A Happy New Year to all players and parents!

Saturday, 27 January 2007

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break. 2007 has started with a record nine Longhoughton teams playing in the Glendale League, with 96 children currently registered.

I believe 2007 will see some exciting developments at the Club with our ambitious plan to field 11 a-side teams for the first time and to introduce girls only teams beyond age 11. As mentioned previously, our ‘Longhoughton 2010’ three year plan is to provide quality football for our kids from age 6 to adulthood and we are already making great strides towards this goal. We have applied to the Football Foundation for £10,000 in support of this plan and they have recently been in touch to seek clarification. As a result, I am feeling quite optimistic and hope to discover the final outcome by the end of February.

The other big area of activity is the proposed development of an all-weather, floodlit training area and associated changing rooms in Longhoughton. This is planned to be associated with the new Longhoughton Primary School and Treasurer, Rod Munday, and I have been to several meetings to further our cause.

Specifically, the Club had a productive meeting with the Longhoughton Village Development Trust (LVDT) who already support us by supplying the container on the field. The LVDT were very impressed with the strength of the Club and were very receptive to our burning need for an all weather facility. As a result of the meeting the LVDT agreed to push for a floodlit Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) which will have changing facilities in the associated village hall. Crucially, it was agreed that this facility should be provided at the earliest opportunity and not directly tied to the timetable for the school. However, it is obviously highly desirable that it be co-located with the new school site. Note that the exact location is still to be decided and the associated planning permissions and funding still have to be finalised. However, the site will be located somewhere in the fields running from Johnson House down behind the Church to Station Road. As a result of this meeting, the Club now has a permanent vote on the LVDT committee and we will ensure that a Club representative is present at all future meetings to maximise our influence on future developments.

Rod and I also had an excellent meeting with Parish Councillor James Forsyth who also expressed strong support and praised the Club’s work with the local children. So, all in all the project is moving in the right direction and we have follow up meetings planned in the next week with the Alnwick Sports Development Officer and representatives from the Football Association. I will, of course, keep you all fully informed.

Lastly, we are planning new 11-a-side goals for the Longhoughton pitch and some work to level it out to make it a first-class playing surface ready for next season.

Thanks to everyone who got their jacket orders sorted in good time. I had the ‘pleasure’ (!) of ordering 107 personalised jackets last weekend which represent an absolute bargain at a cost of £10 to parents. We hope to have them delivered in about a month. Rod, being a good tight-fisted treasurer, turned a funny colour when I presented him with a bill for over £2000!! Maybe the 50% subsidy (£10 / head) is a little generous but I am conscious of parents having to make further upcoming payments in the near future such as the NUFC day out. We will publish the details on how to reserve a place on this excellent trip at the end of the month.

Speaking of funds, a reminder that each team is running sponsored penalties during February. Many kids are already doing well badgering family, friends, neighbours and parents work colleagues for sponsorship. As a result we are extending the incentives to;

Top fund raiser – printed shirt of their choice
Second – quality football
Top 8 fundraisers – ballboy place on the NUFC day out (U-10s and above only)
Every fundraiser who raises more than £100 - £10 Sports Soccer voucher

I do hope all our players can raise something, every pound is important and will directly benefit the kids by paying for equipment and other things like the buses for the 2 NUFC days out. If each player raised £10 that would be almost £1000 worth of equipment and support!! Forms are available to download on Newsletter page – good luck!

Lastly, good luck to coaches John Stevenson, John Eggleston, Tony Threlfall and Paul Anderson who are taking their FA Level 1 coaching course in February.

That’s about all for now. Good luck to all the teams as we go into the final half of the season.

Enjoy your football!!

Paul and all the coaches at Longhoughton Rangers.