 1 0, Liverpool (home) 1-2 Our thanks are recorded to the coaching staff, Phil Graham and Simon Hansen for their hard work throughout the season. All the Representative Match administration was overseen by Council Member Paul D Hayton throughout the year, and other Members attended games regularly. Cup Competitions The 2015/16 competitions were completed as follows:- Senior Challenge Cup Cartmel & District v Milnthorpe Corinthians 2-3 Benevolent Trophy Pirelli v Keswick 0-3 Junior Cup Cartmel & District Res v Burneside Res 3-2 Invitation Trophy Appleby v Milnthorpe Corinthians 3-4 Sunday Cup Kent Estuary v White Hart 5-3 Minor Cup Ibis United v Kendal United 2-1 Dallam Tower Cup Swarthmoor v Ibis 0-4
Under 13 Cup Milnthorpe & District v Kendal United Rockets 3-1 S M Jones Trophy Kendal United v Ambleside 1-0 The Association is very grateful to Kendal Town FC, Penrith AFC and Wattsfield YFC for the use of their grounds and facilities for our cup finals. Council Member Dennis Blair took responsibility for administration of the competitions. Leagues The majority of senior football in the county continues to be provided by the Westmorland Football League. The Association s thanks are recorded to Secretary, Ron Wilkinson and their League Executive Committee, for their support. The Kendal and District Sunday League continued with a limited number of teams, playing different formats of the game to provide recreational football. It maintained its FA Charter Standard status although more teams are urgently needed to ensure its continuation. The growth of youth and junior football continues in the Kent Valley Junior League; thanks are recorded to the League Management Committee for their continued hard work. They continue to be one of the county s leading leagues in implementing The FA Youth Review - Charter Standard, implementation of Respect and 100% of the teams have a qualified coach. The South Lakes Girls League has grown in team numbers this year, the impact of festival type football provides an opportunity for girls to participate in football at Under 12 and 14 age groups. The management of league continues to be supported by staff at the County FA. Kendal Town Ladies FC continued in the North West Women s Regional League. A small Veterans competition and an Under 25 League all help to sustain team numbers. Soccersixes provides two small-sided leagues in Kendal, the 7-A-Side league continues at Kirkby Stephen, as does the Kendal Futsal League. A number of teams continue to play outside the area; Kendal Town FC in the Evo-Stick League, Milnthorpe Corinthians FC and Kendal County FC in the West Lancashire League and a number of teams in the North Lancashire League. Referees Number of Referees 2015/16 Season Achieved 57 3 Target 54 5 Male Female
In-Service Training The County hosted a number of In-Service events and guest speakers who discussed relevant refereeing matters and offered great advice to the members, including: o o o o Michael Salisbury FIFA / Premier League Assistant Referee Anthony Taylor FIFA / Premier League Referee Steve Stewart Lancashire CFA Peter Bankes National List Referee Academy The Academy provides specific focused development for Referee s on the promotion ladder and junior officials who have expressed an interest in officiating in open age football. Topics covered have been, Decision Making Direct Free Kicks, Managing the Game, Assistant Refereeing and Mass Player Confrontation. Referees Development Team This season saw the creation of the Referee Development Team chaired by the Referee Development Officer and attended by the Westmorland League and Kent Valley League Officials Appointment Secretaries. The team, whilst in its infancy, is looking to strengthen the communication and contact between the County FA and the Appointments Secretaries, develop good practice and identify development needs. Referees Promotion i) Level 6 5 K Clancy ii) Level 7 6 D Gosling The Westmorland County FA would like to congratulate both of these referees who have achieved success during the 2015/16 season. Two junior referees, Luke Ireland and Charlie Mulhall were selected to join the FA CORE (Centre of Refereeing Excellence). A Development Strategy is in place to support these officials into open age football. This gives them both the opportunity of refereeing at a higher level and receive FA Coaching. Both are also members of The FA Youth Council and recently attended one of their events. Recruitment and Mentors During October 2015, March 2016 (Female only) and April 2016 the County hosted Basic Referee Courses with 10, 5 and 15 students attending. In order to support and retain newly qualified referees all Westmorland County FA students passing the recent Referees Course have been allocated individual mentors. Mentor training will be offered during the season. Awards A number of awards are available to clubs and volunteers from The FA, and many of them will be presented at the Annual General Meeting. Congratulations to the winners of each award. We recognise the huge amount of work done by volunteers over the years. We are keen to support them in this work,
although this is often not recognised by clubs, who are asked to nominate those people who do so much for the game in the County. Discipline Misconduct of clubs, players and officials was administered in accordance with The FA Regulations with the continuation of Match Based Suspension across the game. This appears to have gone well and now mirrors the high levels of the game in both Adult and Youth Football. The number of cautions decreased from the previous season to 472. The number of Send Offs (35) and Misconduct (13) had also decreased. In accordance with The FA s Appeal procedure, the Association dealt with 1 Personal and 12 Correspondence Hearings. The introduction of Match Based Discipline has certainly had an impact on cases requiring a hearing. 159 Number of Cautions Received by Players 2015/16 Season 62 27 14 5 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Discipline Committee meetings were held regularly throughout the season. Gary Aplin, John R Cotter and Paul D Hayton chaired the committees. Council Members, except registered Referees, attended on a rota basis, as it is important for these Committees to maintain their independence. Sponsorship The Association continued its sponsorship arrangement with Nike for kit and equipment. We continue to struggle to obtain sponsorship for competitions and other activities, particularly in the current economic climate. The Furness Building Society provides support for this summer s Under 25 League. The growth of football in the County gives many commercial opportunities and these will be continually explored. The local press including the Westmorland Gazette, Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, Barrow Evening News, Lakeland Radio and Cumbria Crack website have supported the Association s activities very well throughout the year. IT Our website www.westmorlandfa.com is an essential means of communication to our customers in promoting our activities. Full Time The FA s League Administration system is successfully used to manage fixtures, results, tables and Referee appointments in Westmorland County FA Cup Competitions, Westmorland Football
League, Kendal and District Sunday League, South Lakes Girls League, Westmorland Under 25 League and the Futsal Leagues. The system immediately updates results, draws and tables by means of text messaging. Whole Game System Over the past year clubs have continued to embed the Whole Game System into football. Clubs will be affiliating for the second season using the Whole Game System and managing their discipline via the portal with an increasing number making payments online. Referees continue using the system to report discipline and re-register. Flooding Flooding in early December 2015 had a major impact on the game in the county. Pitches and changing facilities were washed away and badly damaged, our own HQ included. This prolonged the season significantly but also brought a number of clubs together to share facilities. The FA provided funding through the Flood Repair Fund. Bereavements It is with great regret that I have to inform you that the following people passed away during the year:- Colin Armstrong Netherfield AFC David Benjamin Secretary, Ambleside United JFC Walter Brogden Secretary, Penrith FC M Davies Victoria SC Andrew Ford Ibis FC Matthew Hilborne Milnthorpe Corinthians FC/Westmorland County FA 18 Rod Owen Windermere SC Richard (Dickie) Walker Coniston FC Joshua West Kendal United JFC They all made significant contributions to the game and will be missed by many. Complaints The Company received just one formal complaint during the year which was dealt with in accordance with its open, accountable and transparent complaint s procedure. Staffing Following a restructure Annette Monks and Bridget Ducksbury left the Company and have been replaced by Sara Newhouse as Football Services Administration Officer. Dan Ferguson is Football Development Officer. Mark Backhouse continued as Referees Development Officer and Lauren Downham as Community Coach / Assistant Football Development Officer. Peter Ducksbury continues in his role as Company Secretary / Chief Executive, managing business and staff. Staff have clear roles, responsibilities, targets and expectations which are part funded by The FA, employed and monitored by the Company s Board of Directors. The Association continues to build on its success and is confident of the future. We strive to enhance the service provision to the game in the county. The Association s records its sincere thanks, gratitude and appreciation to the staff and volunteers for their outstanding contribution to the administration, governance and development of the organisation, and success of the game in the county. As servants of the game it is a huge responsibility for us all, but a great honour and challenge. We are inspired by the power of the modern game and the dedication, commitment and passion of the people who
play, coach, referee, administrate, and watch our national game volunteers without which, the game would not be as successful. We must not rest on our laurels, and in the FA National Game Strategy 2015-2019, football will continue to change and we must change with it. Everyone in football must pull together and build on the fantastic work that is being done today to ensure that everyone gets the best possible experience from taking part in this wonderful game in the future. Equality Policy As the governing body of the game, within its boundaries, the Westmorland County FA is responsible for setting standards and values to apply throughout the game at every level. Football belongs to, and should be enjoyed by, anyone who wants to participate in it. The Westmorland County FA s commitment is to confront and eliminate discrimination whether by reason of gender, sexual orientation, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability and to encourage equal opportunities. The Association was awarded the Equality Standard - Foundation Stage in October 2012. Conclusion In a year when we successfully secured funding from The FA for the next four years to continue our work in governing and developing the game in the County in accordance with the FA National Game Strategy. Though our Business Strategy 2015-2019 we are committed to manage and govern the game effectively and efficiently but cannot do so without the support and commitment of the volunteer workforce. 9 June 2016