Newsletter - July 2021
Well, that’s the end of the first season as Southport Athletic!
First of all, we want to thank all the parents, sponsors and anyone else that has given us help and support to get the club to the healthy position it now finds itself in.
Now that restrictions are being lifted we hope to see you all at presentation day on Saturday 24th July. We are hoping to start at 2pm with the first trophies being presented to the u7’s at 3pm concluding with the u11’s shortly after 4pm. We are going to try and split the presentation day so for the u13 upwards please arrive from 5pm with the aim for 5.30pm trophy start for the u13 onwards, the presentation of trophies must be finished by 6.30pm as the Lions are playing so there may be some members of the rugby club wanting to watch the game. We are more than welcome to stay and carry on though. this will also enable us to manage the bar area at the rugby club as it can get very busy in there. Please remember to stay away if you are showing any signs of Covid. Anyone not able to attend who has won a trophy we will make arrangements to get it to you, Fingers crossed for dry weather
It’s worth noting some of the success the club has achieved this year,
Offered a £5 discount subs to second and third children of the same family
Secured a defibrillator grant via our friends at Southport Community link foundation
Organised a food bank which helped friends and family of the club
Posted Christmas cards to the residents of Ferryside lane and Kingston Crescent and handed out cards to local dog walkers who use Ferryside Lane
Some teams put on free zoom fitness classes during the lockdowns to keep the kids fit and seeing each other.
Two teams reached finals in June but more on that later.
Replacement of goals and equipment has started with the purchase of folding 7 a side and 9 a side goals
Opening of a community bank account so the club can operate correctly under FA guidelines
This is just a start and hopefully this goes to show we are more than a football club as we want to be a part of the local community.
The club has big plans for the future and we would welcome more involvement from parents or guardians, if you feel you could help in anyway please contact southportathleticjfc@gmail.com
Finals day 20th June
First up was the under 9 blacks, they played Crosby Stuart youth at 10am on a very good pitch at Burscough Dynamo. I have to say the quality of the pitches and set up there is first class and a great credit to all involved at Burscough. The first half was one of very few chances but SAJFC took the lead just before half time with a well taken strike from Harry Swarbrick, the second half continued in a similar fashion and towards the end it was a backs to the wall job as Crosby kept pouring forward trying to break us down but our defensive shape managed to limit Crosby to one decent shot from outside the box with about a minute to go but Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Thompson pulled off a great save and we managed to hold on for the win. Everyone there said what a terrific game it was to watch, being involved I’m not sure I want to go through that last five minutes again though! Credit to Crosby Stuart’s players for pushing us all the way
Squad Eddie Thompson, Oliver Howse, Lewis Kelly, Connor Baldwin, Harry Swarbrick, Ollie Mullan, Oliver Kimball, Jo Assore, Millie Clarke, Zac Pemberton, Harry Ray.
The under 10’s final against Redgate Rovers didn’t go according to the form book, the first half redgate scored against the run of play and SA found themselves 3-1 down at half time. The second half they pushed and pushed but couldn’t find a way through a resolute Redgate defence who held on for a 3-1 win. Commiserations go out to Ben, Peter and the team but they should be rightly proud of their efforts as they were unbeaten throughout the league season and beyond. We know with the determination of the boys in the squad they won’t let the disappointment get to them and they will be back next season to win it.
Squad Finlay Yapp, Adam Sajan Harrison Dale, Bradley Birkby, Oliver Minto, Charlie Pritchard, Cameron Clarke, Micheal Hannah, Alfie McCreavy Daniel Sandells Logan Tanner
Next season
Firstly the bad news our current u13’s aren’t going to continue, the switch to Saturday football has decimated the squad. Some of these lads have been together years so it’s heartbreaking to see. It will be nice to give you a proper send off at the presentation evening so please don’t forget to attend.
We are welcoming three new teams, a new under 7 team coached by Scott and Ian, another under 8 team coached by Carl and a new under 9 team coached by Stephen welcome to SAJFC everyone.
Kits
we are purchasing new kits for these teams (kit1 and kit2 images) some other teams have secured a full new sponsor and will be getting the above kits but we are hoping to get another year out of the current kit. Any kits returned will be reused and distributed throughout the remaining teams to ensure this can happen. Kit costs are a huge expense to grassroots teams so we need to try and keep the cost down where we can. That said if you know anyone that can sponsor one of our teams please get in touch.
McDonald’s donation
Alan reached out to Kenny Dalgleish and as an ambassador for grassroots football he spoke to McDonald’s who gifted us some much needed equipment for all teams to use this is very generous of McDonald’s and King Kenny (as a United fan it feels weird to type that) he didn’t have to contact anyone but he went out of his way to help us out so I can put my allengine to one side and say thank you very much once again
Lawnmower Donation
The club have been gifted a ride on lawn mower by James Dean of West Coast Geomatics so we can help with grass cutting subject to Sefton Councils approval. James is a big supporter of SAJFC as his son plays in one of the under 9 teams that he also sponsors. Thank you James from us all at SAJFC
Southport NHS Cup
Our under 15’s manager Craig arranged a charity 7 a side tournament with the intention of raising some money for our local NHS trust. The teams taking part were SAJFC, Southport Trinity and Hesketh Colts. The final was keenly contested by one of the Southport Athletic teams and Hesketh Colts, the final was decided by a single penalty to the Colts which they converted. The total raised was £330 pounds and we would like to say thank you to all the clubs taking part and Craig wants to thank Fran, Vicki, Julia, Lindsey, Dan, Chris, Dave and Ian for all their help on the day making sure the tournament went smoothly. The hospital was really grateful for the donation and sent a letter of thanks
To all coaches and assistants, Alan, Ben, Martin, Paul, Peter, Shaun, Matt, Craig, Fran, Neil, Andy, Tony, Stephen, Chris and Martyn thank you for the seen and unseen hours you put in so the kids at SAJFC can play the game we all love.
As always if there is anything you would like to add to the newsletter please contact Alan at alanmccoombe05@gmail.com or southportathleticjfc@gmail.com