AGM

Minutes of the 2007 AGM held on 12 September 2007 in the function room at the Bread and Roses, Clapham.

Present: Andy Donald, Camelot; Lionel Best, Hitherfield; Harvey McGavin, St Leonard's; Michael Kelleher, Corpus Christi; Sharon Hall, Walnut Tree Walk; Phil Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith; Rob Wilkinson, Allen Edwards; Steve Underwood, South London Schools FA; Matthew Griffin, St Mary's & LPSFL Chair; Paul Thomas, Victory & LPSFL Secretary; Michael Brady, St Bernadette's; Kevin Park, Crown Lane; Matthew Terdre, Clapham Manor; Darren Anon, Macaulay; Stephen Gale, South London Schools FA; Worrell Gayle, Glenbrook; Graham Lane, LPSFL Treasurer; Craig Norman, Sudbourne; Gary Cornforth, LPSFL.

Apologies: Bob Wade, Streatham Wells; David Dines, St Joseph's & St Jude's; Des Collier, Peckham Park & Crampton; Sheena Walmsley, Bonneville; Dominic Hughes, Rosendale; Matt Aseh, Kings Avenue.

New Schools
The league is welcoming four new schools this season.
 Camelot
 St Leonards
 Fenstanton
 Bonneville

Election of Officers
President – Arthur Williams
Chair – Matthew Griffin
Treasurer – Graham Lane
Development Worker – Gary Cornforth
Secretary – Paul Thomas

2006 AGM minutes
There were no matters arising and they were proposed as an accurate record of the meeting by Worrell Gayle, Seconded by Steve Underwood.

Review of 2006-07
Gary reviewed the season noting that we had gone up to 30 teams in the league which had been split into three leagues of ten. One of the main problems during the season was the fact that the league had lost the use of South Bank University Sports Ground and the new ground Southwark Sports became flooded very early on in the season. This meant a fixture backlog resulting in the cup final being played in July.

This season there will be three venues as we have South Bank again as well as Rosendale and Southwark Sports. Although this should make life a lot easier, it will be a lot more expensive.

The aim is for all matches to be played by May with at least two grounds in use most weeks.

Gary asked for everyone to make sure that they contacted the school they were due to play early in the week so that if a game needs to be rearranged it can be. He also asked that all managers check the website for fixtures on a regular basis. If for any reason you are unable to play please ring Gary early.

There had been a few incidents of indiscipline on the touchline and Gary reminded everyone that it was the responsibility of the school to ensure that this did not occur. He stressed that under no circumstances should dissent be shown on the touchline as this influenced the players and set an extremely bad example. Criticisms of referees should be made if necessary after the match to Gary or any committee member. For the 2007/08 season the league intends to have a written complaints policy which will be on the website and sent to all schools. Shows of dissent on the touchline are likely to result in a letter from the league to the headteacher of the school concerned and possibly disciplinary action by the league.

Overall the season had been an enjoyable one with lots of good football and close games played in good spirit.

The final league tables, cup results and fair play awards were all on the website for people to see.

Gary was thanked by the chair for all his hard work in ensuring the season had been successful.

Finance
We had a closing balance of £4886.76. We made £775 over the year as we havn’t been charged yet for Rosendale were we still use our own funds to keep the ground and pavilion in a fit state for use. Southwark are in the process of invoicing us for the games we played on their ground. Next season we will be paying £35 a match at South Bank which is a considerable increase on pitch hire costs over the season. As usual we were successful in raising small amounts of grant money but these do not cover pitch hire and the cost of having a part time worker.

League Fees
Graham then went on to talk about raising the league fees from £200 to £250 for 2007-08 as neccessitated by increased pitch hire costs for the new season. This was agreed unanimously by those present. The chair thanked Graham for all his work on the budget.

Format of Competition
At the moment it will be three leagues of eleven but this may need to be revised if there are more teams.

The question of small sided games came up and was discussed. It was decided that more children were able to access football while the league is at 11-a-side than would be the case if it went to 7-a-side or 9-a-side. It was agreed that a meeting should be held in the spring term to discuss various options around this issue.

Referees
A reminder to everyone that they are all qualified, a lot of them are very young and all of them deserve to be given a chance. As mentioned above shows of dissent towards referees may result in disciplinary action being taken against offenders.

Complaints
A written procedure will be produced by the committee. This will be on the web site and will be e-mailed to all schools.

Contact Details
All contact details would be put on the web and sent by e-mail to all schools.

Fair Play Awards
These have once again been very successful and have not necessarily been won by the bottom sides in the league. It was agreed that the awards would continue this season. Referees will be asked to award points for fair play after every game. The winners from last year can be found on the website.

Annual 7-a-side Tournament
An excellent event again that was well run and organised. We do desperately need new volunteers who can help not only on the day but with the preparation. Graham asked if there was anybody in the schools that could take over the overall running of the event. A letter would be sent to the schools that they could in turn send to the parents about trying to get more people involved.

Magazine Cup
This is one of the oldest competitions in the country. It is a great event with a long history and the final last season was covered by the South london Press. All LPSFL schools are automatically entered.

Website and web shop
Gary reminded people to look regularly for fixtures and information on the website and also about the links to lots of online shopping that the league can get some money from if people use it.

AOB
The possible change of name was mentioned due to the number of Southwark schools playing in the league. This would be discussed formally later in the season and a proposal put to schools possibly at next years AGM.

Dates for the district trials would be circulated to schools.

The meeting finished at 7:30 with the chair thanking everyone for attending.